St George Mining Limited (ASX: SGQ) has signed off on FY23 with the release to the ASX of its Annual Report. Below is an edited extract of executive chairman John Prineas’ letter to shareholders.
“FY23 was a transformational year for St George as we expanded the company’s portfolio of clean energy metals projects and welcomed globally significant lithium-ion battery players as major shareholders. We have created a strong platform of growth for the company, with highly prospective projects in sought-after provinces across Western Australia and the strong support of our new strategic investors.
“Your company’s strategy remains unchanged – to pursue sustained value for all shareholders by identifying high-leverage, greenfields exploration opportunities in Tier 1 destinations like Western Australia and applying disciplined, modern exploration methods to advance the potential for significant discoveries. We know that exploration requires patience but are heartened by the progress made during the year.
“The main focus in FY23 was to test the lithium prospectivity at the Mt Alexander project, in the northern Goldfields. Mt Alexander is our most advanced asset and already hosts several high-grade nickel-copper sulphide discoveries.
“Drilling of recently identified LCT pegmatites at Mt Alexander confirmed high-grade and anomalous lithium across a wide area. Most encouraging was the very thick 121m fractionated zone of pegmatites intersected in hole MAD213 at the Manta Prospect. These types of pegmatites are what is required for a large mineral deposit and provide encouragement for the potential across our large project tenure.
“The prospective pegmatite corridor at Mt Alexander extends for more than 15km, with less than 3km of this tested by drilling. Exploration will continue in FY24 to unlock the full potential at Mt Alexander, which represents a dominant landholding in a region that has over the past 12 months become one of Western Australia’s lithium hotspots.
“Mt Alexander’s tenements adjoin Delta Lithium’s (ASX: DLI) Mt Ida project, which has attracted the attention of Mineral Resources (ASX: MIN), as well as the Mt Bevan project being jointly explored by Legacy Iron Ore (ASX: LCY) and its partner Hancock Prospecting. Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) has secured a significant tenement position in the region while to the north of Mt Alexander is Liontown Resources’ (ASX: LTR) Kathleen Valley development, which is the subject of significant M&A activity.
“We have made significant progress during the year to add to our portfolio of exciting, high-leverage exploration assets.
“We established lithium, rare earths and copper prospects at the new Woolgangie project, in the southern Goldfields west of Kambalda. A pipeline of lithium prospects has also been established at seven discrete projects acquired by our subsidiary Lithium Star Pty Ltd. These lithium prospects include several that are along strike or proximal to producing lithium mines and major lithium deposits and provide the company with multiple targets for a new discovery.
“The Ajana and Broadview projects are also part of this high-leverage exploration strategy and both have potential for the discovery of a blind base metals deposit. Planning for a maiden drill program at Ajana was completed during the year, with drilling commencing subsequent to year’s end and delivered encouraging base metals intercepts. The outcome of this maiden drill program augurs well for our exploration plans at Ajana in FY24.
“St George is fortunate to have a highly credentialled, experienced and motivated team of professionals who lead exploration activities at our projects. We look forward to another productive year in FY24 as we progress exploration at our projects to target the discovery of high-demand clean energy metals.”
