Voltaic Strategic Resources Ltd (ASX:VSR) has started a 3,000m ‘Phase 2’ drilling campaign at its Ti Tree Lithium Project in Western Australia’s Gascoyne region after drilling intercepted up to 58m of continuous pegmatites from surface in May.
The primary aim is to define the extents and along-strike continuity of Andrada’s wide pegmatites, and to test additional ‘first-pass’ targets at ‘Andrada’ and the nearby Morpheus prospect, around two km to the north-east.
Both targets are located within the “Volta Corridor” – a major belt of lithium-bearing pegmatites hosting Delta Lithium’s Yinnietharra Lithium Project where a 90,000m drill programme is underway.
Voltaic’s drilling to date has only tested the top ~29m vertical depth from surface and several of the large pegmatites identified remain open at depth and without any bounding lithological contacts. Deeper drilling into fresher / less oxidized zones should assist with identifying lithological contacts and provide enhanced geochemical vectoring data down-dip as we transition beyond water table and oxidation boundaries.
Based on regional drilling data along the Volta’ corridor, the pegmatites in some instances are observed to be unmineralized for several hundred meters before fractionating into mineralized LCT zones, and this is likely due to depletion or structural controls.
These factors control the physical dimension of pegmatites, their repetition, continuity etc. When combined with the pending assay data from ‘Phase 1’, this campaign will provide valuable structural and lithological data to guide subsequent deeper drilling into the most prospective modelled parts of the LCT system at Ti Tree.
Voltaic chief executive Michael Walshe said Phase 1 drilling success combined with the company’s recent Placement which raised A$7.1M and was strongly supported by existing and new shareholders, had expedited the Phase 2 campaign.
“Significant width (up to 58m) pegmatites were intersected from surface at the Andrada prospect at targets LCT6 and LCT12 in Phase 1, where we drilled a modest 15 shallow holes for 894m,” Mr Walshe said.
“With pegmatoid zones remaining open along strike and at depth, drilling has successfully confirmed the scale potential of the pegmatoids at Ti Tree and assays are expected in ~3 weeks.
“Our Phase 1 campaign has barely scratched the surface in terms of understanding the depth and scale potential of our tenure. Its purpose was to understand structure and continuity; using the drill bit as an exploration tool as we vector to the most prospective parts of the project area.
“Our initial rockchip sampling campaigns identified >300 pegmatites across our ‘Volta Corridor’ and confirmed that several of them are geochemically ‘fertile’ for LCT mineralisation4. Phase 1 drilling confirmed that many of these pegmatites have significant size potential, and we still have not identified their structural bounds.
“Following the extremely strong level of support for the A$7M Placement, we are now well funded to realize our ambitious plans to vector to the best part of our tenure at Ti Tree.
“Additionally, target generation continues to generate LCT targets along the most prospective lithological schists associated with the ‘Volta Corridor’, with rockchip sampling, geological mapping, and soil sampling programs all underway across Ti Tree (South), and several geophysical surveys are planned to commence in June,” he said.
For further information please visit: https://www.voltaicresources.com
