Sipa Resources Ltd (ASX:SRI) has kicked off a drilling program exploring the potential presence of nickel-copper and lithium mineralisation at the Skeleton Rocks Project in WA, having identified several high-impact targets in a data review of historical exploration works on the tenure.
Of particular interest were several pegmatites found in historical drill logging which were never assayed for lithium and a historical nickel intersection of 3 metres at 0.65%.
The current drill program is testing along strike and underneath this known nickel anomalism, as well as redrilling pegmatites to collect samples for laboratory assay while also investigating the local geology.
Potentially “transformative” programs
“We are currently very active in the field, testing high-impact targets at our Skeleton Rocks project and getting set up to commence drilling at Paterson North,” Sipa Resources managing director Pip Darvall said.
“At Skeleton Rocks the drill program is following up historical nickel-copper and pegmatite intercepts, while the Paterson North drilling funded by Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) Exploration will be targeting copper-gold systems.
“Success at either of these drill programs would be transformative for the company.”
Adding to the lithium prospectivity of the Skeleton Rocks project, Sipa has identified localised lithium-caesium-rubidium mineralisation but has so far not been able to identify the source.
The project is between the Great Eastern Highway and the Mt Holland Lithium Project, currently being developed in a joint venture between ASX conglomerate Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) and Chilean mining major Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A.
The Mt Holland project represents one of the largest hard-rock, open-pit lithium projects in Australia.
An integrated pre-feasibility study released in 2018 predicts an annual average production of 45,254 tonnes of battery-grade lithium hydroxide over 47 years of estimated project life.
Sipa’s Skeleton Rocks project highlighting the two areas of focus in the current drill program.
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