This company is firing up the drills at its second Namibian lithium permit

Askari Metals (ASX:AS2) has started stage 1 drilling at its second tenement, comprising the company’s Uis lithium project in Namibia, Africa. 

Spodumene pegmatites are known to be on-site at the project. 

The second permit, EL8535, was subject to a fieldwork campaign that found high grade surface results of 3.3% lithium oxide, 3.2% tin, and 0.42% tantalum. 

Surface samples indicating 0.79% rubidium were also found. In May 2022, rubidium prices hit US$6,000/kg. 

Fast progress at Uis: management 

“Within three weeks of acquiring EPL 7345, the Company had mobilized a drill rig to site for its Phase I RC drilling program at EPL 7345 and we are now due to commence Phase II RC drilling at EPL 7345 in late February 2023,” Askari exploration chief Johan Lambrechts said. 

“This inaugural phase of drilling on EPL 8535 will culminate in the Company completing more than 100 drill holes on our Namibian projects in less than five months.” 

Chasing holy grail spodumene 

The drill program kicked off on Wednesday will see 3,000m of core equivalent collected over 40 holes targeting an established series of targets of interest on-site. 

A Reverse Circulation (RC) drill rig will be used which collects rock chips from underground. For this reason, the term “core equivalent” is used

Surface pegmatites will be drilled as a matter of priority where previous mapping identified large surface targets. 

Pegmatites often host lithium mineralisation with spodumene pegmatite being the more desirable style of mineralisation over lepidolite, for which downstream processing is more expensive.

Data collected from the drilling launched on Wednesday will be used to inform the progress of further drilling at the first Uis tenement later this month. 

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Disclaimer: Market Index helps small-cap ASX listed companies connect with Australian investors through clear and concise articles on key developments. Askari 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.