Private UK mining exploration company First Africa Metals says rock chip sampling has confirmed exceptionally high-grade lithium-bearing pegmatites at its Misika project, in the Southern province of Zambia.

Independent lab analysis of the rock chip samples and X-ray diffraction (XRD) data confirms that outcropping pegmatites from existing shallow, artisanal openpits host spodumene, montebrasite, pollucite and lepidolite.

The highest-grade lithium-bearing samples (>7% lithium oxide) are montebrasite, a lithium ore with low levels of impurities.

The Misika pegmatite-bearing zone is currently identified as about 1 km wide with a strike length of just over 2 km.

The zone remains open in all directions, based on advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (Aster) and Sentinel-2 remote sensing data.

The lithium mineralisation is associated with highly fractionated pegmatites, which typically contain higher concentrations of lithium-bearing minerals, the company points out.

It adds that this is confirmed by low potassium-rubidium ratios (as low as 2.4), with an average of 11.75 for corresponding lithium oxide grades down to 1%.

There have been 132 pegmatite targets identified at the Misika project after a recent Aster survey and these are currently being investigated.

“The results received from our projects are highly encouraging, in both the lithium and tin space. The exceptionally high-grade lithium results have indicated not only spodumene, but also montebrasite – an ore renowned for its low impurity levels and a higher spot price than spodumene – is present. This combination of high-value ore positions us well in the current lithium market.

“Additionally, we are strategically located in the fertile Choma Belt, host to both lithium and tin deposits occurring within some of the most highly fractionated pegmatites, which may reveal additional valuable mineral deposits as exploration progresses,” says First Africa Metals director Mark Potter.

“We are excited to pursue further potential for discovery and expansion in the region and will update the market with further progress,” he adds.