Artemis Resources Ltd (ASX:ARV, AIM:ARV, OTCQB:ARTTF) and joint venture partner GreenTech Metals Ltd have completed a diamond drilling program at the Osborne JV Project in which Artemis holds 49% and GreenTech 51%.
The JV project is in the West Pilbara region of Western Australia, west of the Andover Project owned by Azure Minerals, the target of a $1.6 billion takeover offer.
The maiden drilling program at the Osborne JV, consisting of four holes for 1,611 metres of diamond drilling, was targeting known spodumene-bearing pegmatites at the Kobe trend and at the Southern pegmatite zone at Osborne.
Two of the four holes were on the Kobe trend (the Northern lithium-caesium-tantalum, or LCT, pegmatite) and two holes were in the Southern pegmatite zone.
Drilling was designed to gather stratigraphic and structural information relating to these pegmatite trends that will be used to refine a follow-up RC drill program which is expected to commence in the upcoming first quarter of 2024.
The drill samples have been dispatched to the lab for mineralogical analysis and assay.
West Pilbara, “a major global focus”
Artemis executive director George Ventouras said: “We are very pleased that the maiden drilling program has been successfully completed at the Osborne JV Project.
“The information gathered will prove invaluable for the next phase of ground activity. This now sets the scene for further exploration and potential drilling in the first quarter of 2024.
“Artemis will also look to continue ground exploration activities in early 2024 on its 100%-owned tenements with a view to determine the prospectivity for pegmatites and to expand the potential for further lithium mineralisation in the Karratha precinct.
“Given the recent announcement by Azure Minerals on the takeover proposal by SQM and Hancock, the West Pilbara region continues to be a major global focus of lithium exploration and corporate activity and we believe this trend will continue in 2024.
“We take this opportunity to thank all our shareholders for their continued support of the company throughout 2023 and we look forward to delivering further news in the new year as it comes to hand.”