Arkle Resources finds lithium in Ireland
Diversified explorer Arkle Resources said on Thursday it had found lithium bearing pegmatites at its Mine River Block gold project in Ireland.
The company, until 2019 known as Connemara Mining, said that of 34 rock chip samples taken from the site late last year, six returned lithium grades of more than 0.02%, with one returning 0.09%.
The six samples that showed elevated lithium were all boulders of pegmatite rock collected around mapped granite bodies.
Geochemical results also showed clear pathfinder elements for lithium – caesium, rubidium and tantalum – which can be used to target a coarse type of igneous rock in future soil surveys, Arkle Resources said.
The company, which has so far focused on gold in Ireland, said its directors believe these results are “compelling” as they suggest the Mine River Block is fertile for lithium caesium tantalum (LCT) pegmatite deposits
“These are exciting results,” chairman John Teeling said in the statement. “We have discovered lithium on our licences. We found the rock type needed, pegmatites, and in the pegmatites found lithium and other indicator minerals. This opens compelling new opportunities for our Mine River Block. Prospecting will resume in the near future.”
Shares in the company jumped as much as 21% to 69p after the announcement, but fell sharply in afternoon trading, changing hands at 56p by 2pm local time — 2.6% lower than at Wednesday’s close. This leaves it with a market capitalization of £2.21 million (about $2.6m).
Arkle Resources has been exploring for gold and zinc in the Wicklow granite for more than two decades, but searching for lithium in hard rocks has only been viable since 2018, the company said.
Lithium prices have softened after an outstanding two-year rally labelled “insane” by Elon Musk and “unreasonable” by China’s electric vehicles maker BYD, Mining reports.
Erdene Resource Development Corp. reported results from recent drilling at the 100%-owned Dark Horse prospect
Erdene Resource Development Corp. reported results from recent drilling at the 100%-owned Dark Horse prospect, located approximately 2km north of its 100%-owned Bayan Khundii gold project in the Khundii minerals district in southwest Mongolia.
Highlights included intersecting high-grade, near-surface gold in Dark Horse Mane South; 39.6 g/t gold over 6 metres within 12 metres of 20.2 g/t gold (AAD-218); 34.4 g/t gold over 3 metres within 11 metres of 13.0 g/t gold (AAD-217); 13.7 g/t gold over 1 metre within 18.6 metres of 4.6 g/t gold (AAD-215); 11.0 g/t gold over 1 metre within 13 metres of 1.9 g/t gold (AAD-216).
Drilling intercepted deep, high-grade zone at Dark Horse Mane North; 11.2 g/t gold over 2 metres within 8 metres of 4.1 g/t gold (AAD-194). The deepest intersection along trend to date demonstrating potential at depth And confirmed potential of new East Mane target, 500 metres east of Dark Horse Mane.
“Recent drilling at our Dark Horse prospect successfully expanded high-grade mineralization along the 1.5-km Dark Horse Mane trend and produced multiple targets in adjacent areas,” said Peter Akerley, President and CEO. “Today’s results include the highest grade intervals to date at Dark Horse Mane North and also confirm the discovery of the new East Mane target.”
“Since discovering our Khundii Minerals District, we have delineated over nine kilometres of prospective gold bearing structures connecting our Bayan Khundii, Ulaan and Dark Horse deposits,” continued Mr. Akerley. “Plans are being finalized for the next phase of drilling along this trend and throughout the broader Khundii-Ulaan alteration system.”
The Q3 2022 Dark Horse drill program, completed in September 2022, was designed to confirm and expand gold mineralization in this prospect, located approximately 2km north of Erdene’s shovel-ready Bayan Khundii Gold Project. The 20 km2 Dark Horse prospect comprises the northern portion of the company’s Khundii mining and Ulaan exploration licenses. Drilling to date at Dark Horse has focused on the Dark Horse Mane (DHM) prospect, a 1.5-km north-south oriented, mineralized trend discovered in early 2021, that remains open along strike to the north and south and at depth.
Along this trend, Erdene has delineated southern and northern zones, referred to as Dark Horse Mane South and Dark Horse Mane North, respectively, and recently identified the East Mane prospect that was drill tested in Q3 2022.
The recently completed drilling program consisted of 29 holes (including one hole extension) totaling 2,417 metres. Exploration was focused on Dark Horse Mane South, Dark Horse Mane North as well as targets adjacent to the Dark Horse Mane mineralized trend identified through the reverse circulation (“RC”) drill program completed in mid-2022, geophysics and surfacing sampling.
Drilling at Dark Horse Mane South was comprised of seven holes totaling 543 metres, including five near surface, large diameter (PQ), diamond drill holes, totaling 82 metres (AAD-214 to AAD-218).
The PQ holes were drilled to confirm continuity of grade and geometry of shallow, very high-grade mineralization and to collect material for process test work. Multiple zones of high-grade mineralization were intersected within 15 metres of surface, with several one-metre intervals returning grades exceeding 10 g/t gold, including a one-metre interval grading 88.5 g/t gold (AAD-218; 6 to 7 metres), interpreted as supergene enrichment. Two holes at DHM South, AAD-191 and AAD-192, were designed to test extension of mineralization at depth.
In addition to the exploration at Dark Horse, Erdene drilled three step-out holes on the western and northern periphery of the main mineralized zone at Ulaan Southeast, expanding mineralization at this recent discovery.
Erdene is focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of precious and base metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The company has interests in three mining licenses and an exploration license in Southwest Mongolia, where exploration success has led to the discovery and definition of the Khundii Minerals District, Resource World writes.
Velocity exercises option to acquire 70% stake in Makedontsi gold project in Bulgaria
Canadian gold exploration company Velocity Minerals said that it has delivered a notice of option exercise to Bulgarian metal ore mining company Gorubso-Kardzhali for the Nadezhda property which includes the Makedontsi gold project.
“Following delivery of the exercise notice, Velocity is deemed to have earned a 70% interest in the property and to be in joint venture with Gorubso for the further development of the property,” the gold exploration company said in a statement on Tuesday.
To fulfill the terms of the option agreement with Gorubso, Velocity was required to deliver an environment impact assessment prepared in accordance with the Bulgarian Environmental Protection Act. Velocity will sole-fund 2,000 m of future drilling and deliver a mineral resource estimate, the company added.
Mineralisation at Makedontsi is outcropping locally but elsewhere the prospective sediments are covered by a thin veneer of post-mineral limestone estimated to range from 10 to 30 m thickness, Velocity said.
“Exploration at Makedontsi to date, including eight diamond holes and 14 reverse circulation holes, was completed to test the grade and extents of historical drilling. Drilling intersected mineralisation, starting from surface, and the mineralisation remains open for expansion,” the company also said.
Future drilling will continue to test for extensions of mineralisation, Velocity added.
Source: seenews.com