Summary:
Noram’s Clayton Valley claims offer two deposit types that are potential objects of exploration efforts. Type one is the most obvious, which involves drilling for brines in the deep basin like those being extracted by Albemarle at their operations at Silver Peak. The lithium brine potential of Noram’s claims has not been investigated to date, and it is not known whether brines exist in the sediments beneath Noram’s Zeus claims.
The second deposit type involves the production of lithium from playa lakebed sediments that have been raised to surface or near surface through block faulting. This process requires the development of new lithium extraction processes currently being investigated. Such processes are being tested by competitor companies and Noram has conducted initial testing on bulk samples from its Zeus claims. The processes being tested would extract lithium directly from lithium-rich mudstones and claystone, which occur at the surface over large portions of the Zeus claim group.
The targeted mineralization investigated by Noram occurs at or near the surface in the form of sedimentary layers enhanced in lithium to the extent that the lithium appears to be extractable from them economically, although this has not yet been demonstrated through in-depth economic analysis for the Zeus project.
The targeted layers occur at surface primarily as olive green, interbedded tuffaceous mudstones, and claystone. The beds are nearly always calcareous and most often salty. The weathered mudstones are usually poorly consolidated, whereas the thin claystone beds can be well consolidated and commonly form chert nodules. The units contain sandy beds locally.
The units occur as lakebed sediments that have been mapped (Albers & Stewart, 1972; Davis, 1981) as Miocene or Pliocene Esmeralda Formation. Algal mats and digitate algal features have been noted locally, but these are generally not well preserved. The beds are gently dipping, usually to the northwest, but with local undulations. These units have been shown by Kunasz (1970) to be the probable source of lithium for the basin brines. The deposit that is the subject of this report is part of a section of ancient lakebed sediments that was raised above the current Clayton Valley playa by Basin and Range faulting, which is present throughout the region.
The Esmeralda area is made up of fine grained sedimentary and tuffaceous units which generally dip to the northwest. The strike and dip can be quite varied locally but on average most of the sediments dip at less than 5°. Some bedding undulations were noted, possibly caused by differential compaction or local faulting.
Faulting was also noted in some zones, mostly in the northern regions of the claims. The faults appear to trend at N30°E to N45°E, approximately parallel to the edge of the playa in this part of the Clayton Valley. Faulting is difficult to trace on the surface due to the homogeneity and semi- consolidated nature of the sediments and was only possible to identify in select areas of the property. In addition to ancient faulting, recent faults are evident around the basin that have formed as a result of pumping brines from the aquifers over the past 50+ years to produce lithium.
In the areas of the claim block where the Esmeralda Formation outcrops, the resulting topographic configuration consists of long rounded “ridges” of Esmeralda separated by gravel filled washes. These ridges are generally 50 feet (15 meters) to 100 feet (30 meters) wide and have lengths of a few hundred to a few thousand feet, trending northwest. These geomorphic features have been described by Davis (1981) and Kunasz (1947) as a “badlands” type topography.
The thickness of the Esmeralda Foundation has not been absolutely determined since the base of the formation was not seen in any of the washes and was not found in any drilling to date. Davis (1981) measured this section at approximately 328 feet (100 meters) thick and Kunasz (1974 described it as being approximately 350 feet (107 meters) thick. The ridges are topped with weathered remnants of rock washed down from the surrounding mountainous areas; a weathering phenomenon typical of the desert terranes and sometimes called “desert pavement”. In the southeastern portion of the claim block, the quaternary outwash gravel shed from the Clayton Ridge thickens toward the southeast and was found to be more than 100 meters thick in two drill holes.
Within approximately 200 feet (60 meters) of surface, the main area of interest on the Zeus claims is mostly soft and crumbly siltstones, mudstones and claystones, containing several thin beds of harder, more consolidated sediments. Most of these mudstones and claystone are olive green, gray or tan. Most beds were tuffaceous, as evidenced by fine crystal shards. Nearly all the sediments are calcareous, indicating a lakebed deposition. Below 200 feet (60 meters), the sediments become more consolidated but are still relatively soft compared to most sedimentary rocks.