Iconic Minerals, Nevada Lithium drilling Bonnie Claire lithium project, Nevada
Iconic Minerals Ltd. [ICM-TSXV; BVTEF-OTC; YQGA-FSE] and its 50% joint venture partner in Bonnie Claire, Nevada Lithium Resources Inc. [NVLH-CSE], note that drilling of the Bonnie Claire lithium project in Nye County, Nevada is under way and proceeding according to plan.
The planned drill program will entail drilling from five separate drill sites which are spaced approximately one-half mile apart and being drilled to a depth of 2,000 feet (610 metres). Both core and mud/rotary holes will be drilled. Each drill hole will be logged and drill samples will be securely sent to a qualified geochemical lab for assaying. One mud/rotary drill hole will be preserved as a drill water well, following the pumping tests that will be conducted by the company’s borehole mining consultants, Barr Engineering Company of Minneapolis. Barr will also collect core samples for extensive materials testing.
Iconic Mineral’s CEO, Richard Kern, stated, “After a longer-than-expected permitting process, we are delighted to begin final definition of this very large lithium resource.”
The Bonnie Claire property is located within Sarcobatus Valley, which is approximately 30 km (19 miles) long and 20 km (12 miles) wide. Quartz-rich volcanic tuffs containing anomalous amounts of lithium occur within and adjacent to the valley. Drill results from the salt flat have included lithium values as high as 2,550 parts per million Li and a 1,560-foot (roughly 475-metre) vertical intercept that averaged 1,153 ppm Li.
The current NI 43-101 resource from the preliminary economic assessment report for borehole minable portion of the resource is 3,407 million tonnes grading 1,013 ppm Li or 18,372 million kilograms of lithium carbonate equivalent. The gravity low within the valley is 20 km (12 miles) long, and the current estimates of depth to basement rocks range from 600 to 1,200 metres (2,000 to 4,000 feet). The current claim block covers an area of 74 km2 (28.6 square miles) with potential for brine systems and further sediment resources.