Gold, lithium extraction optimism
Stellar Resources Executive Director Gary Fietz with Tasmanian staff Richard Spencer-Lloyd, Bec Lockley and Dr Josh Phillips.
November 8, 2023
Senior executives from mining company Stellar Resources Limited have spent the past week in the North-East as they prioritise projects across the 12 Exploration Licences they hold in the area.
Stellar Resources Executive Director Gary Fietz said he and chairman Simon Taylor joined some of their on-ground geological staff in the region to assess exploration progress across its leases, covering 2212 square kilometres.
While the company’s flagship Heemskirk tin project at Zeehan is progressing more rapidly, work across Scamander and Pipers River is also set to pick up over the coming year.
Mr Fietz said Stellar was on the hunt for gold, tin, lead, zinc, silver and lithium in the North-East, often where small historic mines have previously operated.
Mr Fietz said: “Our most advanced project in the North-East is the North Scamander Prospect approximately 10km north-west of Scamander where we recently completed a discovery drill over a length of 32m. We are very excited by what we found and we plan to drill more holes.
“It’s too early to say what sort of mine it would be – it could be underground or open cut although it looks more likely to be underground, but we will work with stakeholders and look at any environmental concerns before we get to that stage.
“The North-East is not historically known for its lithium deposits but we are looking for a new style of mica-hosted lithium mineralisation that can occur near the margins of late stage fractionated granites. Lithium is in high demand with the worldwide demand for rechargeable batteries and electric vehicles.
“The Constables Creek granite, approximately 15km north-west of Scamander is looking the most promising for that at this stage.”
The company’s annual report says that there is a continuation of the Victorian Western Lachlan Fold Belt Gold deposit, one of the world’s largest orogenic gold provinces, into North-East Tasmania.
Stellar hopes to find that gold across areas in the North-East and its geologists have been taking rock chip, soil and stream sediment samples across both Crown and private land to identify the best areas for future drilling.
Some of the most promising gold exploration results are at the historic Leura and Back Creek goldfields near Pipers River.
“The next step here will be follow-up drilling. We haven’t got a date planned for this yet, but we expect that it will be sometime in the next 12 months. We have also had some encouraging gold results in stream sediment samples to the south of Nabowla.”
More results are to be released in the company’s ASX exploration update announcement planned in the December 2023 quarter.