Collaborating to find more lithium

The Geological Survey of Victoria (GSV) and Dart Mining have collaborated to release more information about where lithium may be hidden underground.

Lithium bearing pegmatites were found by Dart Mining in northeast Victoria, about 40–80km south of Wodonga.

Coarse-grained rocks, pegmatites can include minerals such as spodumene and lepidolite. According to GSV, the pegmatites in the region are approximately 420 million years old and were formed when Victoria was part of the supercontinent Gondwana.

GSV will be provided with lithium enriched pegmatite samples from Dart Mining, which were sourced from Dart’s drilling program in the area.

The samples will be characterised using infrared and x-ray scanning methods.

GSV manager of basement geoscience Cameron Cairns said the collaboration would allow for a better understanding of lithium occurrences in Victoria.

“By focusing on their geochemistry, mineralogy, age and geological setting we may be able to predict where lithium mineralisation could exist in other parts of Victoria,” Cairns said.

The data gathered will be made freely available later this year through the Earth Resources website.