Lithium Australia joint venture partner unearths potential pegmatite targets at Greenbushes South

Lithium Australia NL (ASX:LIT, OTC:LMMFF) joint venture (JV) partner Galan Lithium Ltd (ASX:GLN) is honing in on a series of potential targets at the Greenbushes South Lithium Project near Perth in Western Australia.

A geophysical pilot study recently delineated some possible pegmatite-like structures at depth, which could be harbingers for lithium mineralisation at the JV project in which LIT holds 20%.

In the meantime, a geochemical soil sampling program is underway, with assays awaited from more than 400 soil samples from Greenbushes South.

Looking ahead, the JV parties are planning their next move at the project, with further geophysical surveys in the works.

Beyond that, GAL hopes to undertake more sampling, surveying and aircore drilling over the Greenbushes South property in the not-so-distant future.

Targets “something to smile about”

Commenting on the exploration program at Greenbushes, Galan Lithium managing director Juan Pablo Vargas de la Vega said: “These geophysical results are exciting as we continue to progress and move forward with exploration on our key tenement holdings in the area.

“Whilst the identified potential targets on our Greenbushes South JV ground certainly gives us something to smile about, there is more to do to firm up the big geological picture of the system before we can commence drilling.

“The new data keeps indicating that our tenements are highly prospective for lithium given their proximity to the Greenbushes mine.

“We look forward to updating the market once more data has been gathered from our new geophysics and soil sampling results.”

Pegmatite potential

Last month, contractor UltraMag Geophysics undertook four lines —totalling roughly 5 kilometres — of Deep Ground Penetrating Radar surveys over the Greenbushes South tenure.

The program focused on Donnybrook-Bridgetown Shear Zone (DBSZ), a key target within the Greenbushes property.

Overall, preliminary results confirm the shear zone extends between 40 and 50 metres deep onto Galan’s joint venture tenements.

What’s more, it also honed in on three potential blind pegmatites like targets at depth.

The general location of the pegmatite-like targets corresponds to geochemical anomalies of pathfinder elements like arsenic and tin in historical surface soil assays.

As a result, future surveys will follow up on these pegmatite-like targets at depth.

Next steps

Galan’s ongoing soil sampling program focuses on the surface expression of the DBSZ that hosts the Greenbushes deposit, with hundreds of assay results pending.

In the meantime, conservation management plans have been submitted to the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions to extend the company’s access to the DBSZ.

Once approved, Galan will undertake further soil sampling, geophysics and aircore drilling programs over the Greenbushes South property.

Additionally, future high-resolution UAV magnetic surveys are being considered to identify the target boundaries’ scale and investigate whether the exploration program could incorporate other geophysical methods.

Combined with the historical data, these initial surveys serve as a positive sign for future targeted soil and geophysical surveys along the DBSZ to help identify potential blind pegmatite bodies.

Growing asset for green energy revolution

In January 2021, Galan entered a sale and joint venture with Lithium Australia for an 80% interest in the Greenbushes South Lithium Project, which is 200 kilometres south of Perth in WA.

Spanning 353 square kilometres, the JV vehicle was originally acquired by LIT due to its proximity to the Greenbushes Lithium Mine, given that the project covers the southern strike projection of the geological structure that hosts Greenbushes.

The project area commences about 3 kilometres south of the current Greenbushes open-pit mining operations.

Greenbushes is currently the largest hard-rock lithium mine in the world, operated since May 2014 by Talison Lithium Pty Ltd (TSX:TLH), an incorporated joint venture between Tianqi Lithium Corporation (51%) and Albemarle Corporation (49%).

Greenbushes produces a concentrate of the lithium mineral, spodumene, to feed both China and Western Australian based mineral conversion plants or consumers of spodumene concentrates in Europe, North America and China.

In December 2020, Australian mining company IGO Limited (ASX:IGO) signed a deal to acquire a 24.99% stake in Greenbushes from Tianqi Lithium Corp.

Story by ProactiveInvestors