The Mt. Cattlin Project lies within the Ravensthorpe Terrane, with host rocks comprising both the Annabelle Volcanics to the west, and the Manyutup Tonalite to the east. The contact between these rock types extends through the Project area.

The Annabelle Volcanics at Mt. Cattlin consist of intermediate to mafic volcanic rocks, comprising both pyroclastic material and lavas.

Both the Annabelle Volcanics and the Manyutup Tonalite are intruded by numerous fine to coarse-grained metamorphosed dolerite dykes. A NNW trending gabbro (termed pyroxenite in earlier reports) occurs at the eastern edge of the Mt. Cattlin pegmatite ore body.

The pegmatites which comprise the ore body occur as a series of sub-horizontal dykes, hosted by both volcanic and intrusive rocks. Several dolerite or quartz gabbro dykes trending roughly ENE and north-south cut all lithologies including the pegmatite dykes and are believed to be Proterozoic in age.

Mineralisation.
Lithium and tantalum mineralisation occurs in pegmatites, which have intruded both the Annabelle Volcanics and the Manyutup Tonalite, close to the contact between these two sequences.

The pegmatite dykes occur as a series of sub horizontal to gently-dipping horizons. In places they occur as stacked horizons which overlap in section. Pegmatite mineralisation defined to date covers an area of around 1.6 km east-west and 1 km north-south. The main pegmatite units drilled to date ge ........

The Mt Cattlin mine currently operates using a conventional open pit mining method to deliver ore to the processing plant from a series of open pits adjacent to the plant facility. The mining method is industry standard involving drilling and blasting of all material before loading and hauling using backhoe excavators and rear dump rigid trucks. The ore and waste rock is drilled and blasted with 10 m high benches, and mined on 2 m to 2.5 m flitches.

The ore is delivered to a conventional crushing and dense medium separation (DMS) circuit. During mining operations, a portion of the mined ore is diluted with basalt which is considered a contaminant. The processing plant includes a separate circuit during crushing and screening that utilises optical sorters to remove basalt material from the process stream.

Earthmoving operations use a mining contractor to conduct all drilling, blasting, load, haul and ancillary work for the open-cut mining operation. The planned pit designs, which encompass the remaining mineral reserves, include two discrete open pits comprising the Northeast (NE) Pit and the Northwest (NW) Pit. The original main Dowling Pit, as well as the Southwest (SW) Pit and Southeast (SE) Pit have been mined out and are used for waste backfill. The SW Pit incorporates in-pit tailings disposal.

The current mining strategy will be to mine the NE Pit in two stages and NW Pit in three stages in order to defer the waste stripping requirements ........

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