Solis drill bit zeroes in on Brazil lithium corridor

Solis Minerals has fired up the drill rig at its 100 per cent-owned Campo Grande lithium project in Brazil, kicking off a campaign in one of the world’s most prolific hard-rock lithium districts, the Araçuaí Lithium Valley.

The move marks the company’s second lithium drilling program in the South American nation and runs in parallel with an ongoing copper drilling program in Peru, giving the explorer active campaigns in two of the continent’s hottest exploration postcodes.

The new program at Campo Grande will drill five diamond holes for 1000 metres to test hotspots along a 500m-long lithium-caesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite corridor.

Drill targets have been firmed up through a combination of historical work by mining giant Rio Tinto and more recent exploration by Solis. The company says the prospects are supported by coincident multi-element geochemical anomalies at surface, including lithium, caesium, tantalum and beryllium – key indicators of highly fractionated pegmatites where lithium and other elements can become concentrated into prospective LCT systems.

Solis’ own exploration efforts have defined a continuous lithium corridor extending for about 1000m, with the current drilling set to test the first 500m of that strike. Additionally, the company’s geos have mapped a new pegmatite swarm with three coherent zones of pegmatite outcropping between two of the planned drill holes, an area that will now become the initial focus of the program.

Brazil’s Araçuaí–Salinas Lithium Valley is drawing significant exploration investment from a host of junior and developing miners such as Sigma Lithium, Lithium Ionic and PLS Group, all looking to tap into the region’s LCT-style pegmatites. The sustained focus validates the district’s geological model and provides a lively sector backdrop for Solis’ new program.

Drilling has commenced at Campo Grande, our second advanced hard-rock lithium target within the recently acquired Brazil Lithium Project. Historical work completed by Rio Tinto, together with subsequent mapping and geochemical work by Solis Minerals, has defined a compelling series of drill targets across a prospective pegmatite corridor.

Solis says Campo Grande shows geological and geochemical characteristics comparable to the Colina lithium project,100 kilometres to the south-west. That project is owned by lithium major PLS Group and hosts a significant resource of 77.7 million tonnes grading 1.24 per cent lithium oxide. The comparison carries extra weight given PLS Group recently cornerstoned a $6 million capital raise for Solis, taking a 5.1 per cent stake in the explorer in what appears to be a clear vote of confidence in the company’s strategy.

The drilling at Campo Grande comes hot on the heels of a recently completed seven-hole program at the company’s nearby Mandacaru lithium project. Both projects are part of a significant 930-square-kilometre package of tenements Solis shrewdly acquired from mining goliath Rio Tinto for just half a million dollars after the major shifted its lithium focus in the region. Assays from the Mandacaru drilling are pending and will determine the scope of follow-up work.

Meanwhile, in Peru, diamond drilling is progressing at the company’s wholly owned Cinto copper project. The maiden program consists of five holes for 2500m and is designed to test targets for a potentially large-scale copper porphyry system. The country remains a magnet for new copper drilling and project pipelines, attracting a recent wave of exploration sweeping southern Peru.

As the drill rods turn for lithium in Brazil’s famed lithium valley and the bit chases copper in Peru’s prolific copper belt, Solis has its hands full with active programs on two fronts. And with assays from its first Brazilian lithium drill campaign at Mandacaru still to come, the company appears to be setting itself up for a period of solid news flow from some of South America’s most sought-after mineral provinces.

Is your ASX-listed company doing something interesting? Contact: matt.birney@wanews.com.au