Surge Battery Metals drills up to 5,670 ppm lithium at Nevada North, Nevada
Surge Battery Metals Inc.’s [TSXV-NILI; OTC-NILIF; FRA-DJ5C] certified assay results on its Nevada North lithium project in Nevada have confirmed mineralization extends 1,500 metres to the northwest of 2022 drilling.
Samples from drill hole NN2304 (Drill site location P) returned positive results ranging between the 1,000 ppm cutoff to 5,670 ppm Li. This includes the highest grade horizon which has a thickness of 29.8 metres (97.5ft) with an average grade of 3,841ppm Li.
Significantly, NN2304 is a 300-metre (984 ft) step out to the northwest from previously reported NN2302 and has a composite thickness of intersected clay horizons of 32.9 metres (107.5ft) for an overall average grade of 3,682 ppm Li.
Drill hole NN2303 (drill site location V), a further 1,000m (3,300ft) step-out to the northwest from NN2304, returned positive sample results ranging between the 1,000 ppm cutoff to 5,120 ppm Li. The primary clay horizon starts from 78.5 metres (257.5 ft), is 21.3 metres (70ft) thick and grades 3,064 ppm Li. The composite thickness of clay layers intersected was 22.8 metres (75 ft), for an overall grade of 2,940 ppm Li. Two samples returned 1,210 ppm Li between 0 and 3.8 metres (12.5ft) below surface and are interpreted to lie on the edge of an additional shallow zone of near-surface lithium mineralization extending to the north and west. The 2023 transient electromagnetic survey suggests the near-surface claystone thickens to the west, and resistivity decreases, possibly indicating an area of more substantial mineralization. Hole NN2303 is a 1,500-metre (4,921 ft) step-out to the northwest from hole NN2205, the most northerly hole of the 2022 drilling campaign.
Greg Reimer, CEO, and Director commented, “Drill holes NN2302, 2303 and 2304 now confirm mineralization extends an additional 1.5 km from the most northerly hole of the 2022 drill program for an overall confirmed strike length in excess of 3km. I am very excited to see that the lithium bearing clay horizons, identified by geophysics, are confirmed by these drill results. Additionally, the near surface intersection of NN2303, which is anticipated to thicken to the west, will be a priority to follow up in the next drilling program.”
The company owns the Nevada North Lithium Project located in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada about 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Elko County, Nevada. The first round of drilling, completed in October 2022, identified a strongly mineralized zone of lithium bearing clays occupying a strike length of almost 1,620 metres. Widths of the mineralized horizons are at least 400 metres, supported by highly anomalous soil values indicating potential for the clay horizons to be much greater in extent. The potential for a significant lithium deposit can be illustrated by the average lithium content within all near surface clay zones intersected in 2022 drilling, applying a 1000 ppm cut-off, was 3254 ppm.
The 2023 drill program is underway and is designed to expand the known lithium-rich clay from the current 1,620 metres strike length to more than 3,500 meters and the known width of the mineralization to 950 meters from the previously drill-indicated 400 meters. Initial assay results from the first hole of the 2023 season had a high of 8070 ppm lithium with an average of 4,067 ppm lithium at a 1,000 ppm cut-off.