Ragusa wins sixth fresh lithium permit in the NT, adds to “supergroup” tenement holding

Ragusa Minerals’ (ASX:RAS) shares are flat in early lunch time trades, even as the company picks up a sixth lithium tenement in the NT to add to its “supergroup” NT Lithium Project. 

Ragusa’s project now comprises six different mining and exploration permits with another two applications pending as the company eyes a total of eight.

Those eight permits (assuming the latter two are granted) cover 319 individual blocks of land. Today’s permit, called EL33148, covers 28 blocks in a 91km² area. The permit itself covers land located 175km south of Darwin in a region called Wingate. 

High grade rock chips found nearby

Back in August, Ragusa found high-grade lithium in rockchips collected from another permit within its NT Lithium Project, which pushed one week returns for the company’s shareholders up to 98%. 

It found a rock chip grade of 5.46% lithium; investor information provider Undervalued Equity classifies high grade lithium as that above 1% concentrations. 

Worth noting, however, is that rock chips often boast anomalously high grades, and underground mineralisation in the same area may very well come out lower. 

What is also likely of particular interest to both shareholders and Ragusa’s exploration team is that the supergroup tenements holding covers the Litchfield Pegmatite Belt. 

That same geological formation hosts discoveries made by Core Lithium (ASX:CXO), Lithium Plus (ASX:LPM), and Charger Metals (ASX:CHR). 

What comes next? 

Ragusa will now get to work on crafting a lithium exploration program to submit to the NT government for further approval; this will ultimately allow it to begin drilling on-site. 

Before it gets there, the company must also engage in stakeholder engagement through the region which will also require its own approvals protocols. 

Pegmatite rocks are known to be present throughout adjacent tenements and Ragusa expects to undertake further surface mapping and geochemical sampling ahead of first-stage drilling. 

Another positive milestone: Management 

“The company’s strategic and highly prospective NT Lithium Project now contains six tenements where drilling operations are currently in progress,” Ragusa Minerals chair Jerko Zuvela said. 

“This is another positive milestone that puts Ragusa in a position to accelerate the development of the project.” 

“Our project is located in a proven high-quality lithium district in a Tier 1 jurisdiction close to major infrastructure at a time of record lithium prices.” 

Ragusa Minerals' three month charts