Nardoo Hill Lithium Project Extensive Mineralised Trend
Perth, July 15, 2016 AEST (ABN Newswire) - The Directors of Venus Metals Corporation Limited (
ASX:VMC) are pleased to announce that the reconnaissance on the Nardoo Hill lithium-tantalum project areas in Western Australia has identified extensive pegmatite targets for exploration and resulted in Venus expanding its project area.
HIGHLIGHTS
NARDOO HILL LITHIUM PROJECT
- Initial reconnaissance of historical Tantalum-Niobium mining area at Nardoo Hill completed.
- Nardoo Hill pegmatites outcrop over an extensive area, with units up to 200 metres wide and extending over several hundred metres of strike - mapping has identified a number of pegmatite units, many of which have yet to be systematically sampled.
- A significant number of samples returned assays highly anomalous in lithium (greater than 1,000 ppm and up to 0.27% Li2O), confirming the potential of the area to host high-grade lithium mineralisation.
- Nardoo Hill sampling also returned high-grade Niobium and Tantalum assays, including:
N109 42.8% Niobium & 13.1% Tantalum
N112 1.82% Niobium & 0.53% Tantalum
- A significant regional mineralised trend has been identified and extends into target areas covered by sand and soils.
- The project area has been extended to cover new targets through the pegging of an additional tenement - ELA 09/2182.
Venus Metals Corporation Limited ('Venus Metals') has made applications for two tenements (ELA 09/2156, 2182) in the Nardoo Hill area. This project lies within the Gascoyne Mineral Province in Western Australia (Figure 2 in link below).
Nardoo Hill Lithium-Tantalum Project
The Nardoo Hill project is located in the Gascoyne Mineral Province of Western Australia, approximately 840 km to the north of Perth. The project area is now composed of two exploration license applications (ELA 09/2156 & 2182) covering more than 190 km2.
The project overlies the historical Nardoo Hill & Morrissey Hill workings, in a pelitic and gneissic terrain that has been extensively intruded by pegmatites, which host tantalum-lithium-niobium mineralisation (Figure 3 in link below).
An initial program of reconnaissance mapping & sampling has been completed over the project area and identified the extensive mineralised structural and stratigraphic Nardoo Lithium-Tantalum-Niobium Trend, which covers over twenty kilometres of strike (Figure 3).
Recognition of this Trend has resulted in Venus Metals applying for additional tenement (ELA 09/2182), along strike from its original tenement holding, to cover the extensions of this system and the 'New Well' lithium-tantalum prospect.
Recent exploration, comprising field mapping and rock-chip sampling, has focussed on a 4 km2 area centred on the Nardoo Hill prospect in the north of ELA 09/2156 (Figure 4 in link below). Historical exploration indicates the presence of a shallow tantalum deposit at the prospect1, as well as the presence of significant niobium mineralisation. The main pegmatitic unit at Nardoo Hill is 200 metres wide and extends over several hundred of metres of strike. It is one of the largest outcropping pegmatites in a suite of intrusive bodies mapped at Nardoo Hill (Figure 4).
Mapping and sampling at Nardoo Hill returned a significant number results with highly anomalous concentrations of lithium (over 1000 ppm Li2O) with assays up to 0.27% Li2O (Figure 4 & Appendix 1). Sampling has also has confirmed the presence of high-grade tantalum and niobium mineralisation associated with pegmatite stratigraphy, including:
Sample N109 42.8% Niobium & 13.1% Tantalum
Sample N112 1.82% Niobium & 0.53% Tantalum
* See Figure 4 in link below for sample locations and Appendix 1 for a full listing of samples and assays.
Analysis of the sampling and results indicates that the Nardoo Hill prospect lies within the 'berylcolumbite' rich zone of a mineralised pegmatitic system (Figure 5 in link below). The lithium-rich (spodumene) zone of the mineralised system is generally located above or adjacent to this component of mineralisation. Utilising this model, exploration at Nardoo Hill will continue to test the tantalumniobium mineralisation at Nardoo Hill but also examine the areas adjacent to the pegmatite outcrop (Figure 6), where the stratigraphy is covered by recent soils and sand, potentially due to preferential weathering of the mineralised stratigraphy. These 'covered' targets require testing with shallow drilling or auger as the recent cover will mask their geochemical signature.
Exploration at Nardoo will continue to evaluate the outcropping areas of mineralisation along the Nardoo Trend, with a view to systematically testing both outcropping and covered targets once the tenements are granted.
Conclusion
Reconnaissance on the Nardoo Hill lithium-tantalum project areas returned high-grade tantalum and niobium assays as well as anomalous lithium assays, with both mapping and sampling assisting in the definition of targets for future drill testing in this developing province.
Venus Metals looks forward to further updating shareholders as systematic exploration commences at Nardoo Hill following the grant of the tenement areas in the coming months.
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http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/T2X27S66
About Venus Metals Corporation Limited
Venus Metals Corporation Limited (ASX:VMC) is a West Australian based Company with a focus on gold, base metals, vanadium and lithium exploration projects. The Company aims to increase shareholder value through targeted exploration success on its projects.
The Company's major gold project is the Youanmi Gold Mine, located 500km north-east of Perth. The Youanmi Gold Mine is now jointly owned by Venus Metals (30%) and Rox Resources Limited (70%); Indicated and Inferred Resource of the mine is in excess of 3 million ounces of gold.
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