Irish gold and zinc explorer Arkle Resources has announced the discovery of lithium bearing pegmatites in its Mine River Block on the Wexford/Wicklow border in Ireland.
Of the 34 rock chip samples collected late last year, six returned lithium grades over 0.02% Li2O with one sample of 0.09% Li2O from the Bunclody area.
The compnay said elevated lithium also correlated with enriched levels of Caesium, Rubidium and Tantalum, which are known pathfinder elements for Lithium.
The directors said they believe these results are compelling as it suggests the Mine River Block is fertile for Lithium Caesium Tantalum pegmatite deposits.
John Teeling, Chairman of Arkle, said: "These are exciting results. We have discovered lithium on our licences. We found the rock type needed, pegmatites, and in the pegmatites found lithium and other indicator minerals. This opens compelling new opportunities for our Mine River Block. Prospecting will resume in the near future".
Once the main areas of interest have been identified, the company said follow up soil surveys will aim to locate areas for trenching and drilling.
The recent results follow on from the initial prospecting work over mapped granite bodies in the company's Mine River licence block. Although Arkle Resources has been focused on gold until now, the markets and work of companies in neighbouring licences have driven a revaluation of the ground for other elements.
