Venus Metals starts lithium drilling program at Manindi North
对 Venus Metals 的 Youanmi 矿石的测试表明，钒和氧化铁的品位可以通过简单的精矿工艺进行升级。
Venus Metals Corporation (ASX: VMC) has commenced a reverse circulation drilling program at the Manindi North prospect within the Youanmi lithium project in Western Australia.
The program is designed to test newly-identified lithium soil and rock chip anomalies for pegmatite-hosted lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) mineralisation in the bedrock.
Three east-northeast trending anomalies in the northern part of the licence area were delineated by a geochemical soil survey in January.
The survey specifically targeted a known beryl occurrence which had not been historically tested.
Rock chip samples from sub-cropping pegmatites nearby graded up to 2.11% lithium oxide and, together with the broad lithium anomalism in soil, was believed to indicate the presence of pegmatite under local colluvium.
The Manindi North prospect is located within the granite-greenstone contact zone at the Youanmi greenstone belt which is considered prospective for LCT pegmatite mineralisation.
New lithium targets
Drilling at Manindi North follows the identification of new lithium targets at Youanmi last year.
Venus had been carrying out geochemical surveys across the project in April, collecting 490 soil samples over three tenements.
The program identified several lithium anomalies greater than 116 parts per million at Manindi North, in areas of cover west of known pegmatites which were previously drilled in 2018 under a lepidolite lithium exploration joint venture between Venus and Lepidico (ASX: LPD).
Henderson exploration
In June, Venus began lithium exploration at the Henderson project, where earlier rock chip samples had uncovered high-grade mineralisation.
The phase two drilling program was designed to test LCT pegmatites identified from mapping and sampling, with a focus on the Emerald SE prospect where rock chips returned 3.6% lithium and 5.8% lithium.
Drilling also tested gold anomalies identified at Emerald South and Henderson Bore.
The Henderson project is located in an emerging lithium province following a spodumene-rich discovery 15km away near Red Dirt Metals’ (ASX: RDT) Mt Ida project.