Track and drill pad preparation is in train at the high-priority Maggie Hays Hill Project of Intra Energy Corporation Ltd (ASX:IEC) in the Lake Johnston Greenstone Belt in Western Australia.
The region is home to a 2.5-kilometre-long southern pegmatite lithium target as well as the Central and Northern gold targets.
Clearing about to commence
A heritage survey is now in, allowing the company to mobilise earthmoving equipment to the site and start clearing.
The clearing is expected to take five to seven days to be followed by a 2,000-metre reverse circulation (RC) drilling program expected to take 14 to 20 days.
This drill campaign will focus primarily on the southern pegmatite lithium target – a notable soil and outcrop anomaly akin to the recent Burmeister spodumene discovery.
IEC will drill 13 holes for 1300 metres, testing multiple outcropping pegmatites for spodumene mineralisation. The remaining 710 metres of the program will test multiple gold targets – quartz reefs – in two locations.
The drilling program is aimed at discovering spodumene and/or gold deposits.
IEC managing director Ben Dunn said: “The company has advanced the Maggie Hays Hill Project from acquisition to drilling in just five months having conducted multiple soil geochemical surveys, rock sampling mapping, high resolution magnetic/topography surveys and a heritage clearance.
Highly prospective lithium targets
“The exploration has identified a suite of highly prospective LCT pegmatite spodumene targets along a 2,500-metre zone that will be drill tested in a matter of weeks.
“In addition, exploration also identified multiple quartz reefs with rock chip grades up to 17.8 g/t gold that will also be tested during this drill campaign.
“The company is looking forward to commencing drilling and will keep investors fully appraised as drilling progresses.”
IEC has an 80% stake in the Maggie Hays Hill Project, which is adjacent to the Norseman-Hyden Road and the Maggie Hays and Emily Anne nickel mines (run by Poseidon Nickel Ltd and camp at Windy Hill.
The project enjoys easy access via well-formed tracks, particularly at the southern end and is prospective for lithium, nickel and gold. It is also 25 kilometres north of two separate spodumene lithium discoveries at Burmeister Hill (TG Metals) and Charger Metals’ Lake Medcalf.
Recently, Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) has farmed into the Charger Metals tenements in the region and in a related transaction, Charger Metals has acquired all of Lithium Australia’s interests in their joint venture tenements.