Galan Lithium and Lithium Australia discover new pegmatite at Greenbushes South project
Joint venture partners Galan and Lithium Australia have confirmed a new outcropping pegmatite in WA measuring more than 500m in strike.
Galan Lithium (ASX: GLN) and Lithium Australia (ASX: LIT) have discovered a new outcropping pegmatite with a strike length of more than 500 metres at the Greenbushes South project in Western Australia.
The joint venture partners said there are strong indications the pegmatite remains open and continues along strike, and has similar macroscopic mineralogy to those at the nearby Greenbushes lithium mine.
The latest discovery builds on a pegmatite lens found in the area in June, which resulted from follow-up mapping and sampling of the first of 18 targets identified from the recent survey data.
That discovery revealed an outcrop of 200m by 40m pegmatite with similar macroscopic mineralogy to those described at the Greenbushes lithium mine to the north.
Pegmatite assays
Galan said it has received the first batch of 65 geochemical assays from soil sampling grids traversing the initial pegmatite discovery.
The results confirmed anomalous concentrations of up to 215 parts per million lithium as well as pathfinder elements such as arsenic and caesium.
Results are still pending for a further 170 assays from the soil program and 15 rock chip samples taken from earlier mapped pegmatite outcrops.
Ultrafine+ analysis
The Greenbushes South results were assayed using the UltraFine+ technique developed by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), which delivers high-fidelity multi-element analysis from ultrafine fractioning.
The method often returns stronger signals well above instrumental detection limits, and can increase signal-to-background ratios.
Galan said all historical soil samples from Greenbushes South will be re-assayed using the Ultrafine+ method.
Pilot study
A pilot study utilising ground-based geophysical techniques to explore blind (buried) pegmatite targets has been completed in the Greenbushes South area.
The survey comprised passive seismic (HSVR) and gravity work conducted by Atlas Geophysics.
Data processing is underway and results are expected in the coming weeks.
A resistivity study is also planned to aid in defining the orientation of pegmatite at depth.
Positive outcomes
Galan managing director JP Vargas de la Vega said initial exploration outcomes at Greenbushes South has been very positive.
“Our team is excited about the fact that airborne geophysical targeting has successfully driven our field mapping and sampling focus, and already led to the discovery of multiple new sizeable pegmatite outcrops,” he said.
“Today’s results take us a step further… we now have confirmation of anomalous lithium concentration levels in soil samples over the initial pegmatite discovery and geological mapping and sampling is ongoing, driving us towards the key outcome of premium target locations for an initial drilling program.”