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Writer's pictureMichael Philipps

Pegmatite hits continue for Future Battery at Kangaroo Hills

Updated: Apr 19


Drilling at Future Battery Minerals’ Rocky prospect intercepted pale green spodumene within a 10m-thick pegmat

Future Battery Minerals has intercepted several thick pegmatites with visible spodumene from diamond drilling at its Rocky and Big Red prospects that form part of the greater Kangaroo Hills lithium project.


The company says the latest visual results are consistent with the stacked model previously identified at Big Red, with further diamond holes planned to test the potential for thickening at depth.


Management believes early observations of the shallow pegmatites at the Big Red and the Rocky prospects can draw analogies to Liontown Resources’ Kathleen Valley lithium project during its early exploration phase in 2019, before its discovery of deeper, thick source pegmatite.


Liontown has been hitting the headlines in the past week, with Albermarle attempting a takeover and Australia’s richest person Gina Rinehart emerging as a more significant shareholder through her Hancock Prospecting company – movements Future Battery is sure to have been watching closely.


The company has returned a reverse-circulation (RC) rig to the Rocky prospect for an additional 6000m campaign to specifically target potential extensions and the thickening of the mineralised pegmatites. Management says the expanded program will further test Rocky and the neighbouring Eastern Grey prospect, where the pegmatites have the potential to significantly add to the scale of Kangaroo Hills.


Three of the latest diamond drillholes were aimed at further testing the Big Red pegmatite, with one hole intercepting a thick package of spodumene pegmatite up to 23.3m in downhole thickness. The company says the intercept is consistent with other observed high-grade zones at the prospect.


Four diamond holes were sunk at Rocky, which all intercepted pegmatites ranging in thickness from less than 1m up to 20.9m downhole. The company is currently waiting on assays from third-phase RC drilling at Kangaroo Hills, in addition to the recent diamond testing at Big Red and Rocky.

This phase of drilling has successfully intercepted numerous pegmatites formations displaying visible spodumene mineralisation. These findings are consistent with the modelled stacked system and is further proof we are on track for discovering a significant lithium system. Future Battery Minerals technical director Robin Cox

Management says it is pursuing permitting and drilling at its Nevada lithium project in the United States, which it expects to kick off this month. It consists of five key prospects through some 90 square kilometres of lithium country next to the Tesla gigafactory, among some big US lithium players.


Just yesterday, the company locked in Nick Rathjen as its managing director and chief executive officer – effective from December 6.


Management says Mr Rathjen has a proven track record with more than a decade in equity capital markets, corporate development and mineral marketing, with extensive experience in the lithium sector. His most recent experience is as head of corporate development at Canadian lithium developer Green Technology Metals and he previously led corporate development at Prospect Resources.


Mr Rathjen said he was “deeply passionate” about developing lithium projects and saw Kangaroo Hills, which sits about 17km south of Coolgardie, as a project of genuine potential.


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