Drilling is set to begin at Charger Metals’ newly acquired Lake Johnston lithium project in Western Australia, following a funding boost from Rio Tinto Exploration (RTX).
This week, approvals were granted by the WA Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DEMIRS), permitting 5000 meters of reverse circulation drilling across the greater Medcalf prospect and the Mount Gordon prospect, with operations scheduled to start this month.
“We are extremely pleased to have received the final permits for our planned drill programmes at Lake Johnston,” said Charger Metals managing director Aidan Platel. “The team are now busy with final preparations so that we can commence drilling. The drill targets in and around the Medcalf prospect and the Mount Gordon prospect have excellent lithium potential, and we look forward to kicking off the drilling and seeing what results it will bring.”
In November 2023, Charger entered into a farm-in agreement with RTX, which included an initial payment of $500,000 and an additional $1.2 million investment in Charger before the farm-in. RTX will also invest a minimum of $3 million over the first 12 months.
“The Rio Tinto Exploration farm-in agreement will see them potentially spending up to $42.5 million to earn up to a 75 per cent interest in the Lake Johnston project,” Charger chair Adrian Griffin stated at the time.
Charger recently gained full control of Lake Johnston after purchasing Lithium Australia’s remaining 30 per cent interest in the operation for $2 million. Since then, the company has been conducting sampling programs to determine the project’s scope.