Company unveils plans to leverage $10M working capital with operational study of flagship property and new opportunities
Liberty One Lithium Corp. (TSX VENTURE: LBY) (OTCQB: LRTTF) (FRANKFURT: L1T), an exploration and development company focused on the acquisition and recovery of high grade lithium brine deposits, is pleased to announce activation of plans to accelerate activities at its flagship “North Paradox” property in Grand County, Utah.
Liberty One’s promising “North Paradox” property consists of 233 placer claims encompassing 4,480 acres located within the Paradox Basin in Grand County, Utah. The prospect is easily accessed just 15 km west of the town of Moab, in southeastern Utah. The geology and controls of mineralization in the immediate area of Liberty One’s claim area are reasonably well known as a result of historic mapping and extensive oil and gas drilling. The presence of the Cane Creek mine immediately southeast of the Company’s property which has been producing potash for over 45 years demonstrates the efficacy of production processes similar to those envisioned for the mining of lithium in the region. The recovery of lithium and other products from this locality is readily demonstrable as the area is rich with supersaturated brines. This notable fact simplifies feasibility since similar brine resources are the primary source of most of the world’s lithium. Historically, within a 50-square mile radius encompassing much of the company’s land position, there have been approximately 55 oil and gas wells completed over the years. At least 32 of them penetrated the Paradox Salt formation and intersected its potash beds and brines. Lithologic and geophysical logs and other data including pressures and temperatures for nearly all of these wells are publicly available from the Utah Geologic Survey log library.
Company CEO, Brad Nichol comments, “This is a business of timing and opportunity, and insofar as we have advanced all payments to finance our efforts in Argentina, we are in the enviable cash position of having approximately $10 million in working capital in hand. Because of its significant upside potential, our US-based project was determined to require a different strategy from our joint venture approach in Argentina and is a fitting opportunity to begin our long-awaited exploration of this promising potential lithium prospect. We’re in a great location featuring excellent access and infrastructure within proximity to the Tesla Gigafactory, which could offer distinct economic advantages relative to similar operations in Nevada.”
In related news from Argentina, early reports from the Company’s operating partners have not defined a commercial prospect. As previously reported, the Company commenced drilling in late October 2017. The initial three-hole drill test at the Pocitos West project on the western margin of the Pocitos basin in Salta, northern Argentina, consisted of rotary-drilled reconnaissance holes, spaced along the length of the extensive property package. These test holes were designed to simply determine if brine was present and to analyze what fluids could be extracted to determine lithium content. To-date, drill results from the first two holes show lithium-enriched brines are not present beneath the sedimentation of these parts of the southern basin. The third hole is currently being drilled 9km north of the second hole. Results are not yet available at this time.
The Pocitos West property has proximity to, and is on trend with, other known deposits and reports of surface lithium anomalies, but there has been no actual historic drilling beyond near-surface sampling. The initial geophysics undertaken at Pocitos West identified a thick, contiguous low-resistivity horizon throughout the property. As shown by drilling for the southern two-thirds of the property it appears that this conductive material was not brine-enriched sediments, but instead a clay-dominated sequence, which offers less resistance to electrical current than sand or hard rock basement materials, and has little to no potential to host brine.
“The Pocitos West property is extremely large, and the third hole still holds possibilities.” Mr. Nichol continues, “In any case, an evaluation of the final results will take only days to complete, and we will be making some practical decisions for our next steps at Pocitos shortly. It’s been a very positive learning experience so far, and we have every intention of taking what we have learned here and applying it in Utah and elsewhere. We have the desire, intent and financial ability to look at options across Argentina and Chile if we assess the Pocitos project as non-viable. The lithium story is as compelling now as when we started, its outlook remains healthy with lots of growth projected and we now have a much more experienced team with access to a number of potential projects within the celebrated Lithium Triangle and beyond. These are all highly positive elements that will allow the Company to ultimately deliver shareholder value and make 2018 a year to look forward to.”
Brad Peek, MSc., CPG, a non-arm’s length party to the Company, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical disclosure in this news release relating and limited to the “North Paradox” property in Grand County, Utah.
Iain Scarr, AIPG, CPG, a non-arm’s length party to the Company, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical disclosure in this news release relating and limited to the Pocitos West property located in the Pocitos Salar, Los Andes Department, Western Salta Province, Argentina.
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