VANCOUVER, Aug. 23, 2017 /CNW/ - Nevada Sunrise Gold Corporation ("Nevada Sunrise" or the "Company") (TSXV: NEV) announced today that it has received notice from its exploration partner Advantage Lithium Corp. ("Advantage Lithium") that Advantage Lithium wishes to discontinue its option on the Neptune, Jackson Wash, Aquarius and Gemini lithium projects, all located in Esmeralda County, Nevada.
Advantage Lithium continues to maintain its option on the Clayton Northeast ("Clayton NE") project in the Clayton Valley, which consists of the Clayton NE claims and the recently-added Triton claims, all located adjacent to the Silver Peak lithium brine mine, the only producing lithium mine in North America. A successful 6-hole drilling program carried out by Nevada Sunrise and Advantage Lithium during late 2016 and early 2017 encountered significant lithium-bearing brines in classic Clayton Valley strata. For example, borehole CNE-17-04, drilled to a total depth of 609.6 metres (2,000 feet), intersected multiple aquifer formations, including 426.72 metres of brine-producing strata averaging 243.44 milligrams per litre lithium between a depth of 140.21 metres to 609.6 metres (see Nevada Sunrise news release dated March 1, 2017). Advantage Lithium can earn a 70% interest in Clayton NE by funding an additional $ 300,000 in exploration expenditures.
Advantage Lithium also retains the right to the Company's Clayton Valley basin water rights, which are currently the subject of a judicial appeal of the State of Nevada's ruling issued in November 2016 forfeiting the water rights alleging lack of beneficial use for a period of five years. Nevada Sunrise intends to present evidence of beneficial use of the water right in its appellate briefs and at an upcoming hearing on the matter.
2017 Regional Drilling Program Update
In April 2017, Nevada Sunrise and Advantage Lithium announced the commencement of a regional drilling program on the Neptune, Jackson Wash, Aquarius and Gemini lithium projects. At the Neptune project, one borehole was drilled to a depth of approximately 1,500 feet, about 75% of the interpreted target depth, but the hole was lost due to unstable ground conditions. As a result, no brines were encountered in the borehole. At the Jackson Wash project during May and June 2017, a borehole was drilled to a depth of 826 metres (2,710 feet) through interbedded sequences of sand, gravel, and clay. Hot fresh water was encountered in the borehole reaching a temperature of approximately 41 degrees C. (106 degrees F.) but no brines were detected. The regional drilling program was suspended in June 2017, and subsequently, no drilling was carried out at the Aquarius and Gemini projects. Lithium brine targets remain to be tested on all four of the regional lithium projects, and Bureau of Land Management and Esmeralda County claim maintenance fees have been paid through to September 1, 2018 on the claims covering the main target areas. Exploration permits for all four of the returned projects are still active, with constructed access roads and drill pads.
For further information on the Company's Nevada lithium projects, including location maps, please visit the Nevada Sunrise website at: "Projects – Nevada Lithium": http://www.nevadasunrise.ca/projects/nevadalithium/
National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant technical reports for the Neptune and Jackson Wash projects can be accessed on the Nevada Sunrise website at "Investors – Downloads":
http://www.nevadasunrise.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Neptune-NI_43-101.pdf
http://www.nevadasunrise.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Jackson-Wash-Lithium-Project-Technical-Report_July-2016.pdf
Groundwater analysis was carried out by Western Environmental Testing Laboratory in Reno, Nevada, where testing included analysis for specific gravity, total hardness and alkalinity, bicarbonate, carbonate, hydroxide, TDS and electrical conductivity. Anions (chloride, sulfate) were analyzed by ion chromatography. Trace metals (lithium, magnesium, boron, calcium, potassium and sodium) were analyzed by ICP-OES. All depth measurements reported, including sample and interval widths are down-hole. As holes are oriented vertical and geologic stratigraphy is primarily horizontal to sub-horizontal, downhole measurements are assumed to be close to true thickness.
Robert M. Allender, Jr., CPG, RG, SME is the Company's designated Qualified Person for this news release within the meaning of NI 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained herein.
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 eight gold and lithium mineral exploration projects in the State of Nevada, USA.
Nevada Sunrise began acquisitions of Nevada lithium properties in September 2015, which includes options to earn 100% interests in the Neptune project (Resolve Ventures, TSXV: RSV owns a 25% interest in Neptune), the Clayton Northeast and Triton projects, and a 100% interest in the Aquarius project, all located in the Clayton Valley area. The Company also holds options to earn 100% interests in the Jackson Wash and Atlantis lithium projects, and holds a 50% interest in the Gemini lithium project, each located in playas proximal to the Clayton Valley. In 2016, the Company optioned six of its Nevada lithium projects to Advantage Lithium Corp., who maintains a 51% interest solely in the Clayton Northeast and Triton projects. The Atlantis project is currently under option to American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI).
The Company's two key gold assets include a 100% interest in the Golden Arrow project near Tonopah, currently the subject of an option earn-in transaction with Emgold Mining Corporation (TSXV: EMR) and a 21% interest in a joint venture with Liberty Gold Inc. (TSX: LGD, formerly Pilot Gold Inc.) at Kinsley Mountain near Wendover, with each of the properties subject to certain production royalties.
