JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Exploration company IronRidge has acquired another highly prospective hard-rock lithium pegmatite licence in Ghana, West Africa.
“This acquisition further consolidates our West African lithium portfolio and strategy. We see enormous potential in supplying the growing energy industry with lithium. Securing the remaining area of interest directly complements our recent acquisition activity in this space in Ghana,” says CEO Vincent Mascolo.
He adds that the asset presents a strategic opportunity that consolidates and covers resource-scale potential, simple mineralogy and proximity to infrastructure in the mining-friendly jurisdiction of Ghana.
“We believe this endorses the potential for the project’s success as a first-quartile cost producer, with low capital expenditure requirements and a simple mining and treatment process.”
The project area is located on the southern margin of the Cape Coast Batholith, a major 100 km by 200 km granitic intrusive complex occurring along the southern-central coastline of Ghana and part of the West African shield.
A window of older Birimian metasediments is surrounded by the batholith and occurs along the intrusive contact, possibly representing a roof pendant of older metasediments underlain by granitic intrusives.
Smaller kilometre scale, more fractionated granitic intrusive bosses occur within the metasediments and are spatially associated with pegmatitic vein swarms.
These intrusive bodies are believed to be the more fractionated end-members and, accordingly, represent more prospective zones for lithium-rich pegmatites.
Mapping and bulk sampling completed by the Ghana Geological Survey indicates the pegmatites are between 350 ft to 560 ft strike, 30 ft to 80 ft width and average 0.5% to 2.2% lithium oxide in grade.
Pegmatites appear to be associated with kilometre scale microgranite bosses within the licence area.
Significant exploration potential exists along strike, within the pegmatite vein swarm trend. IronRidge in early September secured the rights to highly-prospective lithium tenements in Ghana and has also entered into a deal to acquire a highly prospective lithium licence in Côte d'Ivoire.