St George Mining Ltd (ASX:SGQ) increased its exposure to the highly prospective Ida Fault Zone with the recent acquisition of exploration licence E15/1687.
This new tenement, named ‘Prince of Wales’, extends the company's control over the Ida Fault to more than 100 kilometres.
Bolsters the company’s position
The acquisition strategically adjoins the existing Destiny Project, bolstering St George's position in the Eastern Goldfields of Western Australia.
The Prince of Wales tenement spans 8 kilometres of the Ida Fault Zone, adding to the roughly 90 kilometres already encompassed by the Destiny Project's landholding.
This area is notable for its geological features conducive to lithium, nickel and gold mineralisation.
The presence of extensive greenstones adjacent to the Ida fault, intersected by a Proterozoic dyke, underpins the tenement's prospectivity.
In light of this expansion, St George anticipates initiating its 2024 drill program later this month. This program aims to build upon the high-grade rare earth discovery made in 2023 and to explore new lithium targets.
Executive chair John Prineas said: “The acquisition of the Prince of Wales tenement further strengthens our large and strategic land position at Destiny to give St George control of more than 100 kilometres of the Ida Fault, a major crustal bounding structure considered highly prospective for a range of mineralisation including lithium.
Expanded prospectivity
“Prince of Wales covers an extensive area of greenstones along the Ida Fault, making it very attractive exploration ground and complementing the prospectivity of the broader Destiny Project tenure.
“The Kathleen Valley lithium deposit (156 million tonnes at 1.4% Li2O) of Liontown Resources (ASX:LTR) and the Mt Ida lithium deposit (14.6 million tonnes at 1.2% Li2O) of Delta Lithium are two major lithium deposits associated with the Ida Fault.
“And just last October Wesfarmers (ASX:WES) agreed to pay Ora Banda Mining Ltd $26 million for a 65% interest in the lithium rights over a package of tenements that cover approximately 140 kilometres of the Ida Fault, located about 40 kilometres north of our Destiny Project.
“Together with the 30-kilometre stretch of the Ida Fault within our Mt Alexander Project, St George now has prospective tenure covering about 130 kilometres of highly sought-after exploration ground along the Ida Fault.
“With rare earths and lithium drill programs due to commence at the Destiny Project within weeks and lithium drilling also scheduled for this quarter at Mt Alexander, it is a very exciting time for the company and our shareholders.”
The agreement for this acquisition involves a share consideration of 4,411,765 fully paid ordinary shares of St George.
Additionally, the vendor receives a 1% net smelter royalty on any minerals mined from E15/1687.
The completion of the acquisition is expected within five business days from the date of the agreement.