- Significantly higher grades than nearby Ganfeng/ILC in stream sediments, similar grades in soil samples. Stream sediment assays mostly in the 125-1000ppm range vs 60-120ppm range for Ganfeng/ILC assays.
- Visible spodumene in several areas and visible spodumene crystals in one prospective area that appears to be at least a few hundred metres long.
- Ganfeng investing significantly nearby in a highly prospective JV with ILC
- Geopolitical - excellent in Ireland
- Amenable weather for year round development
- Land base much larger than ILC
Leinster Lithium Project - Ireland
Reasons for Acquisition
Options - North Leinster Lithium Project
- Option 1 - To earn 17.5% - spend EUR88,000 by Oct 2022 and up to EUR7,500 for licence fees etc. The vendor has undertaken to speak to regulator to waive/extend the time frame for these payments. There are no payments to the vendor at this stage
- Option 2 - To earn 37.5% to get to 55%, within 2 years of the above or 4 years from Oct 2020, spend EUR500,000 on the property and pay EUR50,000 to vendor (90% can be paid in stock at GBML’s discretion)
- Option 3 – to earn 35% to get 90% - spend EUR1,000,000 and pay EUR200,000 (90% can be stock, at GBML’s discretion) with in two years of above, or 6.5 years from now
- Project subject to a 2% royalty, 1% can be bought back for EUR1,000,000
Work and Results to Date
Northwest Leinster Project Work Update:
The NW Leinster Project is focused on the exploration for lithium mineralization (spodumene pegmatites) in the north of the Leinster Massif in south-east Ireland. The project area is covered by fifteen (15) prospecting licences termed the North-west Leinster Block which covers a total area of 477.39 km2. The prospecting licences were granted to LRH Resources Limited in October 2018 and are valid for an initial period of six-years from that date.
The NW Leinster project is located at the north-east end of the East Carlow Deformation Zone (ECDZ) with licences also located to the north of this zone in interpreted similar structural settings. To the immediate south-east, a 55km long zone of discrete lithium-bearing pegmatites & aplites, centred on the Aclare deposit was discovered during 1960s and 1970s near the contact of the Tullow Lowlands granite pluton with the Lower Palaeozoic metasediments which are considered genetically as well as spatially related to the ECDZ. The Aclare deposit (part of International Lithium Corp – Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd JV’s Avalonia Project) which reportedly comprises a 20m wide spodumene pegmatite zone with a non-compliant historical resource estimate of 570,00 tonnes grading 1.5% Li20; strike length of primary target zone is approx. 550m with best intersections of 2.23% Li20 over 23.3m including 3.43% Li20 over 6m. (https://internationallithium.com/i/pdf/ILC.pdf)
The planned exploration programmes over the NW Leinster Project during the period have successfully located new, and previously unknown lithium pegmatite mineralization on the block in areas initially targeted using legacy Geological Survey geochemical data and followed up with detailed field surveys. These areas are:
- Aghavannagh Prospect – large angular blocks of spodumene pegmatite (float) returned the maximum value of 8280ppm Li (1.78% Li2O) in sample AES43343 on PL4541.
- Sorrel Prospect - pegmatite float with 3cm-5cm prismatic spodumene crystals in sample AES34326 on PL4536 returned a value of 7680ppm Li (1.65% Li2O).
- Tonygarrow Prospect - spodumene pegmatite located (0.99% Li2O).
- Scurlocks Prospect – aplite float with anomalous lithium (0.65% Li2O).
- Knocknaboley Prospect - anomalous lithium (820ppm Li) in aplite float on PL4546
The spodumene bearing float discovered at the Aghavannagh was further investigated by detailed mapping, prospecting, deep overburden geochemical surveys and a 12.5-line kilometre ground magnetic survey. The area represents the first emerging drilling target at Aghavannagh on PL 4541 where exploration focus will continue into the next period of tenure while the other prospect areas are similarly explored using the successful exploration strategy developed at Aghavannagh.
The NW Leinster Project has extended known mineralization along the full length of the East Carlow Deformation Zone a full 75km from SW to NE through the identification on the NW Leinster Projects block of licences. Occurrences of spodumene pegmatite float at discrete locations throughout the block, indicate the potential for close to surface ore grade mineralization like that seen at the Avalonia projects Aclare and Moylisha targets.
The NW Leinster projects significant exploration results are considered highly encouraging, and further exploration programmes are currently being planned across the block with an immediate priority on identifying a drill target at the Aghavannagh Prospect.
The Company has completed three drill holes of a six-hole drilling program on the Aughavanagh target area of the NW Leinster property for a total of 625.5 metres. The target area occurs at the mapped contact between multi-phase sheeted Devonian granites and the contact metamorphosed metasediments of the Ordovician-aged Ribband Group. This area therefore presents an analogous target to the Aclare and Moylisha prospects 40km to the south-west on the Avalonia project being drilled by the Ganfeng-International Lithium Corp. JV.
All three initial drill holes intersected several different phases of well-developed pegmatite veins with Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum (LCT) geochemical signatures, though lithium assays received from these pegmatites were not significant. Lithium was, however, shown by LIBS (Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy) analysis to be elevated Individual biotites within granites in sections of hole 3 (the most northerly) returned Li values of between 1500ppm Li and 2638ppm, indicating passage of mineral rich fluids with potential proximity to an LCT pegmatites, or to an albitised pegmatite which liberated the lithium from a lithium-bearing pegmatite.
The drilling of the remaining three holes of programme will resume after target refinement and vectoring studies utilising geochemical and petrological information from the drilling and planned complementary mapping, prospecting and deep overburden sampling at Aughavanagh.
Additional Regional NW Leinster Block Claims Applied For
An application for a prospecting license for an area which adjoins and is immediately south of Ganfeng-ILC’s Avalonia project has been made.
A recent historical data review and literature search undertaken by LRH Resources, our partner on the project, resulted in the identification of six new prospects outside the current NW Leinster block with spodumene-bearing (lithium) pegmatite boulder concentrations. One of these was ground-truthed and float samples taken returned a maximum value of 2.95% Li2O (Table 1) verifying historical prospecting. A previous operator’s trench log records reported a 1.8m spodumene-pegmatite vein under the area of this highest sample, however, no other information, including assays, are available in the Geological Survey Open File archive.
Table 1 – Float Samples from Prospect Outside NW Leinster Block
Sample |
Li (ppm) |
Li2O eq (%)* |
---|---|---|
210724CL02 |
3240 |
0.70 |
210724CL03 |
11200 |
2.41 |
210724CL04 |
11000 |
2.37 |
210724CL05 |
13700 |
2.95 |
* Li2O % = Li ppm % (x 2.153)
An application for the relevant prospecting licence covering this area, PLA1597, which adjoins and is immediately south of the Ganfeng-ILC’s Avalonia Project, has been made by LRH Resources and will be operated under the current Agreement between GBML and LRH Resources.
Whilst target refinement work at Aughavanagh is completed, this new area, as well as five other regional targets on the NW Leinster Lithium block identified in 2018 by LRH Resources, will be further investigated. The five regional targets were initially identified by analysis of legacy, low-density soil/stream sediment sampling data and perspectivity was confirmed by LRH Resources reconnaissance prospecting at:
- Sorrell (1.65% Li2O in spodumene-bearing pegmatite float),
- Scurlocks (0.65% Li2O in aplite float),
- Knocknaboley (820ppm Li in aplite float),
- Tonygarrow (0.99% Li2O % in spodumene-bearing pegmatite float) and,
- Glencullen.
None of these areas have been explored by LRH-GBML to date and detailed prospecting and mapping is planned for each area.