Advantage Lithium JV drills 426 m of 243 mg/l Li at Clayton

 
Advantage Lithium Corp. (TSXV:AAL; OTCQX:AVLIF) and its joint venture partner, Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., have provided the lithium brine drilling results at the Clayton NE project in the Clayton Valley, Nevada. Clayton NE borders the Silver Peak mine, operated by Albemarle Corporation (“Albemarle”) – North America’s only producing lithium mine. Hole CNE-17-04, drilled to a total depth of 609.6 metres (2,000 feet), has intersected multiple aquifer formations, including a total composite of 426.72 metres of brine-producing strata averaging 243.44 milligrams per litre (“mg/l”) lithium between a depth of 140.21m to 609.6m metres, including a higher-grade interval averaging 274.6 mg/l lithium over 79.2 metres from a depth of 530.35 metres to 609.6 metres. This hole follows successful results from phase one drilling (see news releases dated Nov 1, 2016, Dec 5, 2016 and Dec 21, 2016).
Highlights
Continued 100% Drilling Success Rate with Strong Lithium Brine Results. Hole CNE-17-04 has intersected multiple aquifer formations:
Total composite of 426.72m of brine producing strata at an average grade of 243.44 mg/l lithium, including:
274.6 mg/l lithium over 79.2 metres (530.35m to 609.6m)
Extension of mineralized brine trend to 4.46km. The highly-successful Phase 1 program defined a 3.43km mineralized trend. The results of Phase 2 drilling to date has extended this trend length to 4.46km.
Drilling deeper into potentially untested aquifers. Phase 2 holes are targeting possible deeper aquifers that may not have been intersected by previous drilling in the Clayton Valley. Previous hole CNE-16-03, from the Phase 1 program, was one of the deepest boreholes drilled in the Clayton Valley and, based on results obtained, may have hit a previously untested aquifer.
Permits/waivers obtained for future development of a lithium brine resource and wells. In November 2016, waivers were received from the Nevada Division of Water Resources for 5 of the 6 permitted holes, which allows for reaming a borehole to a larger diameter well, pump testing, and flow rate determination in order to provide the necessary technical information for development of an initial lithium brine resource at Clayton NE.
Ross McElroy, Technical Advisor and Director, of Advantage Lithium, commented: “We are continuing to see strong grades and brine flow from our drilling at Clayton NE and now have a mineralized brine trend that may stretch as far as 4.46km. These latest results are in line with our previous best hole at the project and, once again, we’ve not only encountered lithium brines relatively close to surface but also at greater depths, which suggests we may have again hit previously untested aquifers. All-in-all, we are making excellent progress towards an initial resource estimate at Clayton NE.”

Table 1: Results of Brine Samples for CNE-17-04
                                                                        Total              Lithium
                                                                    dissolved     Lithium     avg.
                                                                       solids       range    grade
Drill hole          Aquifer system          (Interval) (m)        (TDS) (mg/l)      (mg/l)   (mg/l)
                                       From     To  Width
CNE-17-04  Salt Aquifer System - A   140.21 146.30   6.10             230,000         N/A   182.00
           Salt Aquifer System - B   152.40 158.50   6.10             255,000         N/A   238.00
                      Main Ash - A   182.88 188.98   6.10             310,000         N/A   310.00
                      Main Ash - B   195.07 201.17   6.10             175,000         N/A   177.00
                      Tufa Aquifer   201.17 219.46  18.29   114,000 - 183,000    63 - 105    89.17
          Lower Aquifer System - A   219.46 249.94  30.48   118,200 - 154,000   194 - 301   266.80
          Lower Aquifer System - B   256.03 469.39 213.36   161,000 - 234,000   162 - 274   242.29
              Lower Gravel Aquifer   469.39 579.12 109.73   200,000 - 268,000   223 - 283   260.11
                           Bedrock   579.12 609.60  30.48   219,000 - 242,000   269 - 286   274.00

The Phase 2 drilling program is comprised of a total of approximately 1,800 metres (5,905 feet) in three reverse circulation (“RC”) holes expected to test depths of a minimum 600 metres each. Using a similar approach to the successful Phase 1 program that hit wide intercepts of lithium brine with strong brine flow rates, these new holes are focused on high-priority conductive horizons identified and imaged in the 2016 3-D resistivity survey and confirmed by drilling to be lithium-bearing brines. All four holes drilled to date are adjacent to Silver Peak lithium brine field operation, North America’s only producing lithium mine, operated by Albemarle Corporation (“Albemarle”) in close proximity to several of their production wells.
CNE-17-04 was completed to a depth of 609.6 metres (2,000 feet), intersecting the base of the Clayton Valley salar sedimentary basin at 579.12 metres (1,885 feet). Drilling has intersected typical Clayton Valley strata consisting of alternating layers of gravel, volcanic ash and clay as well as units consisting of carbonate deposits and other evaporites. A total of 80 grab groundwater samples were collected as brine-bearing formations were encountered. Table 1 presents a compiled summary of the depths of the aquifer systems with brine interval thickness and associated average lithium grades and TDS concentrations. Anomalous lithium results with average concentration of 243.44 mg/l were obtained from six (6) discrete brine-bearing formations intersected over a 469.39 metre section (from 140.21 to 609.6 metres) within the Salt Aquifer, Main Ash Aquifer, Tufa Aquifer, Lower Aquifer System, Lower Gravel Aquifer, and a possible fractured bedrock aquifer.
Within this section, a 24.38 metre interval composed of compacted, confining clay was intersected from depth of 158.50 to 182.88 metres. Water was not produced from this unit. This zone is not included in the calculation of total average lithium concentrations. Recoverable water was not present in three 6.1-metre intervals within this 469.39-metre section because of excessive fine-grained solids content. The Salt Aquifer System contains two brine-bearing zones (A and B as shown in table 1) separated by an unsampled zone from 146.30 to 152.40 metres. The Main Ash Aquifer contains two brine-bearing zones (A and B as shown in Table 1) separated by an unsampled zone from 188.98 to 195.07 metres. The Lower Aquifer System contains one unsampled zone from 249.94 to 256.03 metres. These three unsampled zones are not included in the calculation of total average lithium concentrations for these aquifers.
The highest-grade results were obtained in the Main Ash Aquifer with a peak concentration up to 310 mg/l lithium (182.88 to 201.17 metres), and in the deeper Lower Gravel Aquifer, with a peak concentration up to 301 mg/l (219.46 to 225.55 metres). In addition to brine samples, drill cuttings were collected for each 1.5 metre interval and 87 samples have been submitted for analysis. Analytical results for the drill cuttings are pending.
Clayton Valley Project Overview
Clayton NE consists of 55 unpatented claims totaling approximately 1,080 acres (437 hectares) located in the Clayton Valley sedimentary salar and is contiguous to the eastern boundary of Albemarle’s Silver Peak property, North America’s only lithium producer;
O’Keefe Drilling, of Butte, Montana, has been retained for the Phase 2 program to drill by RC equipment;
Several of Albemarle’s lithium brine production wells are situated within approximately 100 metres and less of the Clayton NE western claim boundary.
Clayton NE is subject to an option earn-in agreement where Advantage Lithium can earn up to a 70% interest in the Project after fulfilling CDN$3.0 million in exploration expenditures on a package of five lithium properties optioned from Nevada Sunrise (for further details, see Nevada Sunrise news release dated June 20, 2016);
Nevada Sunrise is the project manager at Clayton NE on behalf of Advantage Lithium, the operator.
The technical information in this news release has reviewed and approved on behalf of the company by Ross McElroy, P.Geol., Technical Advisor and Director for Advantage Lithium Corp., and a “Qualified Person” as defined in NI 43-101.
About Advantage Lithium Corp.
Advantage Lithium Corp. is a resource company specializing in the strategic acquisition, exploration and development of lithium properties and is headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia. The common shares of the company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX VENTURE:AAL), and the company is also traded on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S. (OTCQX:AVLIF). The company has signed an LOI, subject to definitive agreement, with lithium producer, Orocobre, subject to definitive agreement, to acquire 100% interest in five projects in Argentina and a 75% interest in a sixth, called Cauchari. Cauchari is host to a near-surface estimated inferred resource of 230 million cubic metres of brine at 380 mg/l Lithium that equates to 470,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate (LCE), and a large exploration target of 5.6mt to 0.25mt of LCE and 19mt to 0.9 of KCL. Cauchari is located just 20 km south Orocobre’s flagship Olaroz Lithium Facility. The Company is also earning an interest from Nevada Sunrise Gold Corp., in a portfolio of five lithium brine projects in the Clayton and Lida Valley regions of Nevada, USA, including 70% in Clayton NE. In addition, the Company has acquired 100% of the Stella Marys lithium brine project, immediately adjacent to Orocobre’s Salinas Grandes project that hosts an inferred, near-surface resource, in Argentina’s Lithium Triangle.
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