JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Lithium-bearing brines have been intersected at TSX-listed Nevada Sunrise Gold and exploration partner Advantage Lithium’s Clayton Northeast lithium brine project in Nevada’s Clayton Valley, in the US, the companies announced Monday.

The Clayton Northeast project borders Albemarle’s Silver Peak mine, North America's only producing lithium mine.

The brines were intersected in the second borehole of the project’s 2016 drilling programme.

"Our second borehole at Clayton has exceeded expectations," noted Nevada Sunrise CEO Warren Stanyer in a statement issued Monday.

He added that the brines had a higher average lithium content and stronger flow rates, which the companies took to be strong indicators that known lithium-bearing aquifers in the Clayton Valley were being intersected.

Nevada Sunrise and Advantage Lithium’s 2016 exploration drilling programme includes three vertically oriented conventional dual-tube reverse-circulation drill holes totalling 1 500 m, focused on lithium brine targets close to the Silver Peak mine border and several of Albemarle's production wells.

Of particular note, hole CNE-16-02, has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including 188.9 m of brine-producing strata averaging 164.2 parts per million (ppm) lithium from a depth of 207.3 m to 396.2 m, including a higher-grade interval averaging 202.8 ppm lithium over 109.7 m.

Hole CNE-16-03, which is still in progress, has also encountered strong brines ranging up to 138 000 ppm total dissolved solids (TDS), with analyses to follow. 

Further, an additional 32 ha of contiguous land was staked in November to the south-west at Clayton, bringing the total land package to about 437 ha.

Meanwhile, Stanyer noted that groundwater samples were sent to the Western Environmental testing laboratory in Reno, Nevada for analysis.

“General chemistry testing included analysis for specific gravity, total hardness and alkalinity, bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, TDS and electrical conductivity,” he concluded.