Widgie Nickel (ASX:WIN) reports it has commenced drilling on the recently discovered Faraday lithium prospect located within the Mt Edwards Project in Western Australia.
The company says Faraday was discovered during field reconnaissance conducted in September with assays from a rock chip sampling program confirming lithium bearing pegmatites outcropping over a 600m strike with surface expressions of up to 25m wide.
Widgie reports visible spodumene has been identified at several located with multiple ‘high-grade’ lithium values returned from 14 rock chip samples, with results including 2.61% Li20 from S10013, 3.70% Li2O from S10014, 2.86% Li20 from S10015, 3.60% Li2O from S10017, 2.91% Li2O from S10019, 3.04% Li20 from S10021, and 2.73% Li2O from S10025.
With limited historical lithium exploration across the Mt Edwards project, the company says the recent rock chip results highlight the potential of the project area that covers a total strike extent of more than 100km in the Eastern Goldfields region near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.
“We will quickly get an idea of the geometry and determine the underlying spodumene distribution at depth so we can better target a more expanded drill program early in the new year”
Widgie Nickel Managing Director Steve Norregaard said it is great to get on the ground with a reverse circulation (RC) drill rig.
“We will quickly get an idea of the geometry and determine the underlying spodumene distribution at depth so we can better target a more expanded drill program early in the new year.”
Widgie reports historical wide spaced soil sampling by previous explorers identified a strong lithium anomaly located within tenement M15/102, and the soil anomaly had no follow-up exploration until the recent rock chip samples collected by the company in early September.
Drilling planned by the company will aim to achieve the geometry and spodumene distribution of this anomaly through 6 RC holes planned for a minimum of 740m to be completed over a week, with samples sent to Perth for processing and assays returned before the Christmas break.
To learn the geometry of the mineralisation, Widgie has planned scissors holes which will provide an accurate estimation of the prevailing dip orientation of the 2 mineralised pegmatites, and these scissor holes will cater for the potential for variable dips, and the company has an onsite diamond rig ready to drill further than 350m if necessary.
Widgie also says little is understood of the spodumene distribution within the pegmatite, and drilling chips and assays will allow the company to gain an understanding of how ‘pervasive’ the lithium is within the pegmatite and the broader felsic unit.
Gaining fresh samples will also allow Widgie to carry out a XRD mineralogical assessment to fully determine the spread of lithium minerals, and from initial assessment, spodumene is the main lithium bearing mineral observed at the prospect, and the presence of other lithium minerals such as petalite or lepidolite from visual observation is believed to be subordinate to the spodumene mineral.
The Mt Edwards Project lithium tenements cover the northern margin of the Widgiemooltha Dome, and the company says the region is ‘well endowed’ with lithium occurrences and includes 3 major resources at Dome North owned by Essential Metals (ASX:ESS) to the south, Bald Hill owned by Lithco to the east and Mt Marion owned by Mineral Resources (ASX:MIN) to the north.
At the Faraday prospect, Widgie says the pegmatite bodies are a result of a very late stage intrusive event and are interpreted to be located proximal to ‘larger scale’ granitic intrusion.
Coarse grain spodumene has been recorded at several locations, and the outcrop covers a strike extent of approximately 600m in a north-south orientation, and the company reports the pegmatite bodies vary in width from 1m to 25m.
It also interprets the intrusive body extends further to the north where outcrop is minimal, but soil sampling is indicating lithium anomalism, and mapping and additional rock chip sampling has been undertaken to define the strike and dip of the pegmatite body necessary to aid designing the drilling program.
Widgie notes rock chip sampling at other identified pegmatite outcrops across the company’s tenure is underway, and desktop research interrogating drillhole logs is ongoing, aiming to delineate prospective pegmatites intersected in historic drilling.
Widgie Nickel is a Western Australia-based nickel and lithium company focused on exploring for these minerals on the Mt Edwards Project consisting of the Widgiemooltha Dome and the Kambalda Dome.
Images: Widgie Nickel Ltd
