Cruz Battery eyes maiden lithium estimate in Nevada
Cruz Battery Metals Corp. [CRUZ-CSE, BKTPF-OTC Pink, A3CWU7-Frankfurt] is targeting a maiden resource estimate at its 100%-owned Solar Lithium project in Nevada after launching the latest phase of drilling.
The announcement comes after the company said it has now discovered the presence of lithium in every drill hole during the phase 1, 2, and 3 drill programs. “The phase 4 program is designed to test the eastern flank of the Solar Lithium Project, which has not had any drilling to date,’’ said Frank Bain, Cruz Battery’s on-site geologist.
“If Cruz can achieve similar lithium grades on the phase-4 drill program that we’ve already encountered during the first three phases of drilling, it would significantly expand the known lithium footprint of the project,’’ he said.
The Solar project directly borders American Lithium Corp.’s [LI-TSXV] Tonopah Lithium Project (TLC) claims, which are estimated to contain 8.83 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) in the measure and indicated category and another 1.86 million tonnes in the inferred category.
TLC is located in the Esmeralda lithiuim district in Nevada and 3.5 hours south of the Tesla Motors Ltd.’s [TSLA-NASDAQ] Gigafactory. TLC is located in the same basinal environment as Albemarle Corp.’s [ALB-NYSE] Silver Peak lithium mine as well as several advancing deposits, including Century Lithium Corp.’s [LCE-TSXV] Clayton Valley project.
Cruz President Jim Nelson has said the company is aiming to locate and provide a new, domestically sourced, battery-grade lithium deposit.
“We strongly believe that battery metals will continue to garner significant market attention as the demand for lithium-ion batteries continues to increase along with the explosive growth of the electric vehicle industry,’’ Nelson has said.
He said the phase-4 program is Cruz’s second lithium drill program of 2023 and the company anticipates at least one additional phase of drilling on the 8,135-acre project within this calendar year.
The phase-3 drill program discovered the presence of lithium in all four drill holes, with a high value of 1,460 parts-per-million lithium (ppm Li). Lithium has been detected all 10 holes drilled on the Solar project during three phases of drilling.
“Cruz is well funded to complete all planned drilling this year and we anticipate generating our maiden resource estimate before the end of the year,’’ he said.
Cruz currently has several projects located throughout North America, including two in Nevada. They are the Solar and Clayton Valley lithium projects
The company is one of the largest landholders in the historic silver-cobalt producing region of Cobalt, Ontario, with five separate projects in the camp.
On May 26, 2023, Cruz shares closed at $0.095and currently trade in a 52-week range of 20.5 cents and $0.07.