Sep 16 2013
BACANORA MINERALS LTD. ("Bacanora" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has agreed with its joint venture partner, Rare Earth Minerals PLC ("REM"), to a Stage 2 exploration and drilling program on the El Sauz, Fleur and new staked concessions (the "JV Lands") which form a part of the Sonora Lithium Project in northern Mexico.
The drilling component of the Stage 2 exploration program will consist of a series of diamond drill holes targeting between 3,000and 3,500 metres. The objectives of the drilling are to:
- Complete infill holes required to upgrade the known resource; and
- Conduct step-out drilling to test for extensions of the known resources, particularly onto the newly staked concessions (for details of such new concessions, refer to the Company's press release dated September 4, 2013), where geological mapping and the results of previous drilling conducted by the Company indicate that the lithium-bearing clay units extend.
Drilling is targeted to commence in early October. Currently, fieldwork consisting of detailed mapping and systematic surface sampling is in progress along with finalizing drill site locations and access roads planning. The drilling contract has been awarded for one rig and additional rigs will be available if required to complete the program.
In addition to metallurgical test work already completed by Bacanora on the La Ventana concession, metallurgical test work will be conducted on the JV Lands with the aim of establishing optimum process parameters for extracting lithium from the clays as well as optimizing the process for producing lithium carbonate from lithium-bearing solutions derived from the clays.
About the Sonora Lithium Project:
The Sonora Lithium Project consists of the La Ventana, La Ventana 1 and the San Gabriel concessions, which are owned 100% by Bacanora, along with the contiguous El Sauz, El Sauz 1, El Sauz 2, Fleur and Fleur 1 concessions, which are owned 70% by Bacanora and 30% by REM. See Figure 1. As announced by the Company via a press release dated August 28, 2013, inferred resources (compliant with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101")) have been estimated for the La Ventana Lithium Deposit totaling 60 million tonnes, averaging 3,000 ppm Li (equivalent to 1.6% lithium carbonate(1) assuming 100% recovery and no process losses). The initial NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource for the El Sauz and Fleur concessions totals 88,271,000 tonnes, averaging 3,163 ppm Li at a 2,000 ppm cut-off (1.68% lithium carbonate equivalent(2) assuming 100% recovery and no process losses).
Carl G. Verley, P.Geo. is the Qualified Person pursuant to National Instrument 43-101 that has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this news release.
Source: http://www.bacanoraminerals.com/