Oceana Lithium Limited (ASX:OCN)(Oceana or the Company) is pleased to advise that field exploration work is now underway at the Monaro Lithium Project in James Bay Québec.
Key Points
Field exploration commences at Monaro Lithium Project following lifting of wildfire access restrictions.Québec based contractor Explo-Logik has mobilised an experienced exploration team with helicopter support to target high-priority areas.In preparation for its inaugural field season Oceana has identified various high priority targets within the Monaro project area. These targets will be investigated on the ground during the current field campaign with a focus on identifying spodumene bearing pegmatites.These targets include the two reported Québec Government SIGÉOM pegmatites; some 114 large linear structures with surface signs of pale outcrop, some up to 1.25 km in length identified from high resolution satellite imagery, as well as 26 spectral targets selected from Sentinel 2 remote sensing data.Monaro covers 104 km2 in the western portion of the Archean Duhesme Lake metavolcano-sedimentary greenstone belt, that can be traced about 40 km along strike and 4-5 km across and is known to host lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) mineralisation.The project is located 10 km north-west of the Adina Lithium Project, where owner Winsome Resources (ASX: WR1) has reported significant lithium mineralised pegmatite intercepts1.
Experienced Québec based contractor Explo-Logik has mobilised at the Mirage Outfitter camp to conduct the inaugural helicopter-supported field program over the Monaro project area. The program consists of mapping, prospecting, rock, till and soil sampling with onsite XRF analyses for key LCT pegmatite pathfinder elements (Cs, Be, Nb, Sn, P, Rb, and Ta).
Oceana has identified numerous geological features, magnetic structures and visual supported by four support field technicians working on a rotational basis. The exploration team plans to sample over 60 locations, with samples to be sent to ALS in Val-d’Or, Québec for analysis with field activity expected to continue until mid to late September.
Figure 1: Simplified bedrock geology map of the James Bay district showing the location of the Monaro Lithium Project in relation to the CV5 discovery made by Patriot Battery Metals 2 and proximity to Winsome Resources’ Adina lithium prospect. For a more detailed geological map refer to Oceana’s ASX announcement 5 July 2023.
Sentinel 2 visible/near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) and Aster Multispectral and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data has been acquired for the Monaro project area and analysed. Analysis of the emission spectra, with a focus on dihydrogen or helium which have strong emission lines in the VNIR, has generated targets, which could be indicative of the mineral zeolite, common in pegmatites, and cookeite, a weathering product of the lithium mineral lepidolite. Twenty-six (26) spectral targets (gas and resistivity), excluding 4 targets previously reported which actually lie on the periphery of the tenements (Oceana’s ASX announcement 5 July 2023), have been generated from these data sets (see Figure 2). This method has been applied with great success in lithium exploration in Western Australia.
Figure 2: Linear satellite imagery targets (yellow) and spectral targets (red diamonds); and identified pegmatites (SIGÉOM pegmatite data – red star, and Tilly pegmatite suite – red polygon) within the Monaro Lithium Project area (refer Oceana ASX announcement 5 July 2023).
The Company has also purchased high resolution PNEO 30cm 6-Band satellite imagery for the tenement area, and a LiDAR survey contractor has been appointed to gather additional high resolution topography data and imagery to further assist in pegmatite identification and accurate delineation.
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