(Sharecast News) - Arkle Resources has been granted three licences covering 163 hectares, it announced on Thursday, to prospect for lithium in the Insiza district of Zimbabwe's Matabeleland South province.
The AIM-traded firm said it believed the licences, covering a small area, represented a low-cost entry into one of the largest lithium producing countries globally.
Its staff identified the free ground, pegged it and applied for licences.
The ground saw limited mining of lepidolite in the late 1960s, which is a lithium-bearing mineral associated with spodumene.
"This is a toe in the water exercise by Arkle," said chairman John Teeling.
"The directors have long experience in Zimbabwe and are aware of the extensive history and potential for hard rock lithium in the country.
"The lithium is contained in spodumene pegmatites."
Teeling said it was only recently that rising lithium prices and the potential of a massive supply gap to meet battery demand had made the extraction of hard rock lithium viable.
"The Arkle approach is to make a low-cost entry into both Zimbabwe and lithium.
"We have examined what ground was available and been granted three licences, one of which was a small lepidolite producer - a lithium associated mineral.
"We continue to examine additional opportunities in battery metals."
At 1112 BST, shares in Arkle Resources were flat at 0.75p.
Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.
Arkle Res (ARK)