St George Mining (ASX:SGQ) has started a reverse circulation (RC) drilling campaign at its Mt Alexander Nickel-Copper Project in Western Australia to test below numerous widespread pegmatite dykes, which are interpreted as ‘highly prospective’ for lithium mineralisation.
The RC drilling campaign will consist of 20 drillholes for about 2,000m with a goal testing below the pegmatite dykes hosted down-dip from the Jailbreak prospect.
The prospective pegmatite targets have been mapped at surface up to 20m thick and over a widespread area with a north-south trend of 1.7km and east-west strike of up to 1.4km.
These outcropping pegmatite dykes are believed to have a similar geological setting to other lithium-bearing pegmatites at the nearby Mt Ida Lithium Project, owned by fellow developer Red Dirt Metals (ASX:RDT), where a ‘significant’ lithium resource was recently announced earlier this month.
It is also reported that drill targets include pegmatites where laboratory assays from surface rock chip samples have returned ‘high-grade’ values of up to 2.72% Li2O.
Addressing the drilling campaign, St George Mining’s Executive Chairman, John Prineas said: “This is an exciting milestone for St George as we commence the first-ever, lithium focused drill program at Mt Alexander. This initial phase of drilling will provide St George with an opportunity to potentially make a greenfields discovery within what is emerging as a ‘significant’ lithium province.
“This initial phase of drilling will provide St George with an opportunity to potentially make a greenfields discovery within what is emerging as a ‘significant’ lithium province”
This scale, together with the grades we are seeing in the outcrops sampled to date, provides encouragement for the potential for a large lithium system at Mt Alexander.
It promises to be an exciting end to 2022 for St George and our shareholders.”
The company also notes that in addition to the RC program, a diamond rig is expected to arrive at the project in the first week of November, with plans to test ‘high-priority’ nickel targets discovered by recent electromagnetic (EM) and seismic surveys within the Manta prospect.
Diamond drilling (DD) will then move on to target lithium-bearing pegmatites confirmed by the RC drilling.
In addition, St George reports that additional RC and DD programs will be implemented pending a full review of the drill results.
As of 11:49am AEST, the company’s share price has increased by 17.65%
St George Mining’s Mt Alexander project is located about 120km southwest of the Agnew-Wiluna Belt in Western Australia, which is host to numerous world class nickel deposits, and comprises six granted exploration licences and an additional two exploration licences that are located southeast of the core tenement package.
The company owns 100% interest in four of the granted exploration licences, however only owns 75% interest in the Cathedrals, Stricklands and Investigators nickel-copper discoveries in a joint-venture (JV) with Australian owned public listed company Western Areas (ASX:WSA).
With RC drilling now underway, St George Mining announces combined RC and DD exploration will continue throughout November and will comprise about 3,500m of drilling in this initial phase.
Images: St George Mining Ltd
