Murchinson Projects

Mindoolah

Background

The Mindoolah Project consists of approximately 100km2 of tenure, located 70km north-west from the town of Cue in Western Australia, within the Murchison Mineral Field.

The tenement lies on the south-western end of the Weld Range and contains a sequence of felsic volcanics, several mafic units, BIF and granite, with lenses and dykes of pegmatite, aplite and quartz-feldspar porphyry. Extensive alluvial and open cut gold occurrences occur in the Mindoolah mining centre and many historic workings are scattered throughout the tenements. Historical gold and base-metal exploration has mapped multiple pegmatite occurrences in the western project area that remainuntested for LCT mineralisation potential.

Lithium Prospectivity

The Mindoolah Project contains numerous historically mapped pegmatites that have not been tested for LCT mineralisation until Dec 2022. Reconnaissance soil and rock chip sampling confirm the presence of fractionate LCT style pegmatites in the western part of the project.

Defined trends highlighting the fractionation sequence and potential for Li mineralisation can be traced over 4km and remain open along strike. In addition to the outcropping pegmatites, soil sampling supports the interpretation of buried pegmatites further highlighting the potential for scale in the area.

Following up on the encouraging results, programs are planned to highlight the centre of  fractionation and prioritise drill targeting.

Stand out rock chip samples from early fieldwork sampling. “Pegmatites with the highest degree of fractionation (and thus the most economic potential for Li-Cs-Ta) contain blocky K-feldspar with > 3000 ppm Rb, K/Rb < 30 and >100 ppm Cs” – Selway & Breaks et. Al (2005). A review of rare-element (Li-Cs-Ta) pegmatite exploration techniques.

Gold Prospectivity

Significant gold has been produced in the Mindoolah district from both hard-rock (open cut and underground) and eluvial deposits. Historical production of 161kg of gold is recorded at Mindoolah from 7,621 tonnes of ore being treated at an average grade of 21.18g/t Au2. There are no production figures from the mid-eighties onwards, however the scale of operations is likely to have been significant from the open pits present in the project. The area is regularly prospected with small scale alluvial operators still finding the occasional rich gold-bearing reef or gold nuggets.

Geology

The project is located in the central portion of the Murchison Province, an area that is characterised by the main dominant feature, this being the Weld Range. This range consists of basaltic lavas, extensive intruded dolerites with extensive banded iron formations. These banded iron formations are the current focus for iron ore mining development. To the north of the Weld Range the dominate feature is the Mindoolah Granite. This granite consists of leucocratic-adamellite types and contains numerous small gold workings.