Aurumin (ASX: AUN) has kicked-off drilling at the company’s 100% owned Mt Palmer project near Southern Cross in Western Australia.
The Western Australian specialist is targeting lithium bearing pegmatites in a four hole diamond drilling program.
A study of historic results has identified logged pegmatites up to 40m thick, with lithium results up to 146 parts per million (ppm) and tantalum results up to 391ppm.
Managing Director, Brad Valiukas, said the drilling program is supported by the WA Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS) Exploration Incentive Scheme (EIS).
The funding agreement for the WA Exploration Incentive Scheme covers up to 50% of direct drilling and mobilization costs capped at $150,000.
Mt Palmer’s strong lithium potential
While Mt Palmer’s background is as a small, historic gold mining area, its lithium potential has been known for some time.
“Mt Palmer is prospective for lithium mineralisation and shows great potential, remaining unfinished business for the company since we announced results from orientation drilling in June last year,” Mr Valiukas said.
“The EIS funding results from a competitive process and is excellent recognition of the lithium potential at Mt Palmer and the work completed to date.
“We are excited to be drilling these holes and look forward to the results and updating the market.”
The major historical gold workings at Mount Palmer were mined from 1934 to 1944 and during that time, more than 310,000 tonnes were mined at an average gold grade of 15.9 grams per tonne, producing over 158,000 ounces of gold.
Historic exploration programs at Mt Palmer were focused on gold mineralisation, however, the drilling database notes numerous parallel pegmatite intersections of up to 40m thickness that were never been assayed for lithium.
Two-pronged WA exploration focus
Mt Palmer is the second of two projects Aurumin is currently targeting in Western Australia.
In mid-June the company revealed it had commenced work towards development of the 100% owned Mt Dimer Project.
The company is looking to fast track development of the historic Mt Dimer high-grade gold production centre, where more than 125,000 ounces of gold was produced.
Previous operations included open pit and underground production of 600,000 tonnes at 6.4 grams per tonne gold.
Aurumin is proposing a two-phase development at Mt Dimer, with phase 1 preparations now underway.
Phase 1 is targeting toll-treat or direct ore sale via the proposed mining of shallow open pits at the high-grade Lightning and Golden Slipper deposits.
Recent drilling at the high-grade, unmined Lightning deposit intersected 10m at 20.22 grams per tonne gold.
The company’s phase 2 plans include a proposed expansion of mining beyond phase 1 activity, including potential cutbacks on Lightning and Golden Slipper deposits, and the potential development of the LO3, T12, Karli West, Frodo and Anomaly 2 deposits.
History of Mount Dimer
The Mount Dimer project is located approximately 120km northeast of the Southern Cross townsite.
It was discovered by WMC between 1987 and 1989 and mined by Tectonic Resources between 1994 and 1997.
Mt Dimer was last mined commercially in 1997 when the gold price was approximately $500 per ounce.
