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United States

Bonnie Claire Project

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Categories

Summary

Mine TypeIn-Situ
Study CompletedPreliminary Economic Assessment
Commodities
  • Lithium
  • Boron
Mining Method
  • Jet Boring
  • Borehole mining (SABRE)
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Snapshot2024 Resources for the Bonnie Claire deposit have been separated into two Zones; a Lower Zone (i.e., mineralization hosted by Lower Claystone and Lower Sandstone units) and an Upper Zone (i.e., mineralization hosted by an Upper Claystone unit). A very high-grade zone of Lithium and Boron in the Lower Zone remains open in 3 directions.

Nevada Lithium has engaged Fluor and Kemetco for metallurgical test work to develop the process design for the Bonnie Claire Project. The high levels of Boron in the deposit allow the co-production of Boric acid using crystallization.

The process plant currently under development is feeding the preparation of the updated PEA report pertaining to metallurgy, capital, and operating expenses. It is anticipated that the updated PEA will be completed in late April 2025.
Latest NewsNevada Lithium Files Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report on Bonnie Claire Lithium Project     September 9, 2025

Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Nevada Lithium Resources Inc. 100 % Indirect
Nevada Lithium Resources Inc. holds a 100% interest at the Bonnie Claire Project.

Contractors

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Deposit type

  • Sediment-hosted
  • Sedimentary - Volcanogenic
  • Brine
  • Evaporite

Summary:

Deposit Type
Bonnie Claire is a lithium-boron claystone deposit of the type initially described by Asher-Bolinder (1991) as “Li-smectites of closed basin,” and more recently by Putzulo et. Al (2025) as a Volcano-sedimentary (VS) deposit. This classification is supported by observed mineralogy in XRD data, which reveals the presence of smectite, illite-muscovite, analcime, halite, and calcite—indicating deposition in a saline, closed-basin (endorheic) environment with strong volcanic input. The lithium is likely hosted in multiple phases, including Li-substituted smectite and micas, as well as potentially in zeolitic phases like analcime or as Li salts within fine-grained evaporitic material. Bonnie Claire shares geological affinities with other Nevada-based VS-type Li-boron (B) deposits such as Thacker Pass, McDermitt, Rhyolite Ridge, and Nevada North, all of which occur within lacustrine basins proximal to Li-B-enriched volcanic provinces.

Geology and Mineralization
Bonnie Claire is a closed basin near the southwestern margin of the Basin and Range geo-physiographic province of western Nevada. Horst and graben normal faulting is a dominant structural element of the Basin and Range.

Bonnie Claire is the lowest-elevation intermediate size playa-filled valley in a series of similar topographic features. It has a playa floor of about 100 square kilometers (km2 ) that receives surface drainage from an area of about 1,300 km2 . The Bonnie Claire basin lies within an extensional graben system between two Quaternary northwest-southeast faults with both normal and strike-slip components. The general structure of the middle part of the Bonnie Claire basin (Claim area) is known from geophysical surveys to be a graben structure with its most down-dropped part on the east-northeast side of the basin along the extension of a few normal faults.

The resulting topography consists of an elongate, flat area of covered quaternary sediments of alluvium and a playa. The alluvial fans in the eastern portions of the Project area are commonly mantled with weathered remnants of rock washed down from the surrounding highlands. The alluvial fans are covered with sporadic shrubs. In most portions of the Project, the playa is completely covered with mud and salt and is frequently referred to as mud flats in this report.

Multiple wetting and drying periods during the Pleistocene resulted in the formation of lacustrine deposits, salt beds, and lithium-bearing brines in the Bonnie Claire basin. Extensive diagenetic alteration of tuffaceous rocks to zeolites and clay minerals has taken place, and anomalously high lithium concentrations accompany the alteration.

Two distinct sedimentary horizons contain potentially economic mineralization at Bonnie Claire. Both are hosted by claystones, and form horizontal to gently-dipping sheets that display great lateral continuity, separated by a thick layer of barren sandstone horizon.
• Upper Claystones display moderate lithium and boron mineralization, ranging from 55 to 2,210 ppm lithium, and variable 5 to 8,900 ppm boron. This is referred to as the Upper Zone of mineralization at Bonnie Claire.
• Lower Claystones display variable to very high lithium and boron mineralization, ranging from 133 to 7,160 ppm lithium and 0 to 21,500 ppm boron. Mineralization increases with depth and is concentrated in the lower half of this unit. This is referred to as the Lower Zone of mineralization at Bonnie Claire.

The exact nature of the lithium mineralization is unclear, but mineralization is concentrated in the fine claystone (>10 micron) sediments. No discrete lithium mineral species has been identified by petrographic analysis so far, but it is likely to form part of the clay minerals that occur with the claystones, or as lithium salts deposited in the fine grain pore space. XRD analyses conducted in 2022 and 2024 support this interpretation, identifying lithium-associated phases such as illite-smectite, smectite clays, analcime (zeolite), and evaporite minerals including halite and calcite, all consistent with lithium being structurally bound in clays or precipitated in pore spaces.

Boron mineralization spatially correlates with lithium mineralization, and XRD analysis has identified a significant component of searlesite, a sodium borosilicate mineral with the chemical formula NaBSi2O5(OH)2, which is most likely the dominant boron-bearing phase.

Reserves

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Required Heavy Mobile Equipment

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

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Processing

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Commodity Production

Operational metrics

Metrics
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Daily processing capacity  ....  Subscribe
Annual mining rate  ....  Subscribe
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Total tonnes mined, LOM  ....  Subscribe
Tonnes processed, LOM  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2025 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Credits (by-product) Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Cash costs Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
All-in sustaining costs (AISC) Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Boric acid USD  ....  Subscribe
Assumed price Li2CO3 USD  ....  Subscribe
* According to 2025 study / presentation.
** Net of By-Product.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
OP OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Processing OpEx $M USD 15,058
Transportation (haulage) costs $M USD 575.7
Total OpEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Mining Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Total Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Net revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Personnel

Mine Management

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Workforce

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