Ardiden Ltd: Multiple Spodumene-Bearing Pegmatites Intersected at Flagship Seymour Lake Lithium Project
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- Latest drilling hits multiple thick pegmatite sills with large spodumene crystals at Central and South Aubry prospects, continuing to expand the overall Lithium potential of Seymour Lake.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- The first seven diamond drill holes of the campaign have intersected multiple spodumene-bearing pegmatites at various depths at the South and Central Aubry prospects
- Thick mineralised zones containing large spodumene crystals were intersected with a combined down-hole width of up to 32m (SA-18-07).
- Drilling reaffirms continuity and the presence of multiple stacked pegmatite sills, with mineralisation remaining open in all directions
- Targeted ground penetration and truthing methods assisting Ardiden to identify furthers structures surrounding known Aubry pegmatite sills
- The Aubry prospects is just three of approximately 40 pegmatite exposures that were identified along the 5km strike zone during that exploration program, with several of these exposures hosting visible spodumene
- Drilling continues to provide a greater level of confidence in the continuity of the mineralisation, while also steadily increasing the overall scale and potential of the Seymour Lake project.
These latest drilling results are demonstrating significant potential for expansion, with the thickness of the pegmatite sills, whilst also displaying down-plunge continuity of the lithium mineralisation extending north-east from the Central and South Aubry pegmatite exposures (Refer Figures 7 and 8 in link below).
The continued drilling success at the Central and South Aubry prospects clearly demonstrates the potential to expand the Mineral Resource at Seymour Lake, providing strong support for the Company's fast-track development strategy.
Assays for the first seven holes of the current drill campaign are in progress, and planning is already underway to undertake additional targeted exploration drilling across all the Aubry prospects to further define and realise the full potential of Seymour Lake
CENTRAL AND SOUTH AUBRY PROSPECTS DRILLING
The first seven diamond drill-holes completed from the current resource expansion diamond drill program at the Central and South Aubry prospects (holes SA-18-01, SA-18-02, SA-18-05, SA-18-07 to SA-18-10) have successfully intersected multiple pegmatites. Ardiden confirms these drill holes have now been reviewed and logged by the Company's geological team and drill core samples are currently being analysed at Activation Laboratories in Thunder Bay.
Visual logging of the drill cores has confirmed the presence of multiple pegmatite layers at various depths, including impressive intersections: (refer to Tables 1 and 2 in link below for a full list):
- Hole SA-18-07, intersected 32.38m combined metres of spodumene-bearing sills from 67.27m down-hole over a total down-hole thickness of approximately 141m; and
- Hole SA-18-01, intersected 21.76m combined metres of spodumene-bearing sills from 76.20m down-hole over a total down-hole thickness of approximately 150m.
The drilling has reinforced the presence of multiple spodumene bearing pegmatite sills of various thicknesses, with the visual intersections confirming the potential to dramatically expand the mineralised zones at Central and South Aubry prospects to the north-east.
The identification within the drill core of very large white spodumene crystals is another good indicator of the high quality spodumene present at Central and South Aubry
The true potential of these two highly prospective locations has not been fully drill tested and the mineralisation remains open in all directions and at depth. The Company is targeting known lithium mineralisation hosted in multiple sills and will continue to develop its geological interpretation of the Aubry prospects as further assay results and additional ground truthing data is received.
The latest results further highlight the strong potential to expand the Seymour Lake Project, with numerous pegmatite exposures that have not yet been fully explored or tested within the 5km strike zone. The upcoming exploration programs will be testing the broader potential of the project.
The Aubry prospects is just three of approximately 40 pegmatite exposures that were identified along the 5km strike zone during that exploration program, with several of these exposures hosting visible spodumene (refer to Figure 6 in link below).
EXPLORATION UPSIDE
The identification of thick stacked pegmatites sills at Central and South Aubry in drill holes SA-18-01 and SA-18-07 which showed a combined down-hole width of up to 32m, has confirmed the significant potential for resource expansion, as continuity of spodumene mineralisation extending northeast from the known pegmatite exposures has been uncovered. Pegmatites either at, or close to surface represents a strategic advantage for the Seymour Lake project, and potentially allows easier access to high-quality mineralisation in a future mining scenario, whilst proximity of the pegmatites to surface is likely to reduce the required pre-strip.
Ardiden confirms further drilling and exploration is required in order to obtain a true understanding of the size and scale and overall structure of the pegmatite swarms of all the pegmatite sills contained at the North, Central and South Aubry prospects.
CONTROLLING STRUCTURES AND REFLECTORS
As the exploration and drilling programs progresses at Seymour Lake, the Company will place an emphasis on improving the geological understanding around the complexities and controlling structures, to allow for a more targeted and controlled approach to identifying further prospective pegmatite-bearing areas.
This knowledge base is being further enhanced with additional ground penetration and truthing methods. Early results indicate some correlation between the location and extensions of the newly identified sub-structures (reflectors) and some of the multiple Aubry pegmatite sills. These structural reflectors are showing significant alignment with the direction and dip of the known pegmatites and have been partially validated by current and historical drilling.
The validation of the pegmatite extensions and the newly identified structural reflectors can be seen in drill holes SA-18-08 to SA-18-10 (refer Table 2 in link below), where the holes have intercepted a number of thin pegmatite sills in the Tuff dominated zones. Although the pegmatites sills intercepted are not substantial, these drill results are still important having confirmed the boundaries and extensions of multiple stacked pegmatites sills and helped to delineate the controlling structures.
The Company notes early results could also potentially indicate some correlation associated with the Basalt dominated zones as being more conducive to hosting larger and more developed pegmatite structures. Whereas the Tuff dominated zones appears to host thinner and less developed pegmatites (Refer to Figure 9 in link below). Should this correlation be found to have merit, this knowledge could significantly assist Ardiden in future exploration activities when delineating what could be a prospective area on the project.
The upcoming exploration and drilling program will aim to obtain additional data to test if the current correlations associated with the known pegmatite structures has any merit and whether these methods may be able to assist Ardiden with future identification and exploration activities at Seymour Lake.
Ardiden notes that although the pegmatites at Seymour Lake can be somewhat difficult to model and predict due to the variable fluid pathways, confirmation of the interpreted extensions of the spodumene-bearing pegmatites and the verification of multiple pegmatite sills in the latest drilling provides the Company with a greater level of understanding and confidence in the project, while also steadily expanding the overall scale of the project and its future resource potential.
Ardiden confirms that the drill logs contained in this announcement refer to the identification and distribution of visible spodumene crystals of various sizes and colours contained within drill core samples. Ardiden notes that the estimated distribution of visible spodumene crystals in the drill core is not an accurate reflection of potential lithium grade and this will be determined with additional laboratory analysis.
The Company also notes that it has reported various widths of the highly evolved spodumene-bearing pegmatites. The Central and South Aubry pegmatites are classified as highly evolved, complex type, spodumene-subtype, lithium-caesium-tantalum pegmatites. These pegmatites generally form under high-pressure-low-temperature conditions, display complex internal zoning, have relatively low Nb/Ta ratios in the ore-forming assemblages, and contain significantly elevated tantalum values.
Ardiden confirms that the Central and South Aubry pegmatites contains multiple layers of highly evolved complex pegmatites and, as such, a number of the diamond drill-holes have been reported with a down-hole aggregate of visible spodumene- bearing and non-spodumene-bearing pegmatites.
The highly evolved non-spodumene-bearing pegmatites have been clearly identified in the drill log, however the lack of spodumene crystals being externally visible in the drill core is not an accurate reflection of the potential spodumene crystal content within the drill core or the potential lithium grade of the sample, which will be determined with additional laboratory analysis.
Ardiden looks forward to providing further updates as they come to hand.
To view tables and figures, please visit:
http://abnnewswire.net/lnk/2ILXHYVR
About Ardiden Ltd:
Ardiden Ltd. (ASX:ADV) is an emerging international diversified exploration and development company possessing a mature multi-element asset portfolio, with a near term development pipeline, focused quality projects located in the established mining jurisdiction of Ontario, Canada.
Contact:
Investors: Brad Boyle
Ardiden Ltd.
Tel: +61-8-6555-2950
Media: Michael Weir / Cameron Gilenko
Citadel-Magnus
Tel: +61-402-347-032 / +61-466-984-953