Zulu lithium exploration drill rig arrives on site
London Stock Exchange-listed mining and exploration junior, Premier African Minerals is upbeat to turn the Zulu lithium project into one of the biggest lithium producers in the country evidenced by speedy capital injection towards exploration.
Rudairo Mapuranga
The company announced on its Twitter account that an exploration drill rig had arrived on site, for exploration drill work on the EPO, (Exclusive Prospecting Order).
$PREM #PREM #Zulu #Lithium
𝐙𝐔𝐋𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐔𝐌 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 – 𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐒
The image below is of the exploration drill rig arriving on site, for exploration drill work on the EPO, (Exclusive Prospecting Order). pic.twitter.com/44sisfnhMI— Premier African Minerals (@Premafrimin) January 4, 2022
The exploration drill work campaign comes on the back of follow up the technical groundwork, validating potential exploration targets generated by the Remote sensing hyperspectral endeavour over the EPO ground.
Zulu lithium project is generally regarded as potentially the largest undeveloped lithium-bearing pegmatite in Zimbabwe. Zulu comprises 14 mineral claims covering a surface area of 3.5 km2 which are prospective for lithium and tantalum mineralisation.
Since the first phase of drilling, the company commenced a new drilling programme focused on expanding and upgrading the resources in the Main Zone as well as delineating a resource for the New Zone which was discovered in August 2017 and lies to the south-east of the Main Zone. The New Zone has the potential to exceed the projected target already established in the Main Zone. The exploration target for the Zulu Lithium Project is between 120-160 million tonnes.
Zulu was first pegged in 1955 and intensely explored until the early 1960s. Minor petalite production was reported for 1961 and 1962. The pegmatite bodies intruded along serpentine and sedimentary rocks over a strike length of several kilometres. The width varies between 10 and 25 meters. The bigger pegmatites to the north of the Machakwe River are rich in spodumene and lepidolite, the smaller pegmatites south of the Machakwe River are rich in petalite. The pegmatite bodies strike N20° and dip with 70° to 90° to the west. Parts of the pegmatite are quite rich in tantalite-Mn.
In 1958, O.J. Arnett of Rhodesian Selection Trust (RST) carried out a detailed investigation of the Zulu Project area in order to establish the extent of the lithium mineralization within the pegmatites.
To date, lithium-bearing pegmatites (mainly spodumene and lepidolite) have been identified not only at vertical depths of over 200 meters but also along a strike length of some 3,500 meters as well as on the eastern part of the Zulu concession. Following the Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate on the Main Zone and the discovery of the New Zone, Premier believes that the potential exploration target for Zulu is around 120-160 million tonnes.