American Lithium to start Clayton Valley drill campaign in January

VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Following receipt of regulatory approvals, junior explorer American Lithium will in January start drilling campaigns on two of its Nevada-based properties in the prospective and lithium-rich Clayton Valley district.

The TSX-V-listed firm, which recently announced that it had consolidated a massive land position in the region, said Monday it had received approval for its revised drilling permit to drill five wells at the Fish Lake Valley lithium exploration project. The company also announced that it has now received the required permitting to drill up to six wells on its Clayton Valley property.

The two drill programmes are designed to collect information on aquifer characteristics and test the lithium values in aquifer brines. The company intends on deploying a sonic drill rig equipped to reach depths of 300 m, the company advised.

"Our work to date has produced a large and growing information base on our projects and we have now used this knowledge to specifically design a sonic drill rig capable of drilling to depths of 300-plus-metres. This technique provides us with the most cost-effective and timely drilling possible,” commented American Lithium COO Mike Kobler.

Observers have in recent years noted a staking rush in Nevada in response to a projected demand gap as the use of lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and other applications gains traction. Some analysts have bemoaned the fact that many market entrants staked claims in the hope of cashing in on the land consolidation frenzy, while not intending to actually develop resources on their given properties.

Early this month explorer Advantage Lithium and its joint venture partner Nevada Sunrise Gold hit lithium-bearing brines with values similar to Albemarle’s brine samples from their producing Silver Peak operation, located immediately next door, in Nevada’s Clayton Valley salar.