Midas Minerals has 20km of lithium targets to explore in 2023

Midas Minerals (ASX:MM1) on Monday confirmed its start to 2023 will be a big one, with new assays from its Newington Project in WA revealing both lithium and gold drill targets over a 20km area. 

A concentration of more than five grams of gold per tonne (g/t) is classified as “high grade, according to investor information provider Undervalued Equity.

Rock-chip samples at the project for gold have returned grades of 7.7g/t, landing firmly on the radar of the company’s exploration team. 

The Newington Project is near the mining town of Southern Cross, WA, and overlies the northern end of the Westonia Greenstone Belt. 

Lithium the major target

But gold is not what Midas has its eye most keenly fixed on. Newington is predominantly a battery metals play. 

“Significant work completed at Newington by the Company in the second half of 2022 has been successful in delineating areas most prospective for spodumene bearing LCT pegmatites,” Midas Minerals Managing Director Mark Calderwood said.

As for lithium, auger drilling uncovered no shortage of soil anomalies further supportive of the exploration team’s thesis lithium-bearing pegmatite mineralisation is common at the project. 

“From the limited RC drilling, we have an understanding of the…pegmatites. As part of the program some promising gold (up to 7.7g/t Au) results have been received in areas which do not appear to have been drilled,” Calderwood said.

In September last year, the company hit pegmatites in 54 of 63 holes sunk on-site during the first stages of the late 2022 exploration campaign.

By mid-November, the company was awaiting over 1,000 assay samples returned. 

The bulk of those samples are now largely back with the company, and they confirm what Midas reports today: multiple areas of interest on-site to be drill-tested for lithium over a distance of 20km. 

Next steps 

The company will now move ahead with further mapping and drill planning on-site. 

Over the 20km area confirmed to contain a number of prospective lithium targets, the most high-ranking of those will be prioritised ahead of an upcoming 2023 drilling campaign.

A look at Midas Minerals' three month charts

Disclaimer: Market Index helps small-cap ASX listed companies connect with Australian investors through clear and concise articles on key developments. Midas was a client at the time of publishing. All coverage contains factual information only and should not be interpreted as an opinion or financial advice.