Mineral exploration business Wildcat Resources (ASX: WC8) has unveiled a significant resource estimate for its Tabba Tabba project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, consisting of 74.1 million tonnes at a grade of 1.0 per cent lithium.

According to the company, the project now holds Australia’s largest undeveloped publicly reported hard-rock lithium deposit.

The milestone follows nearly 115,000 metres of drilling since Wildcat first announced the lithium discovery at Tabba Tabba in September last year. Management noted that the rapid delivery of a resource estimate shines a light on the unique advantages of the project.

Tabba Tabba lies in the prolific Pilbara region of WA, most famous for its immense iron ore mines operated by mining titans such as BHP and Rio Tinto. However, in recent years the Pilbara has also come to prominence for its lithium potential with two of the world’s largest hard-rock lithium mines located in proximity to Tabba Tabba.

The giant Pilgangoora mine run by lithium heavyweight Pilbara Minerals sits just 47km from Tabba Tabba, whilst the Wodinga project operated by lithium powerhouse Mineral Resources is situated less than 90km away.

All up, the Pilbara region is estimated to account for more than 20 per cent of the world’s lithium supply. It is an infrastructure-rich region with the world’s largest bulk export port, Port Hedland, located just 80km from Wildcat’s tenure. Port Hedland also hosts a service centre used to support the Pilbara’s vast mining, energy, agriculture, and construction industries.

Furthermore, Tabba Tabba already holds granted mining leases due to past tantalum production which was still in effect as recently as 2015. In turn, the project also boasts infrastructure licences connected with a national highway through a previously approved and constructed road.

A wholly owned camp with supporting facilities is also present at the project, coupled with an abundance of water sources for processing and supplies. 

From a geological perspective, the mineralisation at Tabba Tabba starts at surface and consists of a stacked system of broad and repeating pegmatite bodies. In other words, the shallow and thick nature of the deposit is interpreted by the company to be amendable to an economically favourable bulk-tonnage, open-pit mining operation.

Management noted that 94 per cent of the resource falls in the higher confidence ‘Indicated’ category, with the estimate also using a higher cut-off grade compared to peers in the Pilbara. Such traits could help streamline feasibility studies used to gauge the economic merits of bringing Tabba Tabba to production, and to optimise potential mining scenarios.

Wildcat Resources managing director, AJ Saverimutto said:

“We have now confirmed Wildcat has the largest and the highest confidence undeveloped publicly reported lithium resource in Australia which was delivered in record time. With significant other advantages including granted Mining Leases, proximity to port, outcropping mineralisation, and excellent metallurgical recoveries we believe we are the best potential lithium developer globally.”

Moving forward, Wildcat plans to carry on with its drilling programs designed to grow the resource base at Tabba Tabba, and to hunt for new lithium deposits that could be lurking beneath the ground within its broader landholdings. 

In conjunction, the company aims to wrap-up feasibility studies on a potential mining operation at Tabba Tabba in the coming months.

Lithium is regarded as one of the cornerstone materials in the world’s energy transition with about 80 per cent of all production allocated towards electric vehicles (EVs) and for energy storage purposes. More specifically, the metal is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries which play a pivotal role in powering EVs as well as modern-day consumer electronics such as mobile phones and laptops.