‍Project: Core Lithium X Fleet Space Technologies

‍Location: Northern Territory, Australia

Exploring: Lithium

Deposit type: Pegmatite

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Core Lithium is an Australian lithium producer and explorer, operating one of Australia’s most capital-efficient lithium projects. The Finniss mine is in the Northern Territory of Australia and will provide high-quality spodumene concentrate in lithium batteries to power electric vehicles and renewable energy storage.

Overview

We conducted a blind test of the ANT technology with Core Lithium to assess its capability in directly imaging lithium pegmatite dykes beneath the cover. While other geophysical methods offer valuable insights into the regional geological context and small-scale imaging of structures, they fall short in directly visualising mineralised targets. Complicating our exploration efforts is the presence of a 50m to 100m deep weathering zone in the area, adding an extra layer of complexity to our exploration endeavours.

Exploration Challenges

The challenge is to directly image pegmatite beneath 50m to 100m deep weathering zone. Furthermore, the pegmatite bodies sit within metasedimentary rocks of the Pine Creek Orogen.

‍Our Approach

We aimed to identify large (10-40 m), vertical pegmatites and major geological structures under extensive weathered cover. A survey was conducted over a known pegmatite, BP33 to test if ANT could image the pegmatite.

"With ExoSphere, we can quickly make real-time decisions, getting into positions where we can define drilling targets quicker. When you can accelerate exploration programs, what you are really doing is accelerating your discovery, which is a game changer for exploration.” Andrew Bennett, Exploration Manager, Core Lithium

Outcome

Within just seven days of the initial survey, ExoSphere data identified the BP33 pegmatite, and identified previously unknown pegmatites. No other geophysical method has demonstrated the capability to directly detect pegmatites in this way, underscoring the efficacy of the ANT method. Remarkably, ExoSphere adeptly captured images of the known pegmatite dyke, even with just a 5% velocity contrast between the slower pegmatite and the surrounding sandstone. This highlights that a minimal contrast is sufficient for imaging the subsurface with precision.