IGO share price slips on JV ‘significant lithium potential’

The IGO Ltd (ASX: IGO) share price is lower today following a company announcement from the miner’s new subsidiary, Western Areas Limited.

At the time of writing, IGO shares are swapping hands for $12.82 each, down 1.08% on yesterday’s closing price. However, it’s currently outperforming the broader S&P/ASX 300 Metals & Mining Industry (ASX: XMM) sector which is down 1.67%.

Returns for the IGO share price this year to date are seen below, charted against the Metals and Mining index.

What did IGO announce?

IGO advised that a joint venture (JV) owned by Western Areas has announced “significant exploration potential for lithium pegmatite mineralisation” at a prospecting site.

The discoveries were made at the Mt Alexander Ni-Cu-PGE Project, located in the Goldfields of Western Australia.

The project is 25% owned by Western Areas [and, therefore, IGO] and 75% owned by St George Mining Ltd (ASX: SGQ).

The release notes that assays of 45 initial pegmatite rock chip samples at the site returned positive values for lithium, caesium, tantalum, and rubidium.

These minerals purportedly support the potential for more lithium mineralisation at further depth.

Executive chairman of St George Mining John Prineas said the results from Mt Alexander were “very encouraging” to support further exploration.

“We are particularly excited by the strong rubidium values in sample assays received to date – this is
an excellent indicator of pegmatites favourable for lithium mineralisation,” he added.

Further testing and field exploration has now commenced at Mt Alexander to define targets for drill testing.

These targets will be finalised when the field campaign is complete, with the maiden drill program at the site scheduled to commence in Q4 2022.

The news has seen a mixed reaction from investors today with the IGO share price sliding in morning trading. Today’s movement also follows the diversified miner’s record FY22 results last month.

IGO share price snapshot

In the past 12 months, the IGO share price has clipped a 32% gain, after surging from a low of $9.24 in the July bounce in equity markets.

The company has a current market capitalisation of around $9.65 billion.

The post IGO share price slips on JV ‘significant lithium potential’ appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

(function() {
function setButtonColorDefaults(param, property, defaultValue) {
if( !param || !param.includes(‘#’)) {
var button = document.getElementsByClassName(“pitch-snippet”)[0].getElementsByClassName(“pitch-button”)[0];
button.style[property] = defaultValue;
}
}

setButtonColorDefaults(“#0095C8”, ‘background’, ‘#5FA85D’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#0095C8”, ‘border-color’, ‘#43A24A’);
setButtonColorDefaults(“#fff”, ‘color’, ‘#fff’);
})()

More reading

• How do IGO shares compare to Mineral Resources following earnings season?
• Why A2 Milk, Deep Yellow, Healius, and IGO shares are racing higher
• IGO share price moves higher on record earnings
• Why is nickel such a big deal and which ASX shares have exposure?

Motley Fool contributor Zach Bristow has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia’s parent company Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

from The Motley Fool Australia https://ift.tt/hVDIUnS