Aldoro Resources delineates rubidium footprint at Niobe tantalum-lithium project
Aldoro has firmed up an initial exploration target for the Niobe main pegmatite of 33,000-150,000t grading up to 1,457ppm rubidium oxide.
Team members from Aldoro Resources (ASX:ARN) have conducted a site visit to the Niobe tantalum-lithium project near Leinster in Western Australia to delineate the extent of a rubidium footprint over the project area.
A total of 46 rock chip samples were collected from the Pegmatite 2, Pegmatite Southeast Pit and Breakaway prospects to determine the lateral extent of rubidium-bearing zones.
The samples will be analysed for the lithium pegmatite suite of elements including lithium, rubidium, caesium, niobium, tantalum and tin.
Aldoro recently identified an initial exploration target at the Niobe main pegmatite of between 33,000 tonnes and 150,000t grading up to 1,457 parts per million rubidium oxide.
The area represents less than half the mapped section of the pegmatite, with the target based on historical drilling during the mid-1980s by Pancontinental Mining.
Rubidium values
Preliminary scans using portable x-ray fluorescence also confirmed elevated rubidium values as reported from the same historic drilling.
The values are believed to be associated with zinnwaldite micas with lateral surface extent over Pegmatite 2 and Breakaway.
The micas vary in morphology from finely disseminated, equigranular in greisen-like expressions to large books up to centimetres thick, often exhibiting botryoidal forms.
During the site visit, Aldoro also commenced planning for a reverse circulation drilling campaign to start next month, pegging 66 holes and checking for rig access.
Project composition
The Niobe tantalum-lithium project lies 70km northwest of Mount Magnet in WA’s Murchison province, within the Archean Dalgaranga Greenstone Belt.
The licence area is composed of numerous pegmatite dykes, some of which are known to contain shallow, high-grade tantalum mineralisation.
High-grade tantalum ore immediately outside the historic pit remains open and untested by deep drilling.
There are also local areas of significant lithium enrichment.
A swarm of pegmatite dykes occurs in the upper part of the gabbro sill in a zone about 700m wide.
One of these pegmatites was mined for beryl by prospectors in the 1960s and later on, became the site of a small and very high-grade, open cut tantalum mine.