Geologist David Selfe says \u2018size, grade and depth\u2019 important for hard rock lithium deposits
\nWA\u2019s own hard rock lithium scene has a new emerging district in Lake Johnston
\nTG6 Metals poised for maiden drilling at regional targets after receiving DEMIRS approval<\/p>\n
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WA has a new emerging hard rock lithium district at Lake Johnston and juniors are blazing into the region. Which ASX explorers are approaching their projects in the right way, and what does that mean exactly?<\/strong><\/p>\n Western Australia leads the world in the production of lithium from hard rock sources and Lake Johnston, near Esperance, has the potential to become the State\u2019s newest mining district of the battery metal.<\/p>\n It\u2019s home to its namesake Greenstone Belt \u2013 volcanically created geology renowned for containing large quantities of valuable minerals such as copper, nickel gold, lithium, base metals and more.<\/p>\n Lithium itself, from hard rock sources, comes in the form of spodumene-bearing pegmatites \u2013 which Lake Johnston has been found to have in abundance.<\/p>\n The region also has nearology to Covalent Lithium\u2019s giant Mt Holland lithium operation (186Mt @ 1.53% Li2O) and Zenith Minerals (ASX:ZNC)<\/strong><\/a> Split Rocks project (11.9Mt @ 0.72% Li2O), which gives extra credence to Lake Johnston\u2019s development potential.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking to Stockhead<\/em>, TG Metals (ASX:TG6)<\/strong><\/a> MD David Selfe lays down some of his geology nouse and points out what explorers should be looking for when proving up a hard rock lithium resource.<\/p>\n Selfe says the trappings of a good hard rock project initially come down to the size, grade and depth of the deposit.<\/p>\n And importantly, he notes, once you\u2019ve ticked those boxes a deposit needs to be complemented by metallurgical wizardry to bolster a project\u2019s economic metrics and avoid wasting money.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of endowment, you\u2019d like to prove up about a 20Mt resource before you can say you\u2019ve got a decent-sized project \u2013 and you want it as close to surface as possible,\u201d Selfe says.<\/p>\n \u201cIn saying that there are lithium deposits that start deeper underground but they come with an added layer of expense.<\/p>\n \u201cIdeally, however, you\u2019d like to find the pegmatites as close together as possible for what we call \u2018stacked\u2019 pegmatites, because it reduces your overall strip ratio so you don\u2019t have a large overburden component.\u201d<\/p>\n Selfe says if your lithium is below 1% recovery grades are generally poor.<\/p>\n \u201cAbove that, it\u2019s generally accepted that you\u2019re more likely to get a quality spodumene product at the end of the day because that can translate into an industry-standard 6% Li2O concentrate.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd depth, well you want to know that lithium mineralisation occurs as far down as possible in the early exploration days.<\/p>\n \u201cJust because you may interpret high grades near the surface that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean you\u2019ve got the same further down.<\/p>\n \u201cAstute exploration is required to minimise cost before you start getting the drill out \u2013 especially at greenfield projects as you don\u2019t want to get caught out spending lots of money on an uneconomic prospect.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Metallurgy \u2013 the alchemy of separating valuable minerals from the non-valuable into a saleable concentrate, is increasingly important to widen profit margins.<\/p>\n For explorers, early doors testing of a deposit can gauge the mineral characteristics before committing to project development.<\/p>\n Selfe says it was important that his team started metallurgical test work quite early to see what processes they might be in for at the project going forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all know about Core Lithium\u2019s (ASX:CXO)<\/strong><\/a> processing problems early on and it\u2019s issues like that that we want to avoid.\u201d<\/p>\n Core\u2019s Finiss project in the NT was developed without a necessary flotation method for the processing of ore.<\/p>\n \u201cMost hard rock lithium projects use a DMS separation method to be economical, so it pays to do the homework first.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Since the discovery of Burmeister, juniors have started piling in all around the broader Lake Johnston district and piqued the interest of majors too.<\/p>\n Yet it\u2019s TG6 and nearby Charger Metals (ASX:CHR)<\/strong><\/a> with its Medcalf discovery at their respective Lake Johnston projects that are leading the pack, advancing drilling programs after recently receiving program of works approvals for their projects.<\/p>\n Charger\u2019s committing to a 5000m drill campaign surrounding Medcalf\u2019s identified 1.4km-long mineralised strike on the back of inking an exploration farm-in deal with global miner Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO)<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n That deal could scale up to $42.5m, earning Rio a 75% interest in the project.<\/p>\n RC drilling will also target the Mt Gordon prospect, where exploration uncovered large soil anomalies of >100ppm Li2O that extend for over 3km into TG6\u2019s adjacent Jaegermeister prospect.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Drilling last year at the Burmeister prospect at Lake Johnston reeled in grades of up to 3.09% Li2O and more recently has defined lithium trends over an 8km strike and delineated five new drill targets \u2013 including at its new Jaegermeister prospect.<\/p>\n A program of works was recently approved by the DEMIRS for infill drilling of Burmeister and the maiden drilling of Jaegermeister \u2013 which contains multiple soil anomalies larger than the more advanced Burmeister initially presented.<\/p>\n TG6 is ready to boogie, with two RC drilling rigs currently being deployed at Jaegermeister targets A and B.<\/p>\n It has more results to analyse too. After recently completing infill soil sampling at Jaegermeister the explorer has defined a new anomaly \u2013 Target E \u2013 pushing up the number of high-priority targets to five.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Identified anomalies for upcoming drilling across Lake Johnston. Source: TG6.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n The first stage of metallurgical testwork has been completed and seismic survey results are being analysed to help guide planned drilling and future exploration.<\/p>\n \u201cWith such a large area of lithium soil anomalism to drill test, we\u2019re confident that the use of seismic geophysics will fast-track our targeting,\u201d Selfe says.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve completed two reconnaissance 2D seismic lines; one along the Burmeister trend and a longer one along the Jaegermeister trend.<\/p>\n \u201cIf successful, this technique will not only minimise the drilling required for further discovery and resource definition, but it will also provide a very good understanding of the pegmatite system at Lake Johnston and its size potential.<\/p>\n \u201cThe discovery cost for Lake Johnston is surprisingly low at the moment \u2013 Burmeister has come in at less than $1 per tonne \u2013 there\u2019s not many that can say that.\u201d<\/p>\n After a short delay, TG6 is recommencing drilling across the identified targets \u2013 the results of which will speak volumes towards future exploration and development of Lake Johnston.<\/p>\n \u201cIn particular, the first holes into the priority targets at the Jaegermeister prospect, are greatly anticipated,\u201d Selfe says.<\/p>\n \u201cFurther soil sampling has grown and improved the Jaegermeister targets, which contains multiple soil anomalies bigger than the Burmeister lithium deposit initially presented.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n\n <\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n While TG6 Metals is a Stockhead advertiser, it did not sponsor this article.<\/em> <\/span><\/p>\n The post TG6 Metals\u2019 David Selfe lights up hard rock lithium and the case for Lake Johnston<\/a> appeared first on Stockhead<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"So what makes a successful hard rock lithium project?<\/h2>\n
Size, grade and depth<\/h2>\n
Metallurgical wizardry pays<\/h2>\n
Out in front<\/h2>\n
TG6 to ramp up drilling<\/h2>\n
What\u2019s in store<\/h2>\n
\nThis article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.<\/em><\/p>\n