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IronRidge Resources granted Cape Coast exploration license

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Global Mining Review,


IronRidge Resources Ltd, an African focused minerals exploration company, has announced that the Cape Coast application has been granted as an exploration license. The newly granted license is adjacent to the Mankessim exploration license which hosts the Ewoyaa Lithium Project (ELP), where the company has defined an initial JORC 2012 compliant mineral resource estimate of 14.5 million t at 1.31% Li2O in the inferred and indicated category, including 4.5 million t at 1.39% Li2O in the indicated category in Ghana, West Africa.

Highlights

  • Cape Coast exploration license now granted, providing the company access to 139.23 km2 of highly prospective lithium tenure.
  • Newly granted license further bolsters the Company's Cape Coast Lithium Portfolio, which hosts the 14.5million t at 1.31% Li2O Ewoyaa Lithium resource (JORC) and the historic 1.48 million t at 1.66% Li2O Egyasimanku Hill deposit (non-JORC).
  • Original Cape Coast application for 264 km2 with 139.23 km2 granted in line with mining regulations, bringing total Ghana Cape Coast Lithium Portfolio to 560 km2.
  • Only 13 km2 of IronRidge's 560 km2 Cape Coast Lithium Portfolio drill tested to date; significant exploration potential within proven prospective pegmatite hosting terrain.
  • Ideal infrastructure support: projects located within 110 km of the operating Takoradi deep-sea port, within 100 km of the capital Accra and adjacent to the sealed Takoradi-Accra highway and high-power transmission lines.
  • Highly supportive government; long mining history, strong diversification drive and pro-renewable and stored energy space initiatives.
  • Increasing lithium demand due to its role in the stored energy transition.

Vincent Mascolo, CEO of IronRidge, said: “We are very pleased to have been granted this Cape Coast exploration license, strengthening our existing portfolio in Ghana. We will move aggressively to commence regional exploration on the license to define additional pegmatite targets.

“The license is exceptionally well located, both geologically and from an infrastructure perspective, and provides the company with access to an additional 139 km2 of highly prospective geology, adjacent to the company's Ewoyaa Lithium Project.

“We are confident the additional exploration tenure will help generate targets to potentially increase resource scale and improve overall Ewoyaa project economics, where we have defined Ghana's first lithium JORC compliant resource of 14.5 million t at 1.31% Li2O, within 110 km of an operating deep-sea port.

“The company is ideally positioned to take advantage of the increasing demand for lithium due to its role in the stored energy transition and we look forward to keeping shareholders updated as further results become available.”

Cape Coast exploration license

The newly granted Cape Coast exploration license covers 139.23 km2 of highly prospective geology adjacent to the Saltpond and Mankessim licenses, the latter of which hosts the Ewoyaa project. The enhanced portfolio consolidates tenure over prospective Birimian schists and intrusives adjacent to the Cape Coast batholith and within 5 – 22 km trucking distance from the Ewoyaa lithium resource.

The Cape Coast license occurs within the contact zone between the Cape Coast batholith and Birimian metasediments and volcanics.

Limited previous exploration has been completed over the Cape Coast license area, consisting of regional stream sediment concentrate sampling and mapping by the Ghana Geological Survey during the 1960s. This work has defined multiple pegmatites and beryllium stream sediment anomalies over the Ewoyaa pegmatite swarm and new target areas within the Cape Coast license.

As beryllium appears to be associated with mineralised pegmatites within the project area, the defined stream sediment beryllium concentrate anomalies and mapped pegmatites provide an initial targeting tool to help prioritise exploration in this area of tropical weathering and thick vegetation and cover.

In parallel, the company will extend its current airborne geophysical survey over the new license area in addition to 100 x 100 m soils geochemistry survey utilising the company's in-house lithium laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) and portable X-ray fluorescence analysers (XRF).

Multiple untested targets remain within the combined Mankessim, Mankessim South, Saltpond and Cape Coast licenses, with drilling concentrated within the immediate Ewoyaa resource area to date. Coincident lithium in soils, airborne geophysics, historic beryllium stream sediment anomalies and mapping, define multiple untested targets within the combined portfolio.

Read the article online at: https://www.globalminingreview.com/exploration-development/22112021/ironridge-resources-granted-cape-coast-exploration-license/

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This article has been tagged under the following:

African mining news Lithium mining news