Aurora confirms lithium grades replicating nearby US heavyweights

Aurora Energy Metals (ASX: 1AE) revealed on Wednesday its flagship lithium and uranium project in Oregon, USA, has the same quality of lithium deposits on-site as that of nearby players Jindalee Resources’ (ASX: JRL) and Lithium Americas (NYSE: LAC). 

Not only that, but lithium mineralisation at the project remains open in all directions (read: everywhere the company drills, it keeps hitting the battery metal). 

No lithium mineral resource is currently affixed to the project as there is for uranium. With the completion of further drilling, however, this is more than likely.

The company confirmed it had intersected widespread uranium and lithium mineralisation at the project last month. 

The geotech team is now amassing a growing body of evidence lithium mineralisation on-site could potentially reflect a commercial-scale deposit. 

McDermitt Caldera geology promising 

The news on grades replicating that of nearby producers confirms what the company has long suspected, that its acreage nearby the prolific McDermitt Caldera mining province appears to be part of the same geological formation. 

“We have not only validated the well-defined Aurora uranium deposit model, we have also enhanced our understanding of the potential for an extension of that model,” Aurora chief Greg Cochran said. 

The company’s Aurora Energy Metals Project is unique in its geological peculiars. Chasing both uranium and lithium on-site, with a two-tiered system, is the defining element of the project’s overall value.

How does that work? 

Lithium mineralisation in ancient lakebed sediments on-site occurs at relatively shallow depths, lying above deeper hard-rock uranium mineralisation further down. 

With lithium the key component in Electric Vehicle (EV) batteries, and uranium the key constituent of most nuclear reactors, Aurora is targeting the USA’s domestic supply chain as clean energy initiatives unfold. 

Both minerals are classified as critical by the US government, with a view towards supply chain security. 

“The first hole in the graben area returned some tantalising assays, showing that uranium mineralisation may extend deeper than what was previously thought,” Cochran said on Wednesday. 

The news comes on the back of the company receiving the last batch of assay results collected during its recently completed 3,400m drill run. 

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