Tambourah Metals begins gold and lithium exploration at Nullagine
Tambourah Metals (ASX: TMB) is preparing to use historical and modern data to uncover the critical and precious metal potential of 35 new prospecting licenses it has been granted near Nullagine in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
The company’s wholly-owned subsidiary TMB Nullagine has been awarded the new permits, which Tambourah is confident is prospective for both lithium and gold.
The area, which is renowned for its golden history, also contains historic prospects for tin and tantalum.
Tambourah’s geologists have already identified a number of potential exploration targets during a recent field reconnaissance program. Those targets include historic workings and recorded drill holes.
The Tambourah team has also collected a number of rock chip samples and submitted them for testing.
New technology to uncover future targets
Along with an ongoing program of geological data collection, sampling and mapping, Tambourah is planning to utilise high-definition hyperspectral data analysis in its target generation planning, with the aim of accelerating exploration reconnaissance drilling in the near future.
The company has already identified a first pass target at the historic CCP606 site, where drilling returned 15.6g/t gold over three metres.
Lithium potential identified
The lithium potential of the Nullagine area has been highlighted by the historic Quartz Hill West lithium prospect, which lies just three km to the south of the Nullagine licenses.
TSX-listed Novo Resources (TSX: NVO) has recently reported that significant lithium and tantalum mineralisation has been identified at the “Kurrana Pegmatite Swarm” at Nullagine.
Previous exploration by Novo and the Creasy Group identified numerous lepidolite-rich pegmatite dyke swarms requiring systematic, scientific, and detailed geological mapping and sampling.
Novo’s battery minerals joint venture partner at the Quartz Hill project, the privately-owned Liatam Mining, recently outlined a 2023 exploration program for the Mosquito Creek Basin.
This includes heritage and ethnographic surveys which are scheduled for mid-2023, while drilling is targeted to commence in the fourth quarter.
Russian Jack lithium and machine learning
Elsewhere, Tambourah has identified pegmatites with elevated lithium indicator geochemistry and significant pegmatite swarms using hyperspectral imagery at its nearby Russian Jack lithium project.
In collaboration with Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, Tambourah is applying machine learning using the hyperspectral dataset to define first pass exploration targets.
Backed by the CSIRO Kick-Start program, machine learning is helping to develop maps highlighting areas for first pass exploration.
Gold rush history
The town of Nullagine, just five km from the borders of the new permits, was the centre of a major gold rush in the 1880s.
Tambourah is confident that the Mosquito Creek Formation contains several structures that are prospective for hosting gold mineralisation, and has identified approximately 260 historic gold mines to the north.