Lithium Power International Ltd (ASX:LPI) has closed the books on reverse circulation (RC) drilling at its East Kirup lithium prospect in Western Australia’s iconic Greenbushes district.
The lithium explorer drilled 10 holes (covering 573 metres) during the RC program and has shipped the core to a lab for analysis.
It’s still early days, but several two-metre zones show pegmatite promise — early drilling hit minerals like quartz, pink potassic feldspar, biotite and tourmaline, which could represent pegmatites at East Kirup.
Work also confirmed several shear zones, which are thought to be the controlling structures for pegmatite emplacement.
LPI has already hit the ground running with a four-hole, 400-metre diamond drilling campaign. Work kicked off on January 13 and is expected to wrap up this week.
Exploration continues
LPI executive director Andrew Phillips said the company was “delighted” with the RC drilling progress and the early-stage results.
“The work has been carefully planned and conducted in accordance with an approved Conservation Management Plan (CMP).
“We look forward to the results of the diamond drilling program that is underway.”
The East Kirup prospect is roughly 20 kilometres northwest of the famous Greenbushes Lithium Mine.
It sits along the Donnybrook Shear Zone, known to host the lithium-bearing pegmatites at Greenbushes.
Beyond East Kirup, LPI has plans to continue exploration across its broader lithium tenement.
A mapping and sampling program will begin next week at the Thomas A prospect — an area of arsenic anomalism that often serves as a proxy for lithium in the Greenbushes region, where pegmatites and surface kaolinite have historically been mapped.
Demerger on the cards
Earlier this month, LPI announced it would spin out its Western Lithium (TSX:WLC) subsidiary as if focused on consolidating the joint venture for its Maricunga lithium brine project.
Western Lithium holds tenements in each of the three major WA hard rock lithium areas: Greenbushes, the Pilbara Craton and the Eastern Goldfields.
LPI shareholders can vote on the demerger during an extraordinary general meeting this quarter, once the company releases its audited half-year financials.
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