Western Gold discovers rare earths and lithium at Joyners Find Greenstone Belt

Western Gold Resources (ASX:WGR) has jumped 8% in early afternoon trade as the company announces the discovery of both pegmatites and REEs at the Brilliant Prospect onsite its Gold Duke Project, targeting the WA Joyners Find Greenstone Belt geology.

Pegmatites commonly host lithium mineralisation, a commodity which has risen 414% in value year on year as demand for the battery metal soars. RC drilling assay results also returned evidence of Rubidium, Tantalum and Niobium mineralisation on-site, all critical minerals. 

The company is reviewing its exploration program at the Brilliant Prospect to encapsulate the recent REE find, as well as re-submitting assays for analysis. 

(Source: Western Gold) A map locating the company's most recently completed RC targets

REEs thought to be present in desirable geological conditions for refining 

The company says it is targeting weathered zones onsite where REEs are typically leached from underground source rocks and absorbed onto clay minerals. Should that assessment be accurate, the company is facing an ideal downstream processing situation for the manufacture and sale of REEs. 

Further analysis refining the possible presence of lithium mineralisation on site will be received by the company during June 2022. 

The discovery of pegmatites at the Joyners Find location is the first time such geology has been encountered there, the company claims, meaning that Western Gold potentially sits on a previously untapped lithium resource. Investors have clearly taken interest in that finding as the company’s share price jumps back up to 12.5c. 

Lithium results pending 

The Brilliant Prospect sits above a shear zone and the company had originally been seeking gold and copper. 

The pegmatites intersected are predominately hosted in quartz mineralogy and were identified in six different RC drillholes for which results are pending. 

The pegmatites are believed to be controlled by northwest trending faults. 

A 7km long strike zone over the granite-greenstone belt is of interest to Western Gold Resources for its REE potential (and lithium), with the company now devising a formal exploration strategy for Tantalum, Niobium and Rubidium.

Western Gold's three month charts and the materials index (XMJ) for reference