Lithium producer Sayona Mining (ASX:SYA) has kicked off exploration drilling in Western Australia, with 76 holes to be drilled across its Tabba Tabba Lithium Project.
It marks a broadening of the company’s lithium exploration work, with Sayona’s core focus up until now resting on its North American Lithium (NAL) Project in Quebec.
With Sayona making its first spodumene shipment from the NAL in August 2023, the company is now starting its search for lithium near the historical Tabba Tabba tantalum mine, where fellow ASX-listed Wildcat Resources (ASX:WC8) has recently identified lithium mineralisation.
The company plans to target two key areas within the northern drill area of the project. In both areas, bedrock is largely obscured by thin cover, and as such, the drilling is designed to provide geological and geochemical information to allow for target generation for future reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling.
Sayona Director James Brown says recent discoveries around the Tabba Tabba area have highlighted the project’s ‘great potential’. Further, the Tabba Tabba drilling marks a ramp-up in exploration across the company’s assets in Western Australia.
“These will be an active focus for our exploration in 2024, and combined with the Morella JV, will complement our development hubs in Quebec, Canada, as we continue to expand our global lithium resource base.”
“These … will complement our development hubs in Quebec, Canada, as we continue to expand our global lithium resource base”
Sayona also holds a 49% interest in the Morella Lithium Joint Venture, under which drilling work has recently been conducted at the Mallina Lithium Project.
The company says it expects the Tabba Tabba drilling to be completed by mid-December, with assays due in early 2024 ahead of more drilling work.
Sayona Mining has assembled two lithium hubs in Quebec and also holds a ‘large’ portfolio of tenements prospective for gold and lithium in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The company has $233 million in cash and cash equivalents and $193.5 million in unused finance facilities as of 30 September, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Joshua Smith at Mining.com.au
Images: Sayona Mining
