Reedy Lagoon has pegged an additional 1312 hectares in a Nevada, adding to its Alkali Lake North lithium project and potentially boosting its economics from the lithium-rich clay sediments.
While the company started searching its project for lithium-rich brines, it is now focusing on the potential for low-cost, shallow clay-based lithium, which other explorers in the area have been able to process to reach 90 per cent recovery in a game-changing 10 minutes.
Reedy’s latest land grab sees its total footprint at the project increase to 3908ha, but it is the actions of a neighbour which has added new optimism for the area.
American Lithium’s TLC lithium project, which sits less than 15kms to the north, recently unveiled results of testing which found that the clay-based lithium from its project was able to be processed to a 90 per cent recovery in just 10 minutes. That compared to the next-best time of two hours at Noram Lithium’s Clayton Valley project. The company believes the TLC result highlights the significant cost advantages of the area’s clay-based lithium.
Management believes that while it Alkali Lake North project remains prospective for lithium in brine, exploration for lithium-rich clay is significantly quicker and less costly and will be the focus of follow-up work.
The company has now started preparations for a drill program to target the potentially lithium-rich clays.
This latest acquisition of ground with potential for shallow lithium-clay deposits adds another dimension to Reedy Lagoon’s lithium exploration in The Great Basin. The new claims are within 9 kilometres of the regionally significant town of Tonopah with all services including power, water and sealed highways. Reedy Lagoon managing director Geof Fethers
Reedy also holds its Clayton Valley lithium brine project in Nevada and claims it shares similar geology to Albemarle’s Silver Peak project, which remains North America’s only lithium-producing brine operation.
Closer to home, the company is looking for gold and iron ore in WA’s Wheatbelt region, 260 kilometres east of Perth.
Reedy’s interest in gold exploration in the same area was prompted by the gold-bearing Yandina shear zone that runs through its leases, in addition to historical mines in the area, including the Lady Janet operation. The Edna May gold mine sits 20km north-east of the company’s Burracoppin project and the newly-opened Tampia gold mine is about 60km to the south.
In addition to gold, it is aiming to establish a magnetite resource at Burracoppin and then a mine to produce iron concentrate for smelting into pig iron. But for now, it has Nevada lithium in its crosshairs and with a Tesla giga-factory little more than a three-hour drive away, the final destination of any lithium produced seems clear.
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