Ora Banda Mining Ltd (ASX:OBM) is trading higher after intersecting more than 11 metres of spodumene at 1.28% lithium oxide during maiden drilling at the Federal Flag Prospect, just 10 kilometres south of the Davyhurst gold processing plant in Western Australia's Goldfields.
Shares have been as much as 17.25% higher in early trading to A$0.17, a new high of almost two years, after releasing the lithium results from the first hole which the company describes as “outstanding”.
The company's maiden three-hole program tested and confirmed the presence of the LCT pegmatites, their broad strike and dip orientation along with the presence of spodumene.
Furthermore, XRD and petrography confirm that abundant primary spodumene is the dominant lithium-bearing mineral at the prospect.
Looking ahead, This is part of the company's three-year strategy to create value from investing in exploration with a small dedicated team focused on the lithium exploration potential of the OBM tenement package.
Outstanding potential
Ora Banda managing director Luke Creagh said: The fact that we have intersected high-grade spodumene in the first hole targeting lithium prospectivity is both a testament to the excellent work completed by the geology team and the outstanding potential of the entire tenement package.
“Whilst the first results are very encouraging, this is very early days in unlocking the lithium potential and we will continue to work this up with a small, focused team and disciplined drill programs.
“It is important to note that our lithium exploration will be conducted without compromising our gold-focused exploration objectives of finding a second high-grade underground mine to compliment Riverina Underground and drive further production growth and increased cashflows for the company.”
Drill results
Hole 1 intersected 11.1 metres at 1.28% Li2O from 54 metres in a basal pegmatite, including 8 metres at 1.56% Li2O and a maximum value of 1-metre at 2.13% Li2O.
The hole also intersected two more pegmatites in the oxide zone, both with spodumene present, however, they were lower grade due to lithium depletion in the weathered zone.
Meanwhile, regional rock chip sampling conducted collected 209 samples, 86 of which contained anomalous lithium, seven of which contained spodumene.
Forward plan
Initial regional reconnaissance has identified five other areas - Barney, Waihi, Young Australian, Gila and Siberia - hosting lithium-bearing LCT pegmatite swarms of which Barney and Waihi are the highest priority for immediate follow-up based on current data.
Further regional exploration and progression of all identified lithium occurrences will be continued as part of OBM’s strategy to create value from investing in exploration.
Assays are pending on the remaining two holes, including
- Hole 2 intersected three lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites in oxide with visible spodumene; and
- Hole 3 drilled into a gold-bearing shear zone, visible gold logged, pegmatites absent.