Macarthur Minerals Commences Soil Sampling Program on Nevada Stonewall Lithium Project

David Taplin, President, CEO and Director of Macarthur Minerals commented:
“Further soil sampling and deeper drilling into the basin and the brines is a priority to ascertain if the same lithium brine potential exists in the Lida Valley as has been discovered and extracted in the adjacent Clayton Valley. We are excited about commencing further extensive sampling to move this project forward.”
Soil Sampling Program
A shallow auger drilling program was conducted as part of due diligence in October 2016 where all nine shallow auger drill holes reported lithium, with grades up to 145.5 parts per million (“ppm”) lithium (“Li”) from near surface sediment, confirming that lithium is present in the Lida Valley (refer to press release dated October 21, 2016).
The Company has commenced an extensive sampling program across the full extent of the placer claims of the Stonewall Project to provide the Company a property wide view of lithium distribution contained in the basin fill sediments. This sampling will also allow for a partial indication of the lithium content of the deeper sediments. At present, the exact depth and composition of the sediments in the basin are unknown. Macarthur Mineral’s geological team expects sediments to be at least 92 meters (300 feet) deep, most likely considerably deeper. A stock watering well located approximately 500 meters (a quarter mile) to the south of the claim block was drilled to a depth of approximately 92 meters (300 feet).
Once the property wide soil sampling program is completed, the Company will define areas of interest to be further explored through the use of geophysical methods. A detailed gravity survey may be conducted over areas of interest to determine the depth to a potential brine aquifer. The integration of soil assays with a geophysical interpretation will allow drill sites to be selected for detailed subsurface investigation of the project.
It is expected, that potential aquifers similar in composition and thickness to the upper and lower ash aquifers in the nearby Clayton Valley will be encountered at depth. The ash aquifers in the Clayton Valley were deposited by continental scale volcanic eruptions from calderas located 150 kilometers to the West (90 miles) and 790 kilometers North West (475 miles) of the Stonewall Project area. Ash fall from these volcanoes was deposited in the nearby Clayton Valley 52 kilometers to the North West (31 miles) and most likely also in the basins of the Lida Valley, where the Stonewall Project is located. The ash aquifers are both a host for and a possible source for lithium brines in the Clayton Valley.
Stonewall Project
The Stonewall Project covers an area of approximately 5,460 acres (22.1 square kilometers) and the majority of a playa in Nevada’s Lida Valley Basin, a nearby and geologically similar basin to the Clayton Valley Basin, which hosts the United States’ only producing lithium mine.
As indicated in Figure 1, the Stonewall Project is strategically located in the Nevada lithium supply hub, 306 kilometers (191 miles) southeast of Tesla’s new Gigafactory, which has a planned production capacity of 35 gigawatt-hours per year by 2020¹.
Figure 2 shows the location of the Stonewall Project claims over the majority of the playa consisting of 615 Placer Mine Claims, located in the Lida Valley, Nevada.
The Stonewall Project is located in an intermontane basin and is surrounded by tertiary volcanic rhyolitic rock units, which are anomalously high in lithium. These rhyolitic units are thought to act as a potential source rock for lithium in the Clayton Valley brines. The potential lithium source rock includes flows and tuffs that likely extend below the alluvial cover.
The Stonewall Project is located in the mining friendly Nye and Esmeralda Counties of Nevada and is serviced by excellent infrastructure with access to power, water, labour and is bisected by the Veterans Memorial Highway Number 95. The regional climate also favours natural and inexpensive evaporation for brine concentration and allows year-round work.
ASX IPO of Macarthur Australia Limited Update
The Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”) Initial Public Offering (“IPO”) of Macarthur Australia Limited (“Macarthur Australia”) to raise up to A$10 million is progressing and due to close as scheduled on 2 May 2017.
A copy of the prospectus and application form is available to qualified investors at www.macarthuraustralia.com.
Macarthur Australia has released a video and interactive presentation on the ASX IPO which is available to view here.
The board of Macarthur Minerals believes that the ASX IPO of Macarthur Australia, which now owns its Australian iron ore and lithium projects, will provide improved price realisation for those projects more consistent with its ASX listed peers.
Macarthur Minerals’ wholly owned subsidiary, Macarthur Lithium Nevada Limited, will continue to advance the Stonewall Project.
QUALIFIED PERSONS
Mr Randy Henkle, a Registered Member of the Society of Mining and Exploration and a Professional Geologist licensed in British Columbia, Canada, is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr Henkle has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED ( TSX VENTURE: MMS)
Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration and development company that is focused on developing its Western Australian iron ore projects and its lithium exploration interests in Australia and Nevada.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED
Cameron McCall, Chairman
NEITHER 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.
Caution Regarding the IPO and Forward Looking Statements
All offers of securities in regards to the IPO of Macarthur Australia Limited will be made in Australia pursuant to a Prospectus prepared in accordance with the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). Anyone who wishes to acquire securities as part of the IPO will only be able to do so by completing an application form which will be in or accompany the Prospectus.
Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
¹https://www.tesla.com/sites/default/files/blog_attachments/gigafactory.pdf
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