Aim-listed Firering Strategic Minerals has announced plans to fast track the diamond drilling programme at Atex project, in Côte d’Ivoire. This they plan to do through further mapping by SEMS Exploration on and around Spodumene Hill, has identified additional pegmatite outcrops, as well as more lithium-bearing pegmatite float.
As of February 4, Royal Mining completed 348 auger holes as part of the Phase 1 drilling programme, while 120 m of the first of four trenches across Spodumene Hill has been completed.
Mapping in the surrounding area has revealed several new pegmatites, with apparent widths ranging from a few metres to over 100 m and some of these pegmatites feature quartz-rich and muscovite-rich zones, like the one on Spodumene Hill.
Completion of the planned trenches on Spodumene Hill will allow for an accurate interpretation of the size and structure of the mineralised pegmatite and assist with the planning of a diamond drilling programme. On the other hand the diamond drill programme targeting the hard-rock lithium-bearing pegmatites is on track to begin in the second quarter.
Pegmatite map
A reinterpretation of the recent pegmatite map of the area has identified a number of pegmatites south-south-east of Spodumene Hill, confirming the potential pegmatite field appears significantly larger than identified from previous historical results. Initial observations of the first trench dug indicate a highly weathered pegmatite, comprising muscovite, feldspar and quartz, with an apparent width of about 100 m. This pegmatite underlies the occurrences of spodumene on the hill and is upslope of numerous lepidolite boulders.
Several new areas containing boulders of lithium-bearing pegmatite float have also been identified around Spodumene Hill, suggesting that some of the pegmatites along strike of the deposit may be similarly evolved/mineralised pegmatites.
There have been 348 auger holes completed for a total of 2 153 m, with an average hole depth of 6.2 m. These auger holes are assisting in determining the location and extents of the pegmatite veins below the overburden, as well enabling the company to sample the overburden for the coltan-tantalum mineralisation.
