OK, so here is a basic summary of my view on the Kanuka update.
Firstly, James Sullivan, our expert in the field, stated in a previous update to market ...
... so he believes in what is down there.
But first, a quick summary on how pegmatite swarms form.
I start here just to reiterate Manono is unlikely to be alone or unique IMO. Look at the other hard rock Li zones in the world (Pilbara, gold fields, Canada etc). There is potential in this area. An important aspect is that the pegmatites are generally trending SW to NE through the Katanga province as they do on Force tenements.
Here is the Manono area in Katanga, showing larger granite zones that then spread through the region in multiple phases. Type 3 granitoids are the ones we want on our tenements and I believe they have been found at/near Kitololo in artesenal miner trenches but I could not find any info on them at Kanuka yet. We do have multiple granite hits in augering though.
A typical LCT pegmatite (Manono, Kanuka, Kitololo are all LCT) looks something like this.
So far auger drilling at Kanuka has only JUST hit the border zone (which can be as small as a few centimetres thick) and maybe part of the wall zone of the pegmatite (the main goal was to determine the location of the peg) and the laterite cover is still very much in place (whereas this was completely mined away in places at Manono, exposing the raw pegmatite which AVZ drilled). To give you an idea of how heavily mined Manono is and how much cover is over Kanuka/Kitololo, just look at the tree roots in this photo that were originally in the soil but are now exposed
The main accessory minerals of Manono are Cassiterite and Columbite-Tantalite (Coltan). This is what is mined at Kanuka so the deposits are similar in that aspect immediately. BIG tick.
If you look at the auger samples from the update, I'd like to draw attention to row 4. In fact, somewhat too conveniently that row is highlighted in the update (subtle?)
This sample is high in Albite, Microcline, Kaolinite, Quartz. I believe this is very close to the result we actually want.
Manono exposed pegmatites are described as "an LCT Albite-Spodumene pegmatite" with "minor amounts of lepidolite (Li-mica) and petalite." The Manono pegmatites border zone has been found to contain quartz, muscovite, microcline and albite with minor beryl. The wall zone contains coarser grained quartz, microcline, albite and mica. Cassiterite and columbite-tantalite are present as mentioned earlier.
(some more details on peg's in general in this area if you want some light reading here
https://www.researchgate.net/public...Kitotolo_Katanga_Democratic_Republic_of_Congo)
AVZ also notes that deleterious elements at Manono such as iron, phosphorous and fluorine are contained within minerals like apatite, lithium micas and black tourmaline. Again this seems to match.
The border zone is highly weathered and Spodumene breaks down into the geology around it. Particularly in wet conditions where it Li leaches out readily and Spod can convert readily to Kaolinite. Tantalex also highlighted Kaolinisation in their DD. Kaolinite is very present in the border/elluvial samples.
I reckon this auger location for sample 4, wherever it is (I cannot find a map to match the codes to) is probably going to be strong contender for diamond drilling if the RC result into the intermediate zone is supportive of this sample (assuming RC drilling does not yield a more obvious trend).
Basically, bring on the RC drill results. We need to see what the fresh pegs tell us.
At this price and based on this data, 4CE is a very calculated potential punt IMO.
