Belmont seeks water rights to support Nevada lithium drilling

Belmont Resources Inc. [BEA-TSXV] said Monday April 30 that it has entered into a consulting contract with Nevada Water Solutions of Reno to file for water rights to support future potential groundwater (brine) development for the extraction of lithium in the Monte Cristo Valley Groundwater Basin in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The permit application will cover Belmont’s Kibby Basin lithium property.

Belmont has said it is planning up to five holes for the next phase of drilling, based on the potential aquifer locations indicated by the recent Quantec Geoscience’s Spartan Magnetotelluric (MT) survey. As part of this program it may wish to drill and develop up to two new wells for the project.

Belmont also said recently said it has initiated discussions with companies in the lithium extraction space that have requested samples from its Kibby Basin lithium property.

On Monday, Belmont shares gained 11% or $0.005 to $0.05 on volume of 393,500. The 52-week range is $0.02 and $0.08.

As previously announced, the company said it was very encouraged with last year’s drill core assays, ranging from 70 ppm to 200 ppm Li with 13 to 25 core samples assaying over 100 ppm Li; indicating that sediments could be a potential source of lithium for underlying aquifers.

The MT survey covered most of Belmont’s Kibby Basin, Nevada claims and included the playa basin area as well as some of the adjoining higher level lands.
Belmont has submitted the NOI application for test hole drilling at Kibby to the Bureau of Land Management. In an April 18, 2018 news release, the company said it expected that approval will be received in approximately two weeks.

The objective of the MT Survey was to map potential saturated lithium brine on the Kibby Basin property. Lithium-rich brine of this nature should be associated with a very conductive zone at depth as lithium brine deposits are accumulations of saline groundwater that are enriched in dissolved lithium.

Belmont recently said MT resistivity results from the Kibby Basin property clearly mapped a more conductive zone at many of the survey stations. “This variation of the resistivity at depth is interpreted by Quantec as being a potential contact with sub-surface brine that may contain lithium,” the company said.

It means Belmont has found highly prospective and precise targets for the next phase of drilling. The company said the locations where the potential brine contacts are closest to the playa surface are being considered as the most favourable targets.

On March 30, 2016, the company acquired 16 placer mining claims, representing 1,036 hectares in Esmeralda County, Nevada. The Kibby Basin property is located 65 km north of Clayton Valley, Nevada.
Belmont’s total Kibby Basin land position stands at 2,760 hectares.

Belmont is also exploring for uranium in a joint venture with International Montoro Resources Inc. [IMT-TSXV, IMTFF-OTC] on two properties near Uranium City in northern Saskatchewan.