Kalamazoo expands lithium holding in NSW

Gold and lithium junior explorer, Kalamazoo Resources has been granted a new 990 square kilometre NSW Exploration Licence that has been dubbed the Jingellic lithium project. The grant is for an initial period of 6 years.

Located in the heart of the prospective Lachlan Fold Belt of southern NSW, the project area covers outcropping and under cover “S-type” granites associated with numerous alluvial and hard rock tin-tungsten occurrences, including outcropping tin-tungsten bearing pegmatite dykes and historical mine workings. The features fit nicely with Kalamazoo’s current lithium-caesium-tantalum- “LCT”- pegmatite exploration model.

Additionally, the company believes the fractionated granites and related mineral occurrences are an extension of the same geology that hosts known LCT mineralisation at Dart Mining’s Dorchap pegmatite project located a stone’s throw over the border in Victoria.

The new exploration ground is the first for the company in NSW, however the company’s Castlemaine, South Muckleford and Tarnagulla gold projects lie just over the border in Victoria.

Keen to get boots-on-ground, Kalamazoo wasted no time after the exploration licence was granted with an initial field reconnaissance exercise that confirmed the presence of several historical tin-tungsten mine workings and numerous outcropping pegmatite dykes located within the project area.

The Jingellic lithium project area is a mix of state forest, timber plantation, cleared and uncleared farmland and Kalamazoo plans to initiate a proactive community engagement process with all affected stakeholders.

The company will then follow with a “low impact” exploration program starting with a regional-scale soil sampling survey utilising portable XRF machines and more precise laboratory multi-element geochemical analyses. The work will be done in conjunction with the acquisition of high-resolution satellite imagery and field reconnaissance and mapping campaigns. The specific soil sampling technique used has previously proven successful at identifying lithium exploration targets at Kalamazoo’s WA lithium projects.

We are very pleased with the grant of this new exploration ground which we consider is highly prospective for lithium. Our recent lithium exploration activities in the Marble Bar area in JV with SQM, and at our 100% owned projects, has encouraged Kalamazoo to investigate new lithium projects and identifying such tenure close to our existing gold projects in Victoria is a real bonus.

Kalamazoo now owns over 1300 square kilometres of granted lithium exploration ground in both WA and NSW. In addition to lithium’s obvious use in lithium-ion batteries, the other minerals from LCT pegmatites have a wide range of applications in the production of electronic components, optical glass, atomic clocks, superconducting magnets and as solder for electronic circuit boards.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au