Omaruru Lithium Project Overview
The Omaruru Lithium Project (“Omaruru Project”) lies only 20km from the flagship Twin Hills Gold Project. Located east of Karibib and spanning 175km² (see Figure below), Omaruru is situated near several historical and current lithium mining operations, including Lepidico’s Karibib Lithium Project located about 10km to the southwest. Omaruru is accessible by road from the sealed B2 National Highway which links the capital Windhoek, 130km the southeast, to the port at Walvis Bay, about 240km further southwest.
The Omaruru Project contains more than 65 known and mostly zoned pegmatites which belong to the Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum (LCT) family of rare-element pegmatites. These pegmatites occur within an area known as the Karibib Pegmatite Belt, one of five major pegmatite districts in the Damara Belt.
Omaruru Lithium Project Background
A number of pegmatites within the Karibib Pegmatite Belt have produced lithium in the past, including Lepidico’s Karibib Lithium Project which is focused on the Rubicon and Helikon pegmatites (see Figure above).
Historically, small-scale production from the Karlsbrunn and Brockmann’s pegmatites located on the Project produced lithium minerals (mainly lepidolite, petalite, amblygonite and spodumene), as well as beryl. Very little information is available on historical mining grades and tonnages, but it is believed that most of the production occurred in the first half of the 20th century. Exploration in the vicinity of the Project has generally been for gold, and companies such as Anglo American and Helio Resources Corp. explored the area intermittently prior to 2015. Osino carried out gold exploration in the area between 2017 and 2021.
Osino undertook an initial evaluation of the lithium potential of the Project from 2019. This work included mapping, rock grab sampling and a 16 hole (1,942m) reverse circulation drill program in 2020. The drilling highlighted remaining potential at the Karlsbrunn pegmatite in particular, with a number of intersections of 5m or more at grades in the range of 1-1.2% of Li2O and a best intersection of 23m at 0.99% Li2O (from 130m in hole number KBR007). Other drilling and surface sampling indicated lithium mineralisation associated with most of the other pegmatites on the project.
Following the 2022 earn-in agreement with Prospect Resources (ASX:PSC), Osino will benefit from ongoing exposure to the significant potential of the Omaruru Project while remaining focused on the fast-tracked development of our wholly owned Twin Hills Gold Project and Ondundu Gold Project in Namibia.
Omaruru Lithium Project Ownership
Osino is the majority owner of the Omaruru Lithium Project for which it undertook an initial evaluation of the Project from 2019-2021 and later structured an earn-in agreement with Prospect Resources Ltd. (ASX:PSC).
Prospect is a world-class group with a track record for exploring and developing African lithium projects, evidenced by the team’s previous success selling the Arcadia lithium project in Zimbabwe for approximately US$378M cash in 2022.
Omaruru Lithium Project – Current Exploration
On March 31, 2023 Osino announced assay results from Prospect Resources’ Phase 1 RC drill program at Omaruru that outline a new, near surface shallow dipping discovery of lithium mineralization in the Southern Brockmans zone and confirmed historical results at the Karlsbrunn zone. Highlight intersections from the Phase 1 drilling program include:
- 6m @ 1.30% Li2O from 13m within 14m @ 0.79% Li2O from 13m
- 8m @ 0.99% Li2O from 6m
- 11m @ 0.95% Li2O from 51m
- 7m @ 0.90% Li2O from 17m and 8m @ 0.60% Li2O from 28m
Upcoming programs for Omaruru in Q2 2023 are expected to include infill and extensional RC drilling at the Brockmans deposit, limited diamond drilling for metallurgical test work purposes at Karlsbrunn, and potentially first-pass, short-hole, RC drilling of regional exploration targets identified from any cohesive geochemical and soil anomalies associated with LCT mineralization characteristics across the region.
