Arkle Resources announces the discovery of lithium (Li2O) bearing pegmatites in its Mine River Block on the Wexford/Wicklow border in Ireland.
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Of the 34 rock chip samples collected late last year, six returned lithium grades over 0.02% Li2O with one sample assaying 0.09% Li2O from the Bunclody area.
Elevated lithium also correlated with enriched levels of Caesium (Cs) Rubidium (Rb) and Tantalum (Ta), which are known pathfinder elements for Lithium.
The Directors believe these results are compelling as it suggests the Mine River Block is fertile for Lithium Caesium Tantalum (LCT) pegmatite deposits.
The six samples that returned elevated lithium were all pegmatite rock boulders collected around mapped granite bodies.
The geochemical results demonstrate clear pathfinder elements, which can be used in the targeting of pegmatites in future soil surveys. The results also show a correlation between the lithium bearing pegmatites and north-west south-east trending faults.
These fault structures, as well as newly identified mafic and ultramafic bodies to the south-east, have been selected as target areas for the coming months. Once the main areas of interest have been identified, follow up soil surveys will aim to locate areas for trenching and drilling.
The recent results follow on from the initial prospecting work over mapped granite bodies in the Company's Mine River licence block. Although the company has been focused on gold until now, the markets and work of companies in neighbouring licences have driven a revaluation of the ground for other elements.
The aim of the reconnaissance work at Mine River was to locate and collect specimens of granite, pegmatite, and aplite for geochemical analysis. All three rock types were discovered and 34 samples were sent to ALS Life Sciences in Loughrea, Ireland for geochemical analysis.
All samples were analysed for trace elements using lithium borate fusion prior to acid dissolution followed by ICP-MS and ICP-AES for a full suite of 44 elements.
Conversion of lithium parts per million ("ppm") results to percent Li2O involved dividing the ppm results by 10,000 to give a percentage and then multiplying by 2.153 to obtain Li2O equivalent.
The Mine River Block is proximal to the known lithium bearing Leinster Granite, lying to the west and contiguous with the International Lithium Corp. - Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd joint venture where a large zone of lithium bearing pegmatites and aplites has been discovered. ■