Great Dirt sharpens Pilbara lithium search with three Priority 1 targets

Pilbara soil results narrow the lithium search

Great Dirt Resources Ltd (ASX:GR8) has moved its Pilbara lithium project from broad target generation to a more focused exploration phase, with soil assays defining three Priority 1 areas at T1, T2 and T5. The results formed part of nine coherent lithium-caesium-rubidium targets identified across the 67 square kilometre E45/6863 tenement.

Results from 776 returned assays included a peak lithium value of 131 ppm Li₂O at T1. The company said the three Priority 1 targets coincide with previously identified potassium radiometric anomalies and are supported by lithium pathfinder geochemistry, favourable fractionation signatures and nearby rock-chip results of up to 287 ppm Li₂O. The 805-sample program had been flagged in the company's Pilbara soil sampling program, which reported that laboratory results were pending.

The targets are exploration leads, not mineral resources or confirmed discoveries. Great Dirt plans infill soil sampling, geological mapping and additional rock-chip work before considering first-pass aircore or reverse-circulation drilling. Heritage surveys with Traditional Owners and the necessary approvals will also be required.

NSW manganese work confirms high-grade surface samples

In northern New South Wales, the company's Doherty and Basin projects produced rock-chip assays of up to 55.1% manganese at Neranghi. Mapping identified manganese oxide float and outcrop along an approximately 70-metre northeast-trending zone, near earlier reverse-circulation holes that Great Dirt said did not test the newly mapped trend.

The result extends the thread from the earlier 55.1% manganese assays, which highlighted high-grade sampling and a 70-metre mineralised trend in the historic district. At the Doherty Mine, samples from mine dumps returned up to 45.8% manganese, while historical workings had operated across more than 300 metres of strike and produced battery and metallurgical-grade material.

Those figures require careful handling: the company describes rock-chip samples as selective and says they should not be treated as representative of average grade or mineralisation width. Follow-up field work will focus on priority manganese occurrences and the high-grade areas identified during the quarter.

Cash runway supports the next exploration stage

Great Dirt ended the September quarter with A$3.401 million in cash and cash equivalents, down from A$3.810 million at the start of the period. Operating activities used A$201,000, exploration and evaluation expenditure used a further A$214,000, and A$6,000 arrived from the exercise of options.

Based on quarter expenditure, the Appendix 5B calculates an estimated 8.2 quarters of funding. The company also said it was continuing to assess strategic acquisitions that could complement its existing portfolio, although the report provides no details of a transaction or commitment. The immediate test is whether the new lithium targets can progress from geochemical anomalies to drill-supported evidence without materially changing that funding position.