Lithium South completes bulk brine sample • Nickel Rock begins drilling its lithium clay

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Nickel Rock begins drilling its lithium clay

Canadian-based exploration company Nickel Rock Resources has commenced reverse circulation drilling on its recently expanded claim block at Silver Peak, Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada.

This strategic land package directly adjoins a western portion of lithium producer Albemarle’s evaporation ponds and is nearby Cypress Development Corp’s Clayton Valley Lithium Clay Project.

“The Clayton Valley area is booming again for lithium clay exploration,” said Robert Setter, president and CEO. “On the neighbouring property of Cypress Development, they have recently oversubscribed its bought deal offering for gross proceeds of C$19,550,000 ... This is fantastic news, and it complements news from our other neighbour Albemarle who

announced earlier this year that it is planning to double its lithium production in Nevada at its Silver Peak mine by 2025 and is committing between US$30 million - US$50 million in additional investment on the property. “With our current exploration program in place, we will be able to lay the groundwork for a more significant exploration program budget and program in the future. We are excited about this opportunity in Nevada for our lithium clay project.”

Lithium South completes bulk brine sample in Argentina

Lithium South has completed a bulk brine sample at the Hombre Muerto North Lithium Project in Salta Province, Argentina, in order

to provide Chemphys Chengdu of China, and Lilac Solutions of Oakland, California with a large brine sample for direct lithium extraction test work. The well head on the Tramo Claim block was opened and run for 12 hours, and three 2,000-litre brine samples were obtained. The samples have been processed through Salta, Argentina, and are now in shipment. The HMN Li Project is situated on the Hombre Muerto Salar, the premier lithium-producing salar in Argentina. The property is adjacent to land under development by the Korean multinational corporation POSCO, which acquired the ground from Galaxy Resources for US $280 million. Lithium South completed a preliminary economic assessment of the HMN Li Project in 2019, using conventional evaporation extraction.

“The company is evaluating both conventional evaporation and DLE to determine the optimal process method for the project”

This involves the construction of large evaporation ponds to concentrate the lithium contained in the raw brine. It’s an expensive process with a large environmental footprint is large, and a production lead time of approximately 18 months, so the company is evaluating both conventional evaporation and DLE to determine the optimal process method for the project.