Australian Critical Minerals (ASX:ACM) is planning follow-up exploration for Q1 2024 across its Cooletha Lithium Project in Western Australia after confirming lithium prospectivity through a recent mapping and sampling program.
The $15.67 million market capitalisation is preparing to continue sampling across Cooletha, having identified 10 target areas that, combined, total more than 24km in length.
Australian Critical Minerals Managing Director Dean de Largie says future exploration is expected to provide a ‘faster’ test and evaluation procedure of the specific targets identified, especially on the central and eastern side of the project.
Current work has also highlighted the potential of iron ore and manganese within the Cooletha tenure, and when efficient to do so, Australian Critical Minerals will sample these units to value-add to the information database.
This news comes after trace elements and spectral analyses confirmed the presence of a lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite system and generated the 10 priority targets in the untested Goldilocks zone.
Australian Critical Minerals says the scale of the total prospective area has exceeded the company’s expectations.
Dean de Largie adds that the initial 251 samples of intrusive and pegmatitic rocks delivered the geochemical information required to develop the company’s understanding of the intrusive fractionation processes that have occurred at the project.
“Identifying the location and vectors in fractionated rocks is the first important step to the discovery of evolved pegmatitic LCT systems.
We look forward to building on this data with a scientifically robust exploration plan which includes the sampling of the identified targets within the modelled LCT pegmatite goldilocks zone.”
“We look forward to building on this data with a scientifically robust exploration plan which includes the sampling of the identified targets within the modelled LCT pegmatite goldilocks zone”
The company has also submitted a Program of Work (PoW) to drill iron ore targets at its Shaw Project. This is expected to begin in Q2 2024.
Australian Critical Minerals is a critical minerals explorer focused on its assets in Western Australia. The company’s flagship Cooletha project has over 100km-square of lithium prospectivity in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
As of 30 September 2023, the company had $3.734 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Australian Critical Minerals
