Miramar Resources Ltd has identified the potential for lithium-bearing pegmatites at the 100%-owned Randalls Project in the heart of Western Australia’s Goldfields just 70 kilometres east of Kalgoorlie.
This region is, however, not short of lithium prospectivity with the Bald Hill, New Dawn and Cowan deposits nearby and boasting comparable geological settings to Randalls.
Regional radiometric data shows significant potassium anomalism associated with these known lithium pegmatites with similar potassium anomalism seen within the Randalls Project tenements north of Lake Randall.
Mirror image of Bald Hill
Miramar’s executive chairman Allan Kelly said that given the strong similarities between Randalls and the Bald Hill area and the lack of previous exploration, there was significant potential for the discovery of lithium-bearing pegmatites within the company’s tenements.
“Our Randalls Project is basically a mirror image of the Bald Hill and New Dawn areas, on the other side of the Randall Dome,” he said.
Comparable geology
The project is on the northeastern margin of the Randall Dome, a folded sequence of black shales, banded iron formation (BIF) and other sediments of the Mt Belches Formation, underlain by a central granitoid core.
According to the Geological Survey of WA, Randall Dome was formed by the combination of granite emplacement and east-west compression resulting in a doubly-plunging anticline with a NNW-SSE trending central axis.
Randalls Project regional geology showing lithium projects and pegmatites.
Miramar’s tenements are diagonally opposite and in a similar stratigraphic position to several significant lithium-bearing pegmatites on the southwestern margin of this dome including:
- Bald Hill – the subject of a recent takeover by Mineral Resources Ltd;
- New Dawn – recently purchased by Torque Metals Ltd; and
- Cowan - multiple lithium-bearing pegmatite occurrences.
Pegmatites are common south of Lake Randall, however, a review of historical open file data reveals no evidence of exploration for lithium over the Randalls tenements, with previous work mostly limited to gold exploration within the folded BIF which hosts the Mt Belches gold deposits operated by Silver Lake Resources.
“The regional radiometric data strongly suggests that there could be lithium-bearing pegmatites hidden under thin surficial cover within our tenements, but they could be easily missed even when specifically targeted."
“We are excited about the opportunity to discover lithium-bearing pegmatites on our ground,” he added.
What comes next?
Miramar will complete a soil geochemical survey over the granted tenement, E25/596, and undertake reconnaissance sampling over its existing tenement applications.
Miramar has also increased its land position over the most prospective geology by submitting applications for four new Exploration Licences.