Westar Resources Ltd (ASX:WSR) has wrapped up negotiations to acquire 100% of the Olga Rocks project, which is considered highly prospective for lithium, rare metals and gold.
The project is adjacent to Westar’s Parker Dome Project and Zenith Minerals Ltd (ASX:ZNC)'s recent lithium and gold discoveries, and complements the existing tenement holding, bringing the total holdings in the region to 32.5 square kilometres.
Location map of the Olga Rocks Project and Parker Dome tenure near Southern Cross, WA.
Never-tested pegmatites
The area contains numerous albite-rich pegmatites, picked up in historical drilling, which are consistent with observed outcrops and highlight the potential for up to 1 kilometre of strike length. These pegmatites have never been tested for lithium or rare metal mineralisation.
Extensive historical workings and gold intercepts by previous owners, including 8 metres at 4.54 g/t gold, 8 metres at 4.69 g/t and 3 metres at 10.6 g/t, require follow-up drilling to determine the along-strike and down-dip potential.
Initial reconnaissance and due diligence conducted by Westar and independent pegmatite experts, Lily Valley International (LVI), supports the data from historical mapping and drilling, with several pegmatite bodies observed.
Aggressive exploration planned
The transaction involves the acquisition of four granted mining leases and two prospecting permits, and the company plans to follow the purchase up with an aggressive exploration program starting next quarter.
Westar managing director Karl Jupp said: “Westar is delighted to extend our exploration portfolio and expand our commodity targets in the rapidly growing rare-metals sector and there is arguably no better place to enter the market than among emerging world-class lithium projects in Western Australia’s Forrestania region.
This project provides a unique opportunity to explore along strike of known gold mineralisation, in conjunction with a region of known LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) pegmatite swarms with the ability to fast track exploration.”
The Olga Rocks Project
The Olga Rocks Project is within the emerging Forrestania Lithium district, which hosts the developing Covalent Lithium Mt Holland Project (189 million tonnes at 1.50% lithium dioxide), along with Zenith Minerals' recent lithium-pegmatite discovery at the Split Rocks Project, less than 1.5 kilometres from Olga Rocks.
Westar thinks this project has the potential to further enhance the tier-one lithium potential of the district, with further exploration success.
The Southern Cross Greenstone Belt hosts multiple large-scale gold occurrences including Marvel Loch, Nevoria and the nearby Bounty mines; all are multi-million-ounce resources.