iTech Minerals confirms high spodumene content in pegmatites at Reynolds Range
iTech Minerals (ASX: ITM) has confirmed spodumene to be the primary lithium-bearing mineral in the GMF1 pegmatite at its Reynolds Range project in the Northern Territory.
Recent analysis of two samples from the pegmatite returned a spodumene content of 84% and 83%, adding to previous high-grade assays of up to 8.24% lithium oxide.
Field mapping and sampling at the nearby Mt Stafford and GMF2 pegmatites have also confirmed the presence of fine-grained spodumene.
Multiple pegmatites
Managing director Mike Schwarz said the company had now confirmed the presence of multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites over an area of more than 4 kilometres at Reynolds Range.
“Spodumene is the main commercial mineral of importance due to its high lithium concentration and well-established processing techniques,” he said.
“With over 60km of outcropping pegmatites interpreted on satellite imagery, we believe Reynolds Range has the potential to be a new and large-scale lithium mineralised system in the NT.”
Analysis techniques
iTech employed quantitative x-ray diffraction (QXRD) and geochemical techniques to analyse samples from the GMF1 pegmatite.
QXRD analysis allows the identification of mineral species (as opposed to elements) by the indirect measurement of the lattice spacing of the minerals present.
Once the minerals are identified, they can also be quantified based on the intensity of the peaks present.
QXRD results from GMF1 confirmed the dominant mineral to be spodumene, with lesser amounts of quartz, plagioclase and minor mica also present.
Visual observations
Spodumene was also visually identified at the Mt Stafford and GMF2 pegmatites, which sit within several kilometres of GMF1.
Relatively fine spodumene crystals were evident in a medium-grained sample taken from Mt Stafford approximately 2.7km to the north-west, with the same observation made on a sample from GMF2, approximately 1.7km to the south-east.
Mr Schwarz said the results were an “excellent outcome” for the lithium prospectivity of Reynolds Range.
“While these samples contained only small amounts of spodumene, it confirms the presence of multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites over a combined distance of 4.4km,” he said.