Mandrake Resources (ASX:MAN) has identified lithium within 16 historic drill cores from oil and gas wells within its Utah Lithium Project in the US.
The core, stored at the Utah Core Research Centre, has been analysed for rock-quality characteristics, including porosity and permeability. The core is available for additional testing if required.
Porosity is a measure of open spaces within a volume of soil or rocks, while permeability is the rate of water movement through interconnected pores within soil or rock.
Mandrake, which has a market capitalisation of $19.11 million, says the core provides critical, robust data for formulating a resource estimate, which is expected to be delivered in early Q3 2024.
Within the project area, five core plus analyses are available from the Leadville Formation, alongside two core plus analyses from clastics within the overlying Paradox Formation.
The company says the presence of dolomitization within the Leadville Formation is a key indicator of enhanced reservoir quality.
With core available from 16 wells, the company can undertake additional core plug analyses for porosity and permeability across particular formations or zones of interest.
Mandrake says the value of having access to the core data is the ability to be able to improve its vast petrophysical database with actual core data values for porosity and permeability, increasing the accuracy and application of the petrophysics, alongside generating a far more robust reservoir model.
The Utah Project is in the northern Paradox Basin, where several oil and gas companies operate wells which can be re-entered to collect brine for assaying and mineral processing testwork.
Mandrake Resources is currently focused on completing lithium-brine sampling from historical oil and gas wells across its 379km2 of lithium ground.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: Mandrake Resources
