Leeuwin Metals starts summer field work at its Cross Lake lithium project
Initial work will focus on known pegmatite occurrences within the 4.7km trend
Field program seeks to expand mineralisation and drill targeting
Special Report: Leeuwin Metals has started summer field work at its Cross Lake lithium project in Canada’s Manitoba province to build on last year’s work, which confirmed the presence of high-grade spodumene over a 4.7km corridor.
Cross Lake covers 2,002km2 of granted and pending mineral exploration licences over promising ground about 120km south of the major regional mining centre of Thompson.
It also benefits from extensive infrastructure such as a rail line just 100km away and access to nearby hydropower.
However, the project has not been systematically explored for lithium despite historical drilling returning assays such as 24.96m at 1.09% Li2O from 6m, 9.79m at 1.18% Li2O from 75.55m and 7.21m at 1.94% Li2O from 19m.
This lack of activity was addressed by Leeuwin Metals (ASX:LM1) last year with maiden surface channel sampling confirming a large 4.7km long lithium-caesium-tantalum mineralised trend with over 20 spodumene-bearing pegmatites.
Channel sampling returned results such as 1m at 1.75% Li2O (CLCH23-022) and 7m at 1.08% Li2O (CLCH23-02) while rock chip sampling returned results up to 4.09% Li2O.
Leeuwin sampling at the Spodumene and Metis Island prospect area. Pic: Leeuwin Metals
Building on success
LM1 has now kicked off its 2024 summer field program, which will focus on known pegmatite occurrences within the 4.7km trend before progressing to additional regional targets within the 70km strike of the greenstone belt.
Field work has also identified additional lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites that were not visited in the 2023 program.
This target was identified from a thesis by the University of Manitoba that focused on the mapping of the Cross Lake pegmatite field.
Mapping also identified additional targets that requires follow up over the coming months.
Drill permitting also remains on schedule with the company planning to start drilling in the second half of 2024.
The permit enables the execution of the proposed 2024 drill program, and future drill programs for up to three years following approval.
“The summer field season will see Leeuwin significantly expanding on the fieldwork that was completed at the end of last year,” managing director Christopher Piggott said.
“Fieldwork is planned to target interpreted spodumene bearing LCT pegmatites in unexplored areas of the project to expand mineralisation and drill targeting.
“The Cross Lake lithium project currently spans a well-defined trend of 4.7 km, based on sampling and historical drilling. We believe there is significant potential to further expand the scale of the project.
“Additionally, we are also pleased to see the Fraser Institute has now ranked Manitoba at 6th best place for mining investment attractiveness worldwide.
“With the commencement of work programs and the progression of the drill permit, we have multiple high impact exploration activities planned for the send half of 2024. We look forward to providing updates as we progress with our work programs.”
This article was developed in collaboration with Leeuwin Metals, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.
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