VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 26,
2023 /CNW/ - Nevada Sunrise Metals
Corp. ("Nevada Sunrise", or the "Company") (TSXV: NEV)
(OTC: NVSGF) is pleased to announce that a novel form of
metallurgical testing is underway on lithium mineralization from
its 100%-owned Gemini Lithium Project ("Gemini") in Nevada, utilizing super critical carbon
dioxide as a leaching agent. A new patent granted by the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office in August
2023 to the Company's consultant, Willem Duyvesteyn, M.Sc. of Extractive
Metallurgy Consultants LLC of Reno,
Nevada ("EMC"), is currently being tested on Gemini clay
mineralization. EMC's patented process could revolutionize the
extraction of lithium from clay deposits by offering a "green"
processing method while at the same time providing in-ground
sequestration of captured carbon dioxide ("carbon capture").
About Super Critical Carbon
Dioxide
Super critical carbon dioxide ("scCD" or "sc CO2") is
used extensively in chemical industries, including, for example,
for the production of decaffeinated coffee and various plant oils
and extracts. Carbon dioxide
("CO2") reaches a supercritical state at 1,071 pounds
per square inch (75.299 kg/cm2) pressure and a
temperature of 87.98° F (31.1° C), whereupon it attains the
properties of both liquid and gas and can be utilized as a
fast-acting solvent. Most importantly, scCD has been extensively
investigated for the sequestration of CO2 in various
geological formations, including clay-type deposits.
It is commonly believed that lithium present in clay or
"claystone" deposits is held in the interlayer between the silica
sheets of clays, such as smectite (hectorite), or illite
(tainiolite) and is not very strongly bound. In the scCD
extraction process proposed by EMC, CO2 is converted to
bicarbonate and this anion is readily picked up by the freed
lithium ion, forming a water-soluble lithium bicarbonate. The
resulting lithium bicarbonate compound is much more soluble than
lithium carbonate. Some water in the interlayer will be displaced
by CO2 and therefore will provide opportunities to
sequester CO2, thus providing an
environmentally-friendly method of lithium extraction while
establishing a unique form of carbon capture.
While the initial focus of the scCD testing is on the
ex-situ, or off-site, processing of lithium-bearing clays,
EMC has also identified the opportunity to use an in-situ
approach employing freeze walls to contain the CO2 in a
section of a lithium-bearing clay deposit while implementing carbon
capture of the CO2 used during the lithium extraction
process.
Results of the scCD testing of Gemini lithium-in-clay
mineralization are expected in Q4 2023.
About Gemini
Gemini consists of 291 unpatented claims on Bureau of Land
Management land covering approximately 5,600 acres (2,266 ha.)
located in the western Lida Valley, Esmeralda County, approximately 6 miles (10
kilometres) east of the town of Lida, Nevada. The Lida Valley is a flat, arid basin
with a similar geological setting to the better-known Clayton Valley basin where Albemarle Corporation
operates the Silver Peak lithium brine mine, which has operated
continuously since 1966.
Gemini is situated adjacent to the Gold Point Solar Energy Zone,
a BLM land reserve set aside for solar and wind power generation
projects until 2033. Exploration at Gemini is complemented by the
Company's 80.09 acre/feet/year water right, a pre-requisite for the
exploration and development of lithium projects in Nevada.
In March and April 2022, Nevada
Sunrise drilled two RC boreholes for a total of 2,020 feet (615.85
metres) in its maiden drilling program at Gemini. The drill sites
were located within a defined gravity low that hosts conductive
layers detected by historical ground electromagnetic surveys. The
results from the first two holes at Gemini represented a new
discovery of lithium mineralization in the western Lida Valley,
which was not historically drill tested for lithium (see Nevada
Sunrise news release dated May 18,
2022). In July 2022,
Nevada Sunrise received a permit for an expanded drilling area from
the Bureau of Land Management and began Phase 2 drilling at Gemini
in October 2022. Three additional boreholes were completed
from October 2022 to April 2023, with each intersecting lithium
mineralization (see Nevada Sunrise news release dated
May 24, 2023).
Nevada Sunrise believes that the southern and western parts of
the Gemini basin are highly prospective for additional lithium
mineralization and that further drilling could eventually define a
large lithium resource. The Company has engaged ABH Engineering
Inc. of Surrey, BC, Canada to calculate a National Instrument
43-101-compliant resource estimate leading to a Preliminary
Economic Assessment of the lithium-bearing zones at Gemini.
Initial metallurgical tests carried out by Nevada Sunrise
achieved a 90.2% lithium extraction rate from the Gemini clay
mineralization, a rate which compares favorably with the average
lithium extraction of 84% reported by Lithium Americas at its
Thacker Pass lithium project
(Source: Feasibility Study, National Instrument 43-101 Technical
Report for the Thacker Pass Project, Humboldt County, Nevada, USA, by Roth, D., et
al, dated November 2, 2022).
Follow-up testing of the resulting leach solutions at the
facilities of McClelland Laboratories Inc. in Sparks, Nevada produced a sample that was
near-100% lithium carbonate (see Nevada Sunrise news release dated
July 31, 2023).
For further information on Gemini, including maps and photos
click here
Statement of Qualified
Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news
release has been reviewed and approved by Willem Duyvesteyn, M.Sc., who is a Qualified
Person for Nevada Sunrise as defined in National Instrument 43-101
– Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
About Nevada Sunrise
Nevada Sunrise is a junior mineral exploration company with a
strong technical team based in Vancouver,
BC, Canada, that holds
interests in lithium, gold, and copper exploration projects located
in the State of Nevada, USA.
Nevada Sunrise owns 100% interests in the Gemini, Jackson Wash and Badlands lithium projects, with
no applicable royalties, all of which are located in the Lida
Valley in Esmeralda County, NV.
The Company owns Nevada water right Permit 86863, also located
in the Lida Valley basin, near Lida, NV.
The Company's key gold asset is a 20.01% interest in a joint
venture at the Kinsley Mountain Gold Project near Wendover, NV with CopAur Minerals Inc.
Kinsley Mountain is a Carlin-style gold project hosting a
National Instrument 43-101 compliant gold resource consisting of
418,000 indicated ounces of gold grading 2.63 g/t Au (4.95
million tonnes), and 117,000 inferred ounces of gold averaging 1.51
g/t Au (2.44 million tonnes), at cut-off grades ranging from 0.2 to
2.0 g/t Au1. The Company has elected not to
contribute to the 2023 exploration program at Kinsley Mountain and
projects to incur dilution of its participating interest in the
joint venture to an approximate 19.0% interest.
1 Technical Report on the Kinsley
Project, Elko County, Nevada, U.S.A., dated June 21, 2021 with an
effective date of May 5, 2021 and prepared by Michael M. Gustin,
Ph.D., and Gary L. Simmons, MMSA and filed under New Placer Dome
Gold Corp.'s Issuer Profile on SEDAR
(www.sedar.com).
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Nevada Sunrise has the right to earn a 100% interest in the
Coronado VMS Project, located approximately 48 kilometers (30
miles) southeast of Winnemucca,
NV.
Website: www.nevadasunrise.ca
FORWARD LOOKING
STATEMENTS
This release may contain forward–looking
statements. Forward looking statements are statements that are not
historical facts and are generally, but not always,
identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates",
"believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and
similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would",
"may", "could" or "should" occur and include disclosure of
anticipated exploration activities. 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 actual results may differ
materially from those in forward looking statements.
Forward–looking statements are based on the beliefs,
estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date such
statements were made. The Company expressly disclaims any intention
or obligation to update or revise any forward–looking
statements whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
Such factors include, among others, risks related to the
results and outcomes of the Company's 2022-2023 exploration
activities and future plans at the Gemini Lithium Project; reliance
on technical information provided by third parties on any of our
exploration properties; changes in project parameters as plans
continue to be refined; current economic conditions; future prices
of commodities; possible variations in grade or metallurgical
recovery rates; failure of equipment or processes to operate as
anticipated; the failure of contracted parties to perform; labor
disputes and other risks of the mining industry; delays due to
pandemic; delays in obtaining governmental approvals, financing or
in the completion of exploration, as well as those factors
discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in the Company's
Management Discussion and Analysis for the Nine Months ending
June 30, 2023, which is
available under Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.
Although Nevada Sunrise has attempted to identify important
factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to
differ materially from those described in forward-looking
information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events
or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There
can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate
as actual results and future events could differ materially from
those anticipated in such statements. Nevada Sunrise disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking
information, whether as a result of new information, future events
or otherwise. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance
on forward-looking information.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
SOURCE Nevada Sunrise Metals Corporation