Full size / Drill rig and crew in action at Kibby Basin in Nevada, USA.

Today, MGX Minerals Inc. and Belmont Resources Inc. provided an update on the drill program at Kibby Basin in Nevada, 50 km north of Albemarle’s Silver Peak Mine at Clayton Valley where North America’s only lithium brine deposit is in production. 

KB-3, the first hole of the 2018 drilling program at Kibby Basin, has reached a depth of 548 m (1,798 feet) targeting the southern portion of a large robust conductor identified by MT geopyhsics, which may represent saturated sediments containing aquifiers enriched with lithium. 

The first section of the hole was drilled to a depth of 387 m (1,270 feet) using a mud-rotary drilling method, whereas the remaining 161 m (528 feet) was completed with a diamond core tail. This technique of changing drills was also used successfully at Clayton Valley.

126 samples of sedimentary drill cuttings from the mud-rotary section of the hole have been collected and sent to ALS Laboratories in Reno, Nevada, for assaying. A down-hole geophysical survey including gamma-caliper-temperature-fluid resistivity and SP, SPR logging will be conducted on the hole to identify permeable aquifer zones and conductive brine zones. Water samples will be collected after the geophysical logging, and will be assayed for lithium, associated elements and physical properties. Sections of drill core from 387-548 m (1270-1798 feet) will be split and similarly assayed as above mentioned.

Oxidized clay zones at 122-195 m (400-640 feet) and several thinner zones of clay deeper in the hole are being evaluated as potential lithium-bearing bedrock mineralization. Thin intervals of altered rhyolite ash and possible hot-spring sinter were encountered at 430-431 m (1411-1412 feet), 453-454 m (1488-1490 feet) and 484-485 m (1589.5-1590 feet). In general, concentrated lithium brines tend to occur in neutral or slightly alkaline hot-spring waters associated with silicic volcanic rocks (according to "Where on earth is all the lithium" by James D. Vine; 1980). At the bottom of the hole, operation of a paleo-geothermal system is evidenced by the silicified intervals and fronts of pyrite and magnetite alteration increasing below a depth of 457 m (1500 feet). 

Final confirmation and scheduling for the second 2018 drill hole (KB-4) on the Kibby Property are being discussed. The drills will be mobilized to the second site as soon as possible. Jim Place, CEO and President of Belmont, commented:

"KB3 has encountered multiple brine prospective layers that may represent lithium enriched aquifers in Kibby Basin. Our team is looking forward to sample results and continued drilling." 

Sand and gravel zones, which may represent brine-bearing aquifers, were encountered at depths of 46-52 m (150-170 feet), 64-70 m (210-230 feet), 79-91 m (260-300 feet), and 274-280 m (900-920 feet), where a potentially major aquifer in a cobble gravel was intersected. Thus, a total of approximately 30 m (100 feet) of potentially lithium-enriched aquifer(s) have been encountered successfully.

For comparison, the subsurface lithium brines at Clayton Valley are pumped from 6 aquifer units (see below figure), whereas the main aquifer system (called "Main Ash Aquifer") ranges between 5-20 m in thickness (according to "Geochemistry of lithium-rich brines in Clayton Valley, Nevada, USA; 2011). 

Full size / Schematic cross-section of aquifers in Clayton Valley along the dip of the basin. (Zampirro, 2003)

According to below figure, the Main Ash Aquifer ("major tuff-bed aquifer") hosted brine ranging between 40-320 ppm lithium, whereas the highest grades were encountered near faults. KB-4, the next proposed hole at Kibby Basin, may be drilled even closer to potential fault(s) and thus intersecting potentially higher grades than KB-3. In other words, it may take several holes to find the higher graded portions of a potentially lithium-enriched brine zone at Kibby Basin. 

Full size ("Origin of the lithium-rich brine, Clayton Valley, Nevada", 1986)

According to below figure, some of the more productive pay zones of the Main Ash Aquifer at Clayton Valley range in thickness between 3-9 m (10-30 feet) and occur near faults. 

Full size (Zampirro, 2003)

Below are some recent photos of the drill rig and crew in action, drill core being extruded and logged, and preparing for sampling at Kibby Basin (source: Belmont Resources Inc.):

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Company Details

MGX Minerals Inc.
#303 - 1080 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 2T1
Phone: +1 604 681 7735 
Email: jared@mgxminerals.com
www.mgxminerals.com

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