Grid Battery Metals Inc. (the "Company" or "Grid") (TSXV:CELL)(OTCQB:EVKRF)(FRA:W47) is pleased to announce the results of its fall 2024 reverse circulation drilling program on the Company's claim block at Silver Peak, Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. This strategic land package, covering approximately 2,300 acres (930 ha), directly adjoins the western portion of lithium producer Albemarle's (NYSE: ALB) evaporation ponds and is nearby Century Lithium Corp.'s (TSXV:LCE)(OTCQB:CYDVF) proposed 5,430-acre Angel Island Lithium Mine, which recently released a Positive Feasibility Study detailing a 40-year mine life and an after-tax NPV8 of $3.01 billion.
Drilling Image from the Clayton Valley Lithium Project
Mr. Tim Fernback, Company President and CEO comments "Now that we have the results of the fall 2024 exploration program at our Clayton Valley Lithium Project, we are excited about the next steps of further testing the lithium content of the claystones and brine in the southern part of the claim which is near the Silver Peak Lithium Mine. This area holds the greatest promise as a lithium deposit for our company at Clayton Valley. One of the stated goals of the fall drilling program was to test the depth of the accumulated lithium brine and claystones on our property which was completed. With this knowledge, we can propose a significant follow-on exploration program that will work towards an eventual maiden resource calculation and NI# 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment. We remain very excited about this opportunity in Nevada for our company and shareholders."
Summary of the 2024 Fall Exploration Program at Clayton Valley
Grid Battery Metals completed a five-hole drill program in late October 2024, and assay results have since been returned. A total of 4735 feet were drilled to test for economic lithium clay and lithium brines with the Company landholdings located 1.2 miles northeast of Silver Peak, Nevada. Figure 1 shows the locations of the completed 2024 and 2021 holes.
The ingredients for lithium deposition including basin bounding faults, tuffaceous sediments, and geothermal waters are present on the Grid claims (Figure 2). Geologically, the property lies above a north trending fault graben on the west side of Clayton Valley called the Goat Island Graben. The surface is composed of alluvium, dunes, and playa sediments. Hot-spring related travertine, sinter, and tufa deposits occur on the west edge of the graben andare thought to represent upwelling and lithium bearing geothermal water from the deeper Clayton Valley basins to the east.
Tuffaceous sediments (including sinter and travertine), and alluvial gravels with anomalous lithium were encountered in nearly every hole. Water temperatures were elevated in all holes with a peak temperature of 85˚C in RCV-05. The presence of sinter and travertine in the holes suggests that hot-springs sediments covered a much broader area than the mapped exposures indicate.
Table 1 is a summary of assay results. Water assays were collected in 500 ml plastic bottles every 20 feet and sent to ALS Global where they were weighed, filtered, acidified, and analyzed by ICP-AP. Cutting samples were collected every 5 feet and sent to Bureau Veritas in Reno for analysis. Samples were processed, weighed and air-dried. Samples were crushed to 70% passing 10 mesh in a 250 g split. The analysis was by multi-acid digest with ICP-MS/ES finish. QA/QC standards, blanks, and field duplicates were inserted approximately every 20 samples.
Lithium concentrations in water samples were determined in all holes. The best drill-cutting intercept occurs in RCV-04 in tuffaceous sediments between 80 and 250 feet with an average of 298 ppm Li that includes grades to 741 ppm and is worthy of further exploration. Published low-grade clay-hosted lithium assays are approximately 800-850 ppm. While lithium assays generally diminish to the north, there is still untested property to the south to explore for shallow, but higher-grade lithium which is of considerable interest to the Grid Exploration Team.
The anticipated thickness of the sediments above Cambrian basement (1500-1800 feet) in the Goat Island Graben appears thinned by the presence of basalt with an unknown thickness that may occur along the length of the Graben. However, this "flow" may lie on top of older sediments within the graben, G. and could potentially act as an ideal aquitard for lithium brines (Figure 2). Seismic survey lines would help to establish the basalt depth and plan for deeper drill targets. Grid Battery Metals will consider its exploration options for 2025 with a primary focus on the southern area of the claim block which returned the highest lithium drill results for the Company.
Figure 1: Grid Battery Metals property with drill hole locations, faults, and hot-spring related rocks
Figure 2: Interpretive north facing cross-section showing extended hot-springs rocks and basalt. Section is located between RCV-01 and RCV-05
Table1: Summary of Results
Mr. Steven McMillin, P.G. Company Qualified Person, states "For a follow-up program consisting of shallow holes less than 600 feet could rapidly test for higher grade lithium to the south of RCV-04. For a deeper test beneath basalt, an active seismic test line should be considered to identify the basalt thickness and hopefully the graben bottom. Drilled lithologies, particularly basalt, will help calibrate the seismic results. If the results indicate there is a lower package of sediments, then more lines to the south RCV-04 and possibly over holes drilled to the north could be conducted. Magnetotelluric results in conjunction of the seismic results can be reinterpreted. From this, a much better geologic model can be constructed to plan deeper drill holes".
Mr. McMillin continues "There is a possibility of a deeper section of sediments below the basalt in the Goat Island Graben. Basalt could be an excellent aquitard for lithium brines."
Assays
Cutting samples were sent to Bureau Veritas ("BV") laboratory in Reno. Samples were processed, weighed and air-dried. The air drying was recommended by Applied Hydrologic of Reno because normal drying temperatures in a lab may volatilize lithium. Unfortunately, additional time was added to sample processing. After weighing, samples were crushed to 70% passing 10 mesh in a 250 g split. The analysis was by multi-acid digest with ICP-MS/ES finish.
Water samples were delivered to the ALS Global laboratory in Elko. The water samples were kept in a cooler with ice until delivery. Samples were logged in, filtered, and acidified. The analysis was done by ICP instrumentation.
Geology Logging
Lithology samples were captured every 5 feet using a strainer and placed into 20-compartment plastic chip trays for geologic logging. Chip logging into an Excel spreadsheet was conducted during night and day shifts. and lithology, structure, alteration, and mineralization were logged into separate worksheets.
Drillhole Geology
The geology of all holes drilled is summarized in Table 1. Material drilled includes lacustrine alluvial sediments, and basalt Common features encountered in nearly every hole include:
Thin recent alluvium cover of approximately 20 feet.
Clay and travertine/sinter intervals to approximately 400 feet from the surface.
Basalt from approximately 400 feet with an unknown total thickness. The exceptions are RCV-06 and RCV-08 where no basalt was drilled.
Groundwater temperatures of 85̊-120̊ F. RCV-05 ended with 180˚ F water.
Evidence of active hydrothermal alteration at multiple elevations in multiple lithologies.
Water flows of up to 220 gallons per minute.
Alteration in tuffaceous units consists of distinct greenish or gray clays.
Qualified Person
Mr. Steven McMillin, P.G. is an independent qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained within this news release.
Grid Battery Metals Inc. is a Canadian based exploration company whose primary listing is on the TSX Venture Exchange. The Company's maintains a focus on exploration for high value battery metals required for the electric vehicle (EV) market.
About Texas Springs Property
The Company owns a 100% interest in the Texas Spring Property which consists of mineral lode claims located in Elko County, Nevada. The Property is in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, Nevada, about 73 km north-northeast of Wells, Nevada. The target is a lithium clay deposit in volcanic tuff and tuffaceous sediments of the Humbolt Formation. A Phase 1 exploration program at the Texas Springs Property (Fall 2023) yielded average lithium grades of 2010 ppm, applying a 1,000 ppm cut-off, and up to 5,610 ppm Lithium.
The Texas Spring property adjoins the southern border of the Nevada North Lithium Project - owned by Surge Battery Metals Inc. ("Surge") (TSXV:NILI)(OTCQX:NILIF) and comprised of 725 mineral claims. Surge's first round of drilling identified strongly mineralized lithium bearing clays. The average lithium content within all near surface clay zones intersected in the 2022 drilling program, applying a 1000 ppm cut-off, was 3254 ppm. (Press release March 29, 2023). More recent results have shown higher grade lithium up to 8070 ppm on this property after initial drilling (Press release September 12, 2023). Our exploration results are on-trend with these results.
About Clayton Valley Lithium Project
The Company owns a 100% interest in 113 lithium lode and placer claims covering over 930 hectares in Clayton Valley. Clayton Valley is a down-dropped closed basin formed by the Miocene age Great Basin extension and is still active due to movement along the Walker Lane structural zone. As a result, the basin has preserved multiple layers of lithium bearing volcanic ash, resulting from multiple eruptive events over the past 6 million years including eruptions from the 700,000-year-old Long Valley Caldera system and related events. These ash layers are thought to contribute to the lithium brines extracted by Albemarle and are also likely involved in the formation of the exposed lithium rich clay deposits on the east side of Clayton Valley.
About the Volt Canyon Lithium Property
The Company owns a 100% interest in 80 placer claims covering approximately 635 hectares of alluvial sediments and clays located 122 km northeast of Tonopah, Nevada.
About the British Columbia Copper Project
The Company acquired a 100% interest in 17 mineral claims comprising 27,525 hectares (approximately 275 km2) located in North Central British Columbia, that has conditional approval by the TSX Venture Exchange at the time of this news release. The region is host to numerous operating mines, good infrastructure including experienced exploration and supporting services. Prominent among early discoveries in the Omineca region include the nearby Lustdust/Stardust Copper - Gold deposit; the Kwanika Copper - Gold depositandthe Lorraine Copper deposit (all of which are owned by (NorthWest Copper Corp. (TSXV:NWST)).
The Company's claims are also located between Centerra Gold Inc.'s (TSX:CG)(NYSE:CGAU) prominent Copper/Gold assets, the Kemess North project and the operating Mount Milligan mine, which has produced over 1.8 million ounces of gold and 742 million pounds of copper (Technical Report on the Mount Milligan Mine, November 7, 2022, Borntrager. B, et al.).
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements. It should be noted that results from any adjacent property(s) are not an indication of what may be found on the Company's property(s).
