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United States

Clayton Valley Project

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Categories

Overview

Mine TypeIn-Situ
StagePermitting
Commodities
  • Lithium
Mining Method
  • Brine mining
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Owners

SourceSource
CompanyInterestOwnership
Pure Energy Minerals Ltd. 100 % Direct
Pure Energy Minerals Limited (“Pure Energy”) is a public company incorporated under the laws of British Columbia.

Its primary project is the Clayton Valley Lithium Brine Project (the “CV Project”), located in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada. The Pure Energy entered into an Earn-In Agreement (the "Agreement") with Schlumberger Technology Corporation, a subsidiary of Schlumberger Limited ("SLB"), dated May 1, 2019 whereby the Pure Energy has granted SLB an option in favour of SLB to acquire all of the Pure Energy’s interests in the CV Project (the “Option”). Upon exercise of the Option, the Pure Energy will be entitled to receive a 3% net smelter return royalty (“NSR”) on minerals produced at the CV Project and an advance minimum royalty payment of US$400,000 annually, payable in monthly installments, commencing January 1, 2021 for a period of five years or until the CV Project achieves commercial production.

Deposit type

  • Brine

Summary:

Clayton Valley is located within the Basin and Range Province in southern Nevada. It is a closed basin that is fault-bounded on the north by the Weepah Hills, the east by Clayton Ridge, the south by the Palmetto Mountains and the west by the Silver Peak Range and Mineral Ridge. This area has been the focus of several tectonic and structural investigations because of its position relative to Walker Lane, the Mina Deflection and the Eastern California Shear Zone (McGuire, 2012; Burris, 2013). The basement rock of Clayton Valley consists of late Neoproterozoic to Ordovician carbonate and clastic rocks that were deposited along the ancient western passive margin of North America. During late Paleozoic and Mesozoic orogenies, the region was shortened and subjected to low-grade metamorphism (Oldow et al., 1989; Oldow et al., 2009), and granitoids were emplaced at ca. 155 and 85 million years ago (Ma). Extension commenced at ca. 16 Ma and has continued to the present, with changes in structural style as documented in the Silver Peak-Lone Mountain Extensional Complex (Oldow et al., 2009; Burris, 2013). A metamorphic core complex just west of Clayton Valley was exhumed from mid-crustal depths during Neogene extension. There is a Quaternary cinder cone and associated basaltic lava flows in the northwest part of the basin.

The basin is bounded to the east by a steep normal fault system toward which basin strata thicken. The north and east parts of Clayton Valley are flanked with Miocene to Pliocene sediments containing multiple primary and reworked volcanic ash deposits within finegrained clay and silt units. These deposits are a part of the Esmeralda Formation. The Esmeralda Formation is a sedimentary sequence grading from coal bearing siltstones, sandstones and conglomerates at the base to fine-grained, tuffaceous lacustrine sediments at the top of the section.

The deposit type for the Project is a continental, mineral-enriched brine aquifer within a hydrographically closed basin (endorheic basin). The principal mineral resource is lithium and is a dissolved product in a predominately sodium chloride brine. The brine is hyper-saline groundwater that saturates the pore spaces and fracture-apertures of basin-fill deposits (brine aquifer) that have accumulated over time in the basin. Dissolved minerals in the brine, such as lithium, originate from multiple processes of mineral dissolution and precipitation, remobilization, geothermal circulation, and evaporation occurring in the basin aquifer.

Reserves

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Mining Methods

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Comminution

Crushers and Mills

Milling equipment has not been reported.

Processing

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Production

CommodityUnitsAvg. Annual
LiOH-H2O t 11,500
All production numbers are expressed as crystals.

Operational metrics

Metrics
Plant annual capacity 11,500 t of LiOH-H2O crystals *
Plant annual capacity 10,000 t of LCE *
* According to 2018 study.

Production Costs

CommodityUnitsAverage
Cash costs LCE USD 3,652 / t *  
Cash costs LiOH-H2O USD 3,217 / t *  
Assumed price LiOH-H2O USD 12,267 / t *  
* According to 2018 study / presentation.

Project Costs

MetricsUnitsLOM Total
Initial CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Sustaining CapEx $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Mining Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Income Taxes $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Royalty payments $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Gross revenue (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
EBITDA (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Net Income (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax Cash Flow (LOM) $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 5% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 5% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 10% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
After-tax NPV @ 8% $M USD  ......  Subscribe
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After-tax IRR, %  ......  Subscribe
Pre-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe
After-tax payback period, years  ......  Subscribe

Heavy Mobile Equipment

Fleet data has not been reported.

Personnel

Mine Management

Job TitleNamePhoneProfileRef. Date
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 23, 2018
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required ........... Subscription required Subscription required Mar 23, 2022
....................... Subscription required ....................... Subscription required Subscription required Oct 6, 2023

Total WorkforceYear
...... Subscription required 2018

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