Surge Battery Metals Inc. [TSXV-NILI; OTCQX-NILIF; FSE-DJ5] reported the first half of certified assays results from its 2024 drilling program for the four holes located on private surface land holdings at its Nevada North Lithium Project (NNLP), Nevada.
Highlights: NNL-021 returned 50.3m of 3,813 Li ppm, including 45.7m of 4,051 Li ppm. NNL-022: 91.4m of 3,800 Li ppm, including 82.3m of 4,038 Li ppm. NNL-024: 80.8m of 3,236 Li ppm, including 51.8m of 4,020 Li ppm.
2024 RC Drilling continues to intersect high-grade lithium mineralization up to 7,680 ppm at the NNLP and has extended drill-indicated mineralization 1,300 metres to the south from existing holes. Today’s results now increase the lithium mineralization over a North South strike length from 3 km to 4.3km, which is a 43% increase over the current inferred resource area.
Lithium mineralization is present within 15m of surface in all holes, even starting at surface in two holes, and extending to 122m below surface. The results of these drill holes are expected to expand the existing inferred resource of 4.67 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent grading 2,839 parts per million lithium at a 1,250 ppm Li cut-off.
These first four holes, all drilled on private land, were designed to test the upper package of clay units and did not penetrate the lower clays intersected in previous phases of drilling.
Greg Reimer, CEO and Director, commented, “We are very pleased with today’s results which confirmed that thick, high-grade and near-surface lithium mineralization continues to the south of our resource area. We see the same pattern in 2024 drilling as we have in 2023 and 2022 drilling where the highest lithium grades start at or near surface and should bode well for an updated resource estimate and PEA due later this year. We also importantly extend our gratitude to the private landowners who allowed us surface access to complete this drilling.”
Of the remaining 4 holes to be reported from the 2024 drilling program, two holes (NNL-025 & 026) are located far to the west on property held with M3 Metals Corp. These hole locations were selected to explore for very distal and deep continuity of mineralization. Field observations during the drilling of these holes did not reveal the known mineralized clays observed in previous drilling. The other two holes drilled (NNL-027 & 028) are located as additional step-outs to the south of the private parcel and did confirm the presence of the mineralized clay horizons discovered in the 2022 and 2023 drill programs. Assay results have yet to be received for all of these holes.
The Nevada North Lithium Project is located in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Elko County, Nevada. The first two rounds of drilling, completed in 2022 and 2023, identified a strongly mineralized zone of lithium bearing clays occupying a strike length of more than 3,000 meters and a known width of up to 950 metres. Highly anomalous soil values and geophysical surveys suggest there is potential for the clay horizons to be much greater in extent. The Nevada North Lithium Project has a pit-constrained Inferred Resource containing an estimated 4.67Mt of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) grading 2,839 ppm Li at a 1,250 ppm cutoff.
