Australian exploration and development company Red Dirt Metals (ASX:RDT) reports an initial drillhole completed at the Yinnetharra Lithium Project in Western Australia has returned an ‘outstanding’ assay.
Drillhole YNRD005 returned 55.6m @ 1.12% lithium oxide (Li2O) from 94m, including 15m @ 1.52% Li2O from 95m, 15m @ 1.36% Li2O from 1.36% Li2O from 118.8m, and 12.4m @ 1.22% Li2O from 137.2m.
The company says visual spodumene was identified as diamond drilling (DD) was completed in November, and highlights the initial assay results from YNRD005 is further evidence of the ‘significant’ lithium mineralisation at Yinnetharra.
Commenting on the drilling, Red Dirt Metals Executive Chairman David Flanagan says: “This is a cracking result for the company’s first drillhole assays at Yinnetharra. This result demonstrates we have high-grade, we have width, we have strike, it comes to surface and it is just the first target.
“This is a cracking result for the company’s first drillhole assays at Yinnetharra”
We have high expectations for this project and when combining these intercepts with the geology we see in the core and outcrop the team is very excited. The company firmly believes Yinnetharra could host a deposit of global significance and we are well funded to execute our strategies to test that theory during 2023.
Receiving such fabulous results in such a short period of time is a huge achievement for our team and testament to their exploration skills. This result is from the first of 16 diamond drillholes completed in late 2022 and we are already back underway at Yinnetharra with operations at site ramping up significantly since the start of 2023. The team has been measured and careful in their chosen exploration approach and we are highly appreciative of all their efforts.”
Red Dirt reports the M1 pegmatite is one of more than 50 pegmatites mapped at the Malinda prospect, which is part of Yinnetharra. Furthermore, it says lithium mineralisation is present from surface as shown by the results of historic drilling. The company also notes spodumene is the dominant lithium mineral seen to date in the M1 pegmatite.
The results from YNRD005 are the ‘best’ results ever achieved at Yinnetharra, which the company reports is a sign of improving the understanding of the geology. With the intercept being ‘significantly’ thicker than that seen in the up-dip hole, Red Dirt says it demonstrates substantial upside potential at the M1 pegmatites, and across the Yinnetharra project.
Red Dirt reports it is continuing to progress the diamond drilling as well as infill and expansion reverse circulation (RC) drilling programs across the project, which will cover more than 400 holes and 90,000m in 2023. The company says more than 50 lithium pegmatites have been identified at the Malinda prospect and will be progressively investigated during the year.
Extension RC drilling is due to begin at the M1 pegmatite in the coming weeks, with about 1km strike of anomalism from drilling, soils, and outcrops to undergo testing in this pegmatite alone.
Red Dirt Metals is an Australian exploration and development company focused on its projects in Western Australia. The company’s portfolio includes the Mt Ida, Yinnetharra, Eureka Gold, and Earaheedy Basin projects.
Images: Red Dirt Metals Ltd
