REG - Bradda Head Lithium - Sonic Drilling Underway at the Basin Project

Bradda Head LithiumAnnouncement

16/03/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 1376T  Bradda Head Lithium Ltd  16 March 2023

 

 

 

 

16 March 2023

 

Bradda Head Lithium Ltd.

("Bradda Head", "Bradda", "BHL" or the "Company")

 

Sonic Drilling Underway at the 17km(2) Lithium Basin Project in Arizona to
Delineate Further Compliant Resources

 

Bradda Head Lithium Ltd (AIM:BHL, TSX-V:BHLI, OTCQB:BHLIF), the North
America-focused lithium development group, is pleased to announce that the
Company has mobilised a sonic drilling rig to commence its 2023 drilling
programme at the Basin Project, in Arizona, with the intention of further
adding to its existing NI 43-101 Compliant Mineral Resource of Lithium
Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) tonnes.

 

Highlights:

·   Following on from the success of the 2022 drilling at Basin East
("BE"), BHL has mobilised a sonic drill rig to the Company's Basin Project to
start the 2023 drilling programme at Basin, which has now commenced.

·    BHL expects to drill up to 25 holes in the coming months at Basin
East Extension ("BEE"), BE and Basin North ("BN") - BEE is adjacent to BE, and
BN joins with BEE's northern border (see map in Figure 1).

·    The intent at Basin in 2023 is to increase coverage over as much of
the Project's 17km(2) area as possible. To date, c.1.4km(2) of the area has
been drilled, leading to a Mineral Resource of 371kt of LCE.

·    Importantly for future resource growth, the Mineral Resource remains
open to the west, northwest, and north of the drilled area where BHL has the
adjacent BEE claim block and beyond into BN, BHL's Basin West ("BW") and Basin
West Extension ("BWE") claim blocks where geological mapping and geophysical
surveys predict similar clay strata may be present.

·    Results from the Company's previous drilling programme have indicated
that the shallower High-Grade and Upper Clay zones thicken to the northwest
extent of the drilled area towards Bradda's BEE permits (see map in Figure 1)
which could potentially be mined first as part of a phased mining operation.
The planned drilling at BEE is expected to further investigate the extent of
this higher-grade zone, and could potentially lead to expanding the current
Resource, setting the scene for drilling at BW and BWE where BHL is permitting
to drill early in 2024. BW and BWE cover an 11km(2) area, significantly larger
than BE, BEE and BN combined.

·    During the drilling programme the Company will continue to guarantee
that all efforts are focused on ensuring that work is carried out in these
areas with as little disturbance as possible. Bradda Head is using sonic
drilling, which is more environmentally sensitive as it uses very little water
compared to diamond core or reverse circulation drilling.

·    BHL continues to progress the metallurgical testing of our
lithium-bearing clays at Basin, trialling existing and new technologies which
may qualify for funding grants under the Biden administration's recent clean
energy initiatives. The Company also continues to monitor progress made by
other clay projects and learn from them.

 

Charles FitzRoy, CEO of Bradda Head, commented:

 

"We are delighted to have commenced our 2023 drill programme at Basin, which
we believe will generate material catalysts for the Company this year. The
current Resource remains open to the west, north-west and north of where we
have drilled to date, and this first programme of 2023 will enable us to
expand our current Resource into more of our 17km(2) Basin Project in Arizona.
The area to be drilled at the Basin East Extension is 2.5km,(2) which is
considerably larger than at Basin East (1.5km(2)) where we have our current
Resource. We anticipate that this first programme will lead to a further
resource upgrade in Q3 of this year.

 

"Drilling at Basin East Extension and Basin North are the next exciting steps
in proving up a resource over the total 17km(2) claim package at Basin, where
we have an exploration target of up to 6Mt LCE and a current Resource of 371kt
LCE covering an area of only 1.2km(2)!"

 

"2023 is going to be a significant year of resource growth for Bradda Head.
With further drilling already planned at Basin West and Basin West Extension,
BHL is excellently placed to take full advantage of the near-term resource
growth potential at our sedimentary lithium assets in Arizona. The area we are
permitting at Basin West is over 11km(2), which is considerably larger than
Basin East, Basin East Extension, and Basin North combined (c.6km(2))."

 

"In order for BHL to accelerate programmes at our flagship assets Basin and
San Domingo, we are putting our funds (currently c.US$8m at the end of
February) where we believe it will give shareholders the greatest return
from cash spent in the ground. Cash preservation is a top priority for BHL so
whilst stock markets remain unusually volatile, we may consider rescheduling
some of our other work programmes (Eureka, Wilson and Wikieup) and will update
the timeline to Investors and in our presentation once finalised to reflect
this."

Figure 1: Map of Basin East Extension, Basin East and southern portion of
Basin North

 

Next Drilling Steps

BHL's drilling over the last 4 years at BE only covers 1.4km(2) of our
c.46km(2) of sedimentary lithium claims in Arizona comprising the Basin and
Wikieup Projects. The 2023 plan at Basin is to increase exploration drilling
coverage over as much of our c.46km(2) of lithium-bearing sediments as
possible and by completing this, BHL anticipates further resource growth in
2023 across this project.

 

BHL released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") in January this year
(see PR dated 16 January 2023), which was the 2(nd) MRE that BHL has released
in 18 months since quoting on AIM in July 2021.

 

The Company has obtained drilling permits for 120 holes at BEE, where sonic
drilling has commenced. The Company also has permission to drill 10 holes at
its BN Claim. The difference in the scale of the programmes is that BEE is a
state lease, whereas BN is a Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") series of lode
and placer claims (see map for all Basin Project claims/leases at
https://www.braddaheadltd.com/media (https://www.braddaheadltd.com/media) ).
BEE, BE, and BN are contiguous land positions with BEE's northern border.

 

Bradda Head is in the process of permitting exploratory drilling at its BW and
BWE claims through a Plan of Operations, a procedure with the BLM.

 

Related Tables

The following table is for information and context, comparing Q4 2022, Q1 2022
and 2018 totals in relation to the areas on which work had been conducted at
each time.

Table 1: Comparison of updated Q4 2022 MRE to Q1 2022 MRE to 2018 MRE:

 

              LCE (kt)  Resource area (km(2))  % of resource area over total 41km(2)  Drilled area (km(2))  % of drilled area over total 41km(2)
 2018 MRE     185       0.58                   1.4                                    0.9                   2.2
 Q1 2022 MRE  305(1)    0.94                   2.3                                    1.1                   2.7
 Q4 2022 MRE  371(2)    1.24                   3.0                                    1.4                   3.4

 1  National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report filed for the Basin
Project in November 2022

2 National Instrument 43-101 compliant technical report filed for the Basin
Project in March 2023

 

 

Qualified Person (BHL)

Joey Wilkins, B.Sc., P.Geo., is Head of North America at BHL and the Qualified
Person who reviewed and approved the technical disclosures in this news
release. Mr. Wilkins is a graduate of the University of Arizona with a B.Sc.
in Geology with more than 37 years of experience in mineral exploration and is
a qualified person under the AIM Rules. Mr. Wilkins consents to the inclusion
of the technical information in this release and context in which it appears.

 

Reference is made to the report entitled "Independent Technical Report On The
Basin And Wikieup Lithium Clay Projects, Arizona, USA" (the Report) dated
October 18 2022 with an effective date of June 10 2022.The Report was prepared
by Martin Pittuck, CEng, MIMMM, FGS, and Kirsty Reynolds MSci, PhD, FGS and
reviewed by Nick Fox MSc, ACA, MIMMM. Reference is made to the report entitled
"Technical Report On The Mineral Resource And Exploration Target Estimates For
The Basin Lithium Project, USA" dated February 28 2023 with an effective date
of October 13 2022. The Report was prepared by Martin Pittuck, CEng, MIMMM,
FGS, Kirsty Reynolds MSci, PhD, FGS  and Jamie Price MESci, PhD. The Reports
are available for review on SEDAR (www.sedar (https://www.sedar.com/) .com)
and the Company's website.

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF THE MARKET
ABUSE REGULATION (EU No. 596/2014) AS IT FORMS PART OF UK DOMESTIC LAW BY
VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018. UPON THE PUBLICATION OF
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT VIA A REGULATORY INFORMATION SERVICE, THIS INSIDE
INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN AND SUCH PERSONS
SHALL THEREFORE CEASE TO BE IN POSSESSION OF INSIDE INFORMATION.

 

ENDS

 

 

 

Contact:

 

 Bradda Head Lithium Limited        +44 (0) 1624 639 396
 Charlie FitzRoy, CEO

 Denham Eke, Finance Director

 Beaumont Cornish (Nomad)           +44 20 7628 3396

 James Biddle/Roland Cornish

 Peterhouse (Joint Broker)          +44 207 469 0930
 Charles Goodfellow

 Duncan Vasey

 Lucy Williams

 Shard Capital (Joint Broker)       +44 207 186 9927
 Damon Heath

 Isabella Pierre

 Red Cloud (North American Broker)  +1 416 803 3562
 Joe Fars

 Tavistock (PR)                     + 44 20 7920 3150
 Nick Elwes                         braddahead@tavistock.co.uk

 Adam Baynes

 

 

 

About Bradda Head Lithium Ltd.

 

Bradda Head Lithium Ltd. is a North America-focused lithium development group.
The Company currently has interests in a variety of projects, the most
advanced of which are in Central and Western Arizona: The Basin Project (Basin
East Project, and the Basin West Project) and the Wikieup Project.

The Basin East Project has an Indicated Mineral Resource of 21.2 Mt at an
average grade of 891 ppm Li and 3.5% K for a total of 100 kt LCE and an
Inferred Mineral Resource of 73.3 Mt at an average grade of 694 ppm Li and
3.2% K for a total of 271 kt LCE. In the rest of the Basin Project SRK has
estimated an Exploration Target of between 300 to 1,300 Mt of material
grading between 600 to 850 ppm Li which is equivalent to a range of between
1 to 6 Mt LCE. The Group intends to continue to develop its three phase one
projects in Arizona, whilst endeavouring to unlock value at its other
prospective pegmatite and brine assets in Arizona, Nevada, and Pennsylvania.
All of Bradda Head's licences are held on a 100% equity basis and are in close
proximity to the required infrastructure. Bradda Head is quoted on the AIM of
the London Stock Exchange with the ticker of BHL, on the TSX Ventures exchange
with a ticker of BHLI, and on the US OTCQB market with a ticker of BHLIF.

 

 

 

Forward-Looking Statements

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that
term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This News Release
includes certain "forward-looking statements" which are not comprised of
historical facts.  Forward-looking statements include estimates and
statements that describe the Company's future plans, objectives or goals,
including words to the effect that the Company or management expects a stated
condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by
such terms as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may",
"could", "would", "will", or "plan". Since forward-looking statements are
based on assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very
nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these
statements are based on information currently available to the Company, the
Company provides no assurance that actual results will meet management's
expectations.  Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with
forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance,
prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking information. Forward looking information in
this news release includes, but is not limited to, following:  The Company's
objectives, goals or future plans. Factors that could cause actual results to
differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not
limited to: failure to identify mineral resources; failure to convert
estimated mineral resources to reserves; delays in obtaining or failures to
obtain required regulatory, governmental, environmental or other project
approvals; political risks; future operating and capital costs, timelines,
permit timelines, the market and future price of and demand for lithium, and
the ongoing ability to work cooperatively with stakeholders, including the
local levels of government; uncertainties relating to the availability and
costs of financing needed in the future; changes in equity markets, inflation,
changes in exchange rates, fluctuations in commodity prices; delays in the
development of projects, capital and operating costs varying significantly
from estimates; an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19
on the business of the Company, including but not limited to the effects of
COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction
on labour and international travel and supply chains; and the other risks
involved in the mineral exploration and development industry, and those risks
set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR. Although the Company
believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the
forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue
reliance should not be placed on such information, which only applies as of
the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events
will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The Company disclaims any
intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than
as required by law.

 

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