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NEM takes over field in Nevada to extract lithium from geothermal brines

NEM takes over field in Nevada to extract lithium from geothermal brines Lithium ingots with a thin layer of black nitride tarnish (Source: wikimedia commons, By: Rotatebot)
Francisco Rojas 23 Feb 2016

Teels Marsh West in Nevada is highly prospective for Lithium brines from geothermal origin.

Nevada Energy Metals Inc. “the Company” is pleased to announce it has acquired, by staking, 100 placer claims covering 200 acres (80.9 hectares) at Teels Marsh, Nevada. The property, called Teels Marsh West is highly prospective for Lithium brines and is located approximately 48 miles northwest of Clayton Valley and the Rockwood Lithium Mine, North America’s only producing brine based Lithium mine supporting lithium production since 1967. Access to Teels Marsh is via dirt road, west of Highway 95 and northwest of Highway 360.

Teels Marsh West is a highly prospective Lithium exploration project, 100% owned without any royalties, located on the western part of a large evaporation pond, or playa (also known as a salar). Structural analysis reveals that Teels Marsh is bounded by faults and is tectonically active. Tectonic activities supply additional local permeability that could be provided by the faults that bound the graben and sub-basins.

Shallow auger holes and drill-holes (<60 m) show that unconsolidated basin fill deposits include clays, clastic rocks silts and sands), evaporate deposits, and volcanic ash. With the exception of clays, these rocks represent potential sources of permeability.

Volcanic ash beds could host significant zones of permeability, due to the relative proximity of Teels Marsh to young volcanic centers at Mono Craters (near Mono Lake) and Long Valley, California, both located approximately 70 km to the southwest. These ash layers have proven to be the most productive brine sources in Clayton Valley (an active geothermal area).

The Bishop Tuff, which is believed to represent an important zone of permeability at Clayton Valley, (80 km to the SE of the only North American lithium brine deposit which is being mined by Rockwood Lithium Inc.) is likely present in the subsurface at Teels Marsh.

Direct evidence of an active geothermal system in the Teels Marsh area has recently been gathered by researchers at the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology, University of Nevada, Reno and the Desert Research Institute. This evidence comes from mapping anomalously high temperatures at a depth of only 2 meters below the basin surface: these temperatures are as high at 35C compared to background temperatures of approximately 16-18C. The temperature anomalies occur in two separate zones, both of which are adjacent to a Quaternary fault on the western margin of Teels Marsh basin. The two temperature anomalies have a combined strike length parallel to the fault of almost 4 km. A USGS geochemical survey conducted in 1976 reported lithium values as high as 850 ppm from samples taken from springs marginal to these fault structures.

The company’s management and technical team are currently concluding their plans and budget for the 2016 exploration program.

Source: Nevada Energy Metals