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Ragusa Minerals Limited (ASX: RAS) (“Ragusa” or “Company”) is pleased to advise that it has entered into a Tenement Farm-in Agreement (“Agreement”) with May Drilling Pty Ltd for the exclusive right to earn an initial 90% interest in tenements EL28642, EL29731, EL30521, EL32671 and EL(A)32405 (combined the “Tenements”) – located in the highly prospective Litchfield Pegmatite Belt in Northern Territory – and the exclusive option to acquire the additional 10% interest in the tenements.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Additional project area comprising five tenements to create Northern Territory combined “supergroup” project
- Tenement farm-in agreement for Ragusa to earn initial 90% interest, with scope to increase to 100%
- Strategic ~570km2 NT lithium landholding in highly prospective Litchfield Pegmatite Belt, and comparable land package to neighbouring Core Lithium and Lithium Plus
- Four granted tenements allow for rapid advancement of exploration works
In addition, the Agreement allows the Company to conduct due diligence works including immediate exploration activities on the tenements, covering approximately 570km2 within the highly prospective Pine Creek Orogen including the Finnis River Group – host to Core Lithium’s Finnis Project.
Ragusa intends to commence exploration works to target outcropping pegmatite rocks identified from prior exploration activities, to develop a more comprehensive lithium exploration program.
Ragusa Chairperson, Jerko Zuvela said“The Company has secured extremely strategic and highly soughtafter lithium prospective tenements in the centre of a well-renowned lithium district. This is a significant opportunity to combine Ragusa’s existing NT lithium projects to create a combined “supergroup” project area comparable to neighbours Core Lithium and Lithium Plus, and utilise our exploration and development experience to rapidly progress our NT Lithium Project in a Tier 1 jurisdiction close to major infrastructure.
With four currently granted tenements and considerable historic works to reference, Ragusa is in a strong position to rapidly accelerate the development of our project at a time of record lithium prices and within a proven high-quality lithium district.”
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The four granted tenements cover the same general prospective geology as Ragusa’s existing Northern Territory lithium projects, and also Core Lithium and Lithium Plus project areas. The fifth tenement – EL(A)32405 is located south-east of Ragusa’s Daly River Project tenement, and also contains similar geology.
The main lithium bearing host geology in the region are pegmatites within the Burrell Creek Formation of the Finnis River Group of sediments, adjacent to and within the contact aureole of late Proterozoic granites as the source of the LCT (Li- Cs-Ta) pegmatites in the area.
The Burrell Creek Formation continues from the known lithium bearing district predominantly held by Core Lithium in the north, through the Litchfield National Park and into the newly acquired four granted tenements, and into Ragusa’s Daly River Lithium Project in the south. Together, this combined “supergroup” of tenements Ragusa has acquired represents a significant and strategic landholding within the very highly prospective geology of the Finnis River Group for lithium bearing minerals, and all within a short distance to the major port of Darwin.
Historical exploration in the prospective lithium province relating to pegmatites, has predominantly been for tin and tantalum, with numerous remnant small-scale artisanal mining evident in the area (including the new Ragusa tenements project area). Reports on previous exploration for lithium by Core, Liontown, and others has consistently noted the intense lateritc weathering profile in the area, which has led to the breakdown/alteration of spodumene to kaolinite, resulting in the lack of spodumene at surface. In a presentation to the 2017 AGES conference, Core noted “interest and knowledge of lithium limited to amblygonite collectors” and “no spodumene at surface” 1 , which is remarkably consistent with data provided to Ragusa on the new tenements.
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