Australian lithium explorer and developer Wildcat Resources on Wednesday announced the discovery of the Luke pegmatite, in addition to further exceptional results at the Leia pegmatite from ongoing drilling at the Tabba Tabba project, near Port Hedland, in Western Australia.
Drilling beneath the Leia deposit has discovered a thick lithium mineralised repetition named the Luke pegmatite, with intercepts of 41 m at 1% lithium oxide (Li2O) from 267 m, including 24 m at 1.3%.
“The blind discovery of another thick mineralised pegmatite at Luke confirms the ongoing exploration potential at Tabba Tabba,” said geology manager Torrin Rowe.
Meanwhile, diamond drilling at Leia continues to return impressive new results, including 68 m at 1.4% Li2O from 337 m, 58.7 m at 1.3% Li2O from 333.1 m and 90.2 at 0.7% Li2O.
Tabba Tabba is near some of the world’s biggest hard-rock lithium mines, 47 km from Pilbara Minerals’ 414-million-tonne Pilgangoora project, 87 km from Mineral Resources’ 259-million-tonne Wodgina project, and only 80 km by road to Port Hedland’s port on fully approved mining leases.
Since acquiring the Tabba Tabba project less than 12 months ago, and commencing drilling in July 2023, Wildcat has drilled nearly 74 000 m comprising 197 reverse circulation holes for 44 923 m and 74 diamond drill holes for 28 647 m.
The exploration efforts at Tabba Tabba have defined a 3.2-km-long lithium/cesium/tantalum pegmatite field hosting at least seven significant pegmatite bodies (Leia, Luke, Boba, Chewy, Tabba Tabba, Han and Hutt).