Cruz Battery reports lithium values amid price surge

Cruz Battery Metals Corp. [CRUZ-CSE, BKTPF-OTC Pink, A3CWU7-Frankfurt] said Friday it has encountered values of up to 1,610 ppm Li from a sampling program at its Solar Lithium project in Nevada.

The announcement comes as lithium prices have recently broken out to three-year highs amid robust investor interest in lithium stocks. According to Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, the price of lithium is up 25% month-on-month due to the lack of product availability.

Cruz said it plans to be drilling the Solar project shortly, using information provided by the recent sample program, designed to test high grade target areas. “Nevada is the go-to address for North American lithium production and Cruz is extremely pleased to have a sizeable footprint in this world-class district, directly bordering American Lithium Corp.’s [LI-TSXV, LIACF-OTCQB, 5LA1-Frankfurt] Tonopah Lithium Project (TLC) project,” Cruz said in a press release, Friday.

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 Cypress Development Corp.’s [CYP-TSXV] Clayton Valley project.

“We are pleased to announce that we’ve encountered five separate sample results of over 1,059 ppm Li, including grades as high as 1,610 ppm Li on the newly acquired Solar lithium project directly bordering American Lithium Corp.’s TLC project,” said Cruz President Jim Nelson.

Cruz recently said it is in the process of applying for a drill permit and expects to be commencing a fall program as soon as possible.

“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 said.

Cruz currently has 13 properties located throughout North America, consisting of five in Ontario, four in British Columbia, two in Idaho and two in Nevada.

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. Those projects are in the vicinity of First Cobalt Corp’s (FCC-TSXV, FTSSF-OTCQB, FCC-ASX) Ontario cobalt refinery.

In December, 2020, the government of Canada and the government of Ontario announced a joint $10 million investment in the First Cobalt refinery to help accelerate commissioning and expansion.

“Cruz Battery Metals Corp will be focused on acquiring and developing high-quality battery metals projects in politically stable, environmentally responsible and ethical mining jurisdictions, essential for the rapidly growing rechargeable battery and renewable energy sectors,” Nelson said.