IronRidge makes solid progress on exploration at Cape Coast

Africa-focussed minerals exploration company IronRidge Resources updated the market on drilling and exploration at its Cape Coast lithium portfolio in Ghana on Thursday, reporting that reverse circulation (RC) drilling was ongoing, with more than 8,000 metres drilled to date of a planned 13,200 metre third phase programme.

The AIM-traded firm said multiple visual spodumene-bearing pegmatite zones had been intersected in drilling at Ewoyaa North, Ewoyaa North-East and Abonko, with assays pending.

It said new coarse spodumene-bearing pegmatite was discovered in outcrop and trenching at the Kaampakrom target, one kilometre north of resource drilling at Ewoyaa, with a strike of over 250 metres and possible extensions to 500 metres, and trenching underway with mineralisation open in both directions.

Drill access and prospecting drill pads had been completed at the Kaampakrom target, with drilling there described by the board as “imminent”.

A new pegmatite discovery was reported at the Ndasiman target, around 10 kilometres west of Ewoyaa, with trenching defining a 700 metre strike and up to 100 metres of apparent width.

Additionally, a new pegmatite discovery was made at the Krofo target, about three kilometres north-west of Ewoyaa; with trenching defining a 400 metre strike and up to 25 metres of apparent width.

IronRidge said the wet season environmental and social baseline draft report had been received from Ghanaian consultancy NEMAS Consult, with dry season baseline studies set to commence.

The board said it was targeting a maiden mineral resource estimate for the first quarter of 2020, adding that lithium hydroxide conversion testwork at ANSTO was now underway.

“Drilling is progressing well with approximately a third of the planned RC and diamond programme remaining,” said IronRidge Resources chief operating officer Len Kolff.

“We are pleased to report that drilling has defined new pegmatite zones along the known Ewoyaa deposit footprint, with visual spodumene in RC drill chips and assays pending.

“Ongoing exploration activities; running concurrently with the drill programme and bolstered by an additional dedicated geologist has delivered multiple new pegmatite discoveries at Kaampakrom, Ndasiman and Krofo.”

Kolff said target areas prioritised on the basis of the regional soils programme, including in-house laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and portable x-ray fluorescence (pXRF) analysis, complemented by the regional airborne magnetics survey and reconnaissance field mapping, were delivering new pegmatite discoveries, which he said “vindicated” the methodology and highlighted multiple new target areas.

“The Kaampakrom discovery is especially encouraging given the coarse visible spodumene in outcrop and trenching, and close proximity to the current drilling underway at Ewoyaa one kilometre away.

“The scale of the Ndasiman pegmatite discovery is promising, with pegmatite exposed in trenching over 700 metre strike and up to 100 metre apparent widths, with assays pending to confirm whether it is lithium bearing.”

Kolff added that the Krofo discovery, within three kilometres of the Ewoyaa deposit footprint, was “encouraging”, adding that it provided further prospectivity within the Cape Coast pegmatite field for additional discoveries.

“The Ghana field team has done a great job in advancing the resource drilling programme and the exploration pipeline through diligent, staged field work where results demonstrate further exploration upside within the Cape Coast lithium portfolio.”