After Rare Earths, Norwest Minerals Discovers Lithium-Cesium-Tantalum Pegmatite at Arunta West

Norwest Minerals identifies a large 6 x 2 km lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatite at Arunta West just days after discovering a significant rare earths anomaly nearby. These findings come from the ongoing analysis of 6550 multi-element soil samples covering 840 km² of the Arunta West project located on the WA/NS border.

Charles Schaus, CEO of Norwest, said, "The analytical work of our geochemical consultants continues to prove fruitful with the identification of this large LCT pegmatite anomaly, an exciting event following the recent announcement of a rare earths anomaly. The elevated and coincident lithium, tantalum, and niobium samples found at Arunta West make us look forward to follow-up exploration work." Norwest will submit a follow-up work plan.

Follow-up exploration of the new LCT pegmatite anomaly will include mapping, rock chip sampling, and infill soil sampling on a 200 x 200 meter diagonal. A work plan will be submitted this week under a land-use agreement with the traditional owners to ensure follow-up exploration work begins as soon as possible.

Location of new lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite anomaly and 2021 soil sampling coverage at the 840 km2 Arunta West project property Norwest announced that soil sample analysis identified a robust, 3 km long rare earths anomaly associated with copper-gold and base metals.

It shows similarities to the high-grade Dazzler and Iceman REE deposits at Northern Minerals' Browns Range project. "Interestingly, the grades of cerium and lanthanum at this REE anomaly are almost twice as high as those first used to identify the Browns Range REE operation's high-grade Dazzler and Iceman deposits are almost twice as high as those grades."

The company says the presence of high copper-gold and base metals at the edge of the "REE low" also shows the potential for iron oxide copper-gold (IOCG) and/or base metal systems.

Norwest Minerals says interest in the mineral resource potential of the Arunta Belt is increasing as Rio Tinto's exploration arm takes a very large ground position in the area.

The Rio-controlled property now shares a mine boundary of about 50 kilometers with the company's Arunta West property. Then there is the neighboring Independence Group, which has a mineral belt of about 15,600 square kilometers stretching more than 300 kilometers from the Western Australian border to the Northern Territory.

Norwest Minerals is a rising Western Australian gold-copper exploration company focused on its Bulgera gold, Bali Copper, and Arunta West copper-gold projects all located in Western Australia. Other project includes the Marymia East gold-base metals projects and the Marriott nickel project also located in Western Australia.

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