Australian copper-gold explorer Krakatoa Resources (ASX:KTA) has uncovered widespread pegmatites from ongoing exploration activities over its ‘highly prospective’ Mt Clere Project in Western Australia.
The company, which has a $12.36 million market capitalisation, says these numerous pegmatite outcrops are frequently observed over a 10km span and have been interpreted to be up to 40m wide and strike over 200m.
Krakatoa reports these pegmatites are considered prospective for lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT), as well as niobium-yttrium-fluorine (NYF) mineralisation, in addition to rare earth elements (REEs).
These pegmatites have been encountered from regional reconnaissance, mapping, and geochemical field programs at Mt Clere, which have been ongoing since early May this year. This work has been designed to explore areas of interest identified from satellite, remote sensing, stream geochemistry data, and various geophysical interpretation.
To date, no previous lithium exploration has been undertaken on the northern Mt Clere tenements, although limited rare earth exploration returned results up to 1.04% total rare earth oxide (TREO).
As a result, the ‘extensive’ reconnaissance mapping and sampling program is ongoing across this northern area, targeting anomalies that are typically elevated in REEs.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Krakatoa Resources Executive Chairman Colin Locke says: “This could be exciting for investors. We have just gotten access to a new area what we think is probably the flagship. Now that we have got a new road from the station, we are able to access it and are carrying out fairly intense exploration.
During this intense exploration we have discovered widespread outcrops of pegmatites … and if these pegmatites are mineralised, that is very good news for investors.
“This could be exciting for investors”
We have already got one of Australia’s biggest clay-hosted rare earth JORC resources in this margin of the Yilgarn at 101 million tonnes, so there is certainly stuff out there.
We have taken a series of rock chips from these pegmatite outcrops. We are also doing a large soil and rock-chip campaign at Mt Clere, so we will be reporting them when they come to hand from the lab. Secondly, we have the King Tamba Project, where, very recently, we announced high-grade rock chips up to 4.3% of lithium at the Wilsons prospect, and then we found another prospect about 130m from there called the Loader prospect, where we have taken some rock-chip samples. They are due out from the lab very soon.”
Krakatoa Resources is an ASX-listed copper-gold explorer committed to the acquisition and value addition of mineral and energy projects with a focus on high-value metals.
The company’s Mt Clere project is located in the northwestern margins of the Yilgarn Craton in Western Australia and covers an area of more than 2,400km-square.
The project contains one of the largest clay-hosted REE resources in the state, which currently stands at 101 million tonnes (Mt) @ 840 parts per million (ppm) TREO.
Write to Adam Drought at Mining.com.au
Images: Krakatoa Resources Ltd
