Noram Ventures (TSXV: NRM) is looking to advance its Zeus lithium project in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The firm this morning announced that in anticipation of its preliminary economic assessment for the property, the firm is in the process of conducting a series of tests to extract and concentrate lithium.
Following a successful membrane and electrolysis test whereby the firm was able to achieve 97% pure lithium carbonate after leaching, the company has reportedly initiated chlorine-based experiments on leaching. Activision Laboratories has been contracted to conduct the testing, where they will look to liberate lithium in chlorine solutions.
Initial success has also been reportedly found in early results, with a low concentration of HCI and simple chloride compounds yielding up to 425 ppm lithium in a solution with a leaching time of just one hour.
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Noram Ventures CEO Tucker Barrie provided additional color on these early results by stating, “These initial tests are producing significant amounts of lithium in solution from our claystone material, with concentrations 2.5 times greater than the current brine pumped from aquifers for Albemarle’s. Silver Peak operations next door. We are very encouraged by these results. We plan a series of leaching tests with variable reagent concentrations, temperatures and duration of leaching to optimize the lithium into solution in Q1 2021, ahead of our PEA to provide guidance for more comprehensive chemical engineering studies.“
Finally, the company is also examining the potential for the extraction of both cesium and rubidium during the processing stage, both metals of which appear in notable concentrations at the Zeus property. Cesium has appeared in quantities beyond 50 ppm in most claystone drill cores taken from the property, while rubidium has shown in quantities in excess of 250 ppm.
Noram Ventures last traded at $1.01 on the TSX Venture.
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