In this tropical environment near Darwin, much of the near...

In this tropical environment near Darwin, much of the near surface material is weathered by soil and water processes and visual identification of minerals susceptible to weathering (spodumene, feldspars and other minerals) can be challenging (Figures 1 & 2).

Analysis of NTGS data from the Bynoe Pegmatite Field and other published research on spodumene shows that surface weathering of spodumene to clay minerals results in a decreased lithium levels in surface samples. As a result, lithium grades may be expected to be increase at depth and with drilling.