Highlights

  • Ten of 49 rock-chip samples returned lithium oxide above 1.0 per cent, with a peak of 2.65 per cent.
  • Seven grab samples returned 0.1 grams per tonne gold or more, led by 1.200 g/t in float sample 26WS0049.
  • A gold-in-soil anomaly of roughly two kilometres, first referenced in October 2020, has never been drill-tested.
  • Marquee is designing a reverse circulation program of roughly 2,000 metres, subject to final interpretation and approvals.

Ten rock chips cleared 1.0 per cent lithium oxide, and one reached 2.65 per cent. Marquee Resources Limited (ASX:MQR) reported on 28 October 2026 assay results from 49 rock-chip samples collected in 2026 at its West Spargoville project, along with a new gold target. The announcement contains no new drill-hole results, and the company said the next round of drilling is still being designed.

Lithium rock-chip results

The ten highest samples ranged from 1.16 to 2.65 per cent Li2O. Sample 26WS0006 returned 12,300 parts per million lithium, equal to 2.65 per cent Li2O, and 26WS0007 returned 11,250 parts per million, or 2.42 per cent.

Earlier campaigns returned peaks of 3.12 per cent Li2O in 2022, 2.15 per cent in a December 2023 pilot, and 3.01 per cent in the January to June 2024 program. The 2026 samples were continuous chips taken perpendicular to strike, so the method differs and the results are not directly comparable with earlier work. Rock chips do not establish true pegmatite width, grade continuity or economic mineralisation, and drilling is required.

Pegmatite orientation

Mapped pegmatites strike northeast to southwest and dip steeply to the northwest. Historical reverse circulation drilling was mostly directed east and therefore oblique to that geometry, which the company said means parts of the system may not have been properly tested. The lithium target measures about 1.5 kilometres by 1.5 kilometres within a project of about 80 square kilometres. The lithium joint venture is held 75 per cent by Marquee and 25 per cent by Mineral Resources Limited.

A new gold target

Gold was assessed through selective grab samples. Seven returned 0.1 grams per tonne or more, led by 1.200 grams per tonne in 26WS0049, a hematite-stained quartz-breccia float, then 0.803 grams per tonne in 26WS0042 and 0.636 grams per tonne in 26WS0047. Because the peak came from float, it does not establish the location or grade of a bedrock source.

Historical workings, mostly under one metre deep with one reaching about four to five metres, sit within a structural corridor about one to two metres wide. That corridor lies inside the roughly two-kilometre gold-in-soil anomaly, which has never been drill-tested. The gold rights are wholly owned by Marquee and sit outside the lithium joint venture.

Limitations

The lithium results are surface samples and a guide to where drilling is needed, not an indication of resource size. Grab samples favour the most visibly altered or mineralised material, so the gold figures are not representative of the corridor. There is no assurance follow-up drilling will define economic lithium or gold mineralisation. No company-inserted standards, blanks or duplicates were included in the submission. The competent person is Selcuk Gokler.

Next steps

Marquee plans an updated three-dimensional geological interpretation, infill soil sampling, detailed structural mapping and infill rock-chip sampling along the two-kilometre gold trend, and a re-ranking of the lithium pegmatite trends. It then intends to finalise re-oriented drill sections and a reverse circulation program of roughly 2,000 metres, subject to final interpretation and approvals. First-phase gold testing is expected to advance alongside the lithium program.