KARIBIB LITHIUM PEGMATITE PROJECT

Location: 120km NW of Windhoek, Namibia
Area: 765sq km
Black Fire Interest: 100%
Manager: Black Fire 

Background

Black Fire purchased the Karibib Lithium Pegmatite Project from Sunrise Minerals Pty Ltd in November 2009. The project comprises two granted and adjoining Exclusive Prospecting Licences covering 765km2 and is located approximately 25km east-southeast of the town of Karibib and 120km northwest of Namibia’s capital, Windhoek. The project is located on open grazing lands and is proximal to excellent infrastructure including the town of Karibib and the major B2 sealed highway and railway that connects Windhoek to the ports of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. Karibib is a centre of marble and granite quarrying and also supports the nearby Anglogold Ashanti Navachab gold mine.

Project tenure includes the historic Rubicon, Helikon and Fricke’s lithium-tantalum-cesium mines which operated intermittently from 1930 to 1994. Historic mine production data is poorly recorded, but the Rubicon mine reportedly produced some 17,000t of lithium mineral concentrates from small scale open pit and underground mining between 1980 and 1994.

The Karibib Project has not been subjected to modern exploration, and the historic lithium mining activities were largely small scale gouging operations that only exploited small portions of the outcropping pegmatites. This provides a significant opportunity for Black Fire to carry out drilling programs to test the down dip and strike potential of the historic deposits and utilise modern regional exploration techniques to assess the entire project area for new outcropping and/or blind lithium bearing pegmatite targets.

Karibib Project – Location Plan

Karibib Project Geology

The project area covers a portion of the Cambrian Karibib Pegmatite Field with the pegmatite intrusions being hosted in biotite schists and carbonate lithologies of the Karibib Formation, in quartzites of the Chuos Formation, in basement gneisses of the Abbabis Complex and in granites of Damaran age (Neoproterozoic). The individual lithium bearing pegmatites mapped to date are up to 1.6km long, 5 to 40 metres wide and often show well defined regular internal zoning. Lithium minerals including spodumene (Li2O.Al2O3.2SiO4), petalilte (Li2O.Al2O3.8SiO4), lepidolite (K(Li,Al)3(SiAl)4O10(OH,F)2), amblygonite ((Li,Na)AlPO4(F,OH)) and their weathering products including hectorite (Na0.3(Mg,Li)3Si4O10(OH)2), have been recorded within the pegmatites.

The western tenement includes a number of former mine sites including the Rubicon, Helikon and Fricke’s mines together with a number of other intrusive bodies which were mined on a small scale in the past. No significant mining has been reported within the eastern tenement, although pegmatite bodies are reported. Historic mining has targeted lithium, beryl, bismuth, pollucite and other rare metals.

At Rubicon, the main pegmatite has been mapped for over 1km of northwest-southeast strike within an anticlinal structure and is open down plunge in both directions. Where exposed in the Rubicon I open pit, the pegmatite is over 320 metres long, between 25 metres and 30 metres in width and dips northeast at between 20 to 40 degrees. Where exposed in the Rubicon II pit, the pegmatite is over 230 metres long, has an average width of 10 metres and dips northeast at 30 degrees. A PhD thesis undertaken by C. Roering in 1963 demonstrated that the Rubicon pegmatite is strongly zoned with bands of well developed lithium minerals including petalite & lepidolite.

The Helikon I pegmatite has been mapped over 433 metres of east-west strike with both ends disappearing under scree cover. Where exposed in the open pit, the pegmatite is dipping 60 to 70 degrees to the north and is up to 60 metres wide. At Helikon II, the pegmatite has been mapped over 1,600 metres of east-west strike and the body dips southerly at between 55 and 80 degrees. The thickness of the pegmatite averages between 10 metres and 16 metres. Roering’s geological mapping of these bodies in 1963 also confirmed well developed mineral zonation, including bands of lithium minerals, similar to Rubicon.

Karibib Project –Simplified Regional Geology (after Namibian Geological Survey)

Rubicon I - Open Pit Looking Northwest                                      Helikon I - Open Pit Looking East

Rubicon I – Massive Petalite Mineralisation                            Rubicon I – Massive Lepidolite Mineralisation

Historic Production

The historic lithium-tantalum-cesium mines within the project area operated intermittently from 1930 to 1994. Due largely to the small scale of operation, historic mine production figures are poorly recorded or lost, but the Rubicon mine reportedly produced at least 14,700t of petalite, 2,002t of lepidolite and 880t of amblygonite concentrate from small scale mining between 1980 and 1994. Reported mining head grades varied between 1.7% and 3.75% LiO2. The specific concentrate grades are unknown.

Proposed Exploration

Black Fire believes that the Karibib Project represents a significant opportunity for the Company to capitalize on the increasing demand for lithium in the energy storage/Li-Ion battery business. While the historic work completed to date has proven the significance of the pegmatite field as a source of lithium (and other rare metals), the field has suffered greatly from the lack of any real methodical exploration, particularly exploratory drilling, meaning that the mining activities to date were largely small scale gouging operations that simply exploited small portions of the outcropping pegmatites.

The Company intends to undertake two parallel exploration programs at the Project. The first will include the rapid commencement of drilling programs at Rubicon and Helicon to test the down dip and strike potential of the known deposits. The second will involve using regional exploration techniques to assess the entire project area for new lithium bearing pegmatite (including blind) targets that can subsequently be prioritized and drill tested. 

Why Lithium?

Lithium (Li) is the lightest metal and the least dense solid element and possesses attributes such as high electrochemical reactivity, a low thermal expansion coefficient and the highest specific heat. These attributes lead to a wide range of applications including the manufacture of glass, grease, pharmaceuticals and more recently, lithium-ion batteries. The development and growth in demand for Li-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles, computers, mobile phones and other electronic equipment has seen significant growth in the demand for lithium over the last few years with numerous analysts forecasting continuing significant future growth, particularly from the electric vehicle market.

Due to its high reactivity, lithium is only found in compounds that require various refinement processes in order to yield specific lithium products for an intended application. The industry traditionally refers to lithium in terms of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) or lithium oxide (lithia) rather than lithium metal (Li). Lithium carbonate (Li2CO3) is colourless and a slightly soluble salt while lithium oxide (Li2O) is an inorganic chemical compound formed when lithium metal is burned in the presence of oxygen.

Lithium has two major sources; lithium mineral rich pegmatite rocks and lithium rich geothermal brines.

Forecast Lithium Carbonate Equivalent Demand By Application
Source: Canaccord Adams, November 2009

Namibia - Country Background

Namibia is the ex-German colony of South-West Africa which won independence in 1990. The economy is heavily dependent on the extraction and processing of minerals for export. Mining accounts for 8% of GDP, but provides more than 50% of foreign exchange earnings. Rich alluvial diamond deposits make Namibia a primary source for gem-quality diamonds. Namibia is the fourth-largest exporter of nonfuel minerals in Africa, the world's fifth-largest producer of uranium, and a producer of lead, zinc, tin, silver, and tungsten. The mining sector employs an estimated 3% of the population while approximately half of the population depends on subsistence agriculture for its livelihood. Namibia is considered one of the lower risk countries in Africa and in recent years has been a well supported destination for ASX junior resource companies.