Stelar Metals Ltd (ASX:SLB) has identified high-grade lithium in rock chips with assays up to 2.8% Li2O at Caloola prospect, 7 kilometres north of Trident in the northern Euriowie Pegmatite Field near Broken Hill in Far West New South Wales.
Large target areas defined
As a result, the company has picked out new, large areas for detailed reconnaissance mapping and sampling.
The discovery builds on the region's historical significance as one of Australia's earliest lithium mining locales, with the Trident area known for its lithium and tin-rich pegmatites extending over a 20-kilometre strike.
Stelar’s inaugural reverse circulation (RC) drilling program at Trident late last year, which helped the company to understand the morphology and orientation of the pegmatites, hit upon lithium mineralisation including 8 metres at 1.16% Li2O and 34 metres at 0.2% Li2O.
The Trident pegmatite is open to the north, where the system thickens and deepens.
Following these promising earlier results Trident, Stelar is preparing for a second phase of drilling in the middle of this year.
Recent geological mapping has unveiled new pegmatite systems like Sabre and Pilgrim, showcasing mineral assemblages akin to those found at the Trident Lithium Mine.
The high-grade lithium findings in the Caloola South Pegmatite, alongside other elements like caesium, rubidium, tin and tantalum, underscore the area's potential.
What’s more, the central and northern areas of the Euriowie Pegmatite Field are dominated by a six-kilometre NNW-trending structural corridor that spans 800 metres in width and comprises a high density of multiple individual LCT-pegmatites with similar geology to Trident.
This area has been heavily worked over for tin in previous times but not lithium.
More mapping, sampling and then drilling
Additional rock chip and soil samples have now been submitted for laboratory analysis and petrological analysis is underway to further understand the lithium mineralogy and alteration.
On the horizon for Stelar are comprehensive geological mapping and surface sampling programs to refine drill targets for the anticipated mid-2024 drilling campaign.