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(Sharecast News) - Arkle Resources announced progress in its lithium exploration activities across Botswana and Zimbabwe in an update on Wednesday.
The AIM-traded firm said that in Botswana's Makgadikgadi Salt Pans, where it holds two licences totaling 837 square kilometres, sampling was underway to detect trace amounts of lithium in brine layers previously confirmed across the licences.
Using an auger drill, five kilogram samples of brine were being extracted from beneath the hard salt crust.
The samples would be analysed by ALS in Brisbane using ICP-MS technology over the next two weeks.
If lithium traces were detected, Arkle said it planned to initiate a structural grid sampling program employing larger augers to reach the shallow water table.
The samples from the phase would undergo direct lithium extraction (DLE) analysis to determine lithium grades, potentially paving the way for commercial extraction.
In Zimbabwe, the company holds three licences covering 153 hectares in the Insiza area of Matabeleland - a region known for hard rock lithium production.
Arkle said it was set to begin early-stage prospecting within days, focusing on identifying traces and the extent of spodumene and lepidolite rocks, which are key lithium-bearing minerals.
Previous work in the area indicated the presence of such rocks, with the new reconnaissance aiming to confirm and map their distribution.
The company said its intensified focus on lithium came amid a global surge in demand for high-purity, battery-grade lithium carbonate and lithium hydroxide, driven by a 25% annual growth rate due to the expansion of the electric vehicle market and renewable energy storage solutions.
Traditional hard rock deposits in Africa and Australia were unlikely to meet the escalating demand, the board claimed, prompting exploration of lithium-rich brines in salt pans like Makgadikgadi.
"The Makgadikgadi Salt Pans in Botswana have potential to play a significant part in the growth of high-grade lithium," said chairman John Teeling.
"We have started a sampling programme on our 937 square kilometre licence blocks to extract brines which will be tested in the ALS laboratory in Brisbane to confirm the presence of lithium."
Teeling said that assuming confirmation of lithium presence, the next stage - already planned - was a grid sampling programme to estimate lithium grades across the block.
"On our Zimbabwe hard rock ground, we will complete a prospecting programme which we expect to confirm the presence of lepidolite, a lithium bearing ore."
At 0815 BST, shares in Arkle Resources were up 11.11% at 0.25p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.