Wildcat Resources (ASX: WC8) hit screens in September 2023 when it announced a major discovery at its Tabba Tabba lithium project in Western Australia.

Located in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Tabba Tabba already hosts the highest-grade tantalum deposit in the world with a mineral resource estimate of 318,000 tonnes at 950 parts per million tantalum for 666,200 pounds tantalum. The focus for Wildcat, however, has been lithium mineralisation in Tabba Tabba’s extensive 3.2-kilometre-long pegmatite field.

Wildact’s drilling of Tabba Tabba has consistently returned very thick and high-grade intercepts, such as that at the Leia target of 180 metres at 1.1 per cent lithium oxide; 85 metres at 1.5 per cent lithium oxide; and 99 metres at 1.2 per cent lithium oxide, within 135 metres at 0.9 per cent lithium oxide, which continued to highlight the project’s scale and potential.

The Leia pegmatite is one of six pegmatite prospects within the Tabba Tabba lithium–caesium–tantalum pegmatite field, all still open in all directions.

The flow of drilling results encouraged highly regarded mining engineer Ajanth Saverimutto to accept a move from Non-Executive Director to Managing Director, and will push this exciting asset through the current discovery phase into development and beyond.

Saverimutto brings over 25 years of Australian and international mining experience as a senior-level executive, whose career has included a balance of corporate and operational roles.

‘There are very few opportunities such as this within the industry. As the big, thick intersections continued to be announced, I really couldn’t say no to the employment opportunity. Engineers could wait their whole career and never get an opportunity such as this. I couldn’t wait to get my feet under the desk,’ Saverimutto told Future Mining.

‘What impressed me most was the size, the scale, and the grade of the project. Looking at it, I just thought, “This is big, it’s from surface, it has a mining lease in the Pilbara – the Silicon Valley of Western Australian mining – and there is an A-grade team running the company.” I just wanted to be a part of it.’

The A-grade team was out and about again recently, with Wildcat kicking off a 100,000-metre drilling program over the next six months, with a clear focus on discovery and delineation.

The drilling is following the Leia lithium-bearing pegmatite, which is now 2.2 kilometres long, has a down dip length of up to 450 metres, and is up to 180 metres wide at its thickest point to date. Wildcat still hasn’t defined the edges of Leia, but hopes to in the upcoming drill program. 

Targets also to be drilled across the project are Boba, Han and Chewy.

First pass results via FTIR and XRD has also confirmed that the giant Leia pegmatite is spodumene dominant.