Stelar Metals Ltd has been given the green light for its first hard-rock lithium drilling program which is expected to begin early next month at the Trident Lithium Project near Broken Hill in Far West New South Wales.
Paving the way for this reverse circulation (RC) drilling, the company has received approval from the NSW Resource Regulator.
Additionally, Wilyakali Aboriginal Corporation (WAC), which is both Traditional Owner and Pastoral Lease Holder, has provided Heritage Clearance that clears all proposed drill sites within the historical Euriowie Tin Pegmatite Field.
Lithium and tin province
This was one of Australia's first lithium and tin mining provinces, highlighting the potential fertility and large scale of Stelar’s lithium-rich pegmatite system.
The Trident Project extends over the 20-kilometre strike length of the field and is highly prospective for hard-rock lithium mineralisation.
Mapped lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) type pegmatites at the project vary in size but can be up to 100 metres wide and extend in outcrop for more than 1 kilometre in length.
Early November start
Stelar’s drilling program is scheduled to start in early November and will comprise around 3,000 metres. It will be the first-ever drill program to test the historic lithium mines at Trident, Sceptre, Lady Don and Triumph as well as recently mapped LCT-pegmatites at Stag and Gloria.
CEO Colin Skidmore said: “Stelar’s team is to be congratulated for the enormous effort that has gone into working up this project since acquisition earlier this year, both technically and through robust stakeholder engagement.
“This has resulted in the drilling being approved on schedule and the team looks forward to participating in this exciting first drill program at Trident.”
The NSW Resource Regulator’s approval allows the company to drill at up to 19 drill sites identified as prospective for lithium mineralisation.
WAC approval
WAC has completed cultural heritage surveys in conjunction with a recognised anthropologist. All proposed drilling areas were declared cleared, with no areas of cultural heritage significance identified.
The heritage survey, which the board of the WAC has accepted, has cleared many existing access tracks throughout the Euriowie Pegmatite Field for remediation and upgrade, allowing access to the drilling areas and has opened new areas for ongoing geological mapping and sampling.
Drilling program
Stelar’s geologists have worked with expert structural geologists from PGN Geoscience over the last few weeks to finalise the optimal drill hole design.
This is based on the structural controls on the orientation and morphology of the mapped pegmatites at Trident, Sceptre, Lady Don, Triumph, Stag and Gloria.
Drilling is designed to be flexible to allow an initial assessment of the orientation and morphology of the known lithium-mineralised pegmatites.
Additionally, targeting below the known shallow workings below the oxide zone will provide an opportunity to assess better the lithium mineral zoning in the Trident Pegmatite System and test for the presence of spodumene, which typically weathers away near the surface.
What comes next?
Stelar is in the final stages of entering into a drilling contract with its preferred drilling contractor.
Earthworks to remediate and upgrade access tracks throughout the Euriowie Pegmatite Field is scheduled for the last week in October before the drill program.
The planned LiDAR and high-resolution ortho imagery survey will be flown by AeroMetrex later this month.
Final milestone payment
The agreement for Stelar Metals to acquire a 90% interest in Everest Metals’ NSW tenements, which includes Trident, included a final milestone that the drilling approvals have now triggered.
Under the agreement dated February 15, 2023, Everest can elect to receive payment of $500,000 in either cash or Stelar shares.