Australia Stock Exchange listed mining and exploration junior Prospect Resources’ Step Aside Lithium project continues to provide promising results at its high-rated WinBin discovery which has returned an intercept of 33m @ 1.18% Li2O from 81m, including 24m @ 1.41% Li2Ofrom 88m, the company Managing Director and CEO Sam Hosack has announced.
Rudairo Mapuranga
According to Hosack, WinBin potentially represents a feeder zone for the defined spodumene mineralisation identified further to the north during earlier phases of drilling.
“WinBin continues to provide very promising results which have our team very excited, particularly with the potential this body provides as a feeder system to the northern pegmatites. In addition, the belief that the WinBin feeder is yet to be fully understood makes this a very compelling geological process. We look forward to providing more news flow on Step Aside over the coming months,” Hosack said.
The Prospect Resource CEO said a 10.45m-wide zone of the WinBin pegmatite was also intersected 220m beneath the discovery holes, in a successful re-entry of drill hole CDD054.
“The second drill hole completed at its significant new WinBin lithium discovery at the Step Aside Lithium Project (Step Aside) (PSC90%) in Zimbabwe, has returned strong assay results. Vertical drill hole CDD056, collared 2m west of the angled discovery holeCDD055, intercepted33m @ 1.18% Li2Ofrom 81m downhole, including a higher-grade section of 24m @ 1.41% Li2Ofrom 88m.
“In addition, angled drill hole CDD054, collared 230m west of the discovery cluster, was reentered at 80m depth and has intersected a 10.45m wide zone of the projected WinBin pegmatite position at a downhole depth of 388m. Assays are pending for this zone, which contains visual spodumene crystals and is located approximately 300m vertically from surface.
“The deep intersection of mineralised pegmatite within drill hole CDD054, along with multiple further intercepts of strongly mineralised pegmatite in subsequent holes drilled to the south of the WinBin discovery has demanded this area of the Step Aside licence be subjected to further immediate follow-up drilling. With 3,750m of the expanded 5,000m Phase 3 programme having been completed to date, the remaining 1,250m is being deployed to this end. Furthermore, the exciting results of the Stage 3 diamond drilling programme are informing the design and optimisation of a planned Phase 4 programme to commence early in the New Year, focused on WinBin,” he said.
Hosack said XRD analysis from pulp samples of discovery hole CDD055 demonstrate that WinBin lithium mineralisation is predominantly spodumene(+95%).
“Recent XRD analysis of representative pulp samples from the lithium mineralised intersection of WinBin discovery hole CDD055 have also returned a compositional result that is more than 95% spodumene,” he said.
According to Hosack, Five (5)further drill holes targeting the extension of WinBin to the south have intersected strong intersections of coarse spodumene, with all assays pending.
He said new assays received from holes targeting the Pegmatite C deposit north of WinBin returned 5.62m @1.48%Li2O(CDD053) and 6.68m @ 1.17% Li2O(CDD057).
Hosack added that “the full structural position of the WinBin deposit, plus the narrower but well-mineralised pegmatites to the north, is still not entirely clear. However, there is mounting evidence that WinBin may be the potential feeder zone for the Colga pegmatite swarm (specifically Pegmatites A to F), which was targeted during the earlier phases of drilling completed by Prospect at Step Aside. Indirectly, the WinBin discovery itself may be “fed” from a larger (currently undefined) regional intrusive parent body in the broader Harare Greenstone Belt.”
Stage 3 Diamond Drilling Programme
The expanded diamond drilling programme of 5,000 metres is expected to be completed in early December, with most assays then available by mid-January 2024. Prospect is continuing to evaluate extensions of the WinBin deposit, with one drill rig dedicated to expanding the volumetric limits of this impressively coarse-grained and high-grade spodumene deposit(a distinct feature of this pegmatite intrusion). The second rig is regionally testing Pegmatite C northwards from positions where t appears to co-join WinBin and is currently interpreted to represent a splay from the latter.