Belmont JV Partner Marquee Provides Exploration Update for Lone Star and Kibby Basin Projects
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Vancouver, B.C. Canada – TheNewswire - July 26, 2022; Belmont Resources Inc. (“Belmont”), (or the “Company”), (TSXV:BEA); (FSE:L3L2) is pleased to announce that Belmont’s JV partner Marquee Resources (ASX:MQR) (“Marquee”) has provided an exploration update on the Lone Star Copper/Gold Project and the Kibby Basin Lithium Project.
Lone Star Copper/Gold Project
The Phase 1 drilling program has been completed at Lone Star which included 46 diamond drillholes for 7,888m (See BEA Release 8 June 2022). The final batch of assays are expected to be received by the Company shortly.
The phase 1 drill program was designed to satisfy three key objectives:
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Validate the historical drill hole database and resource model;
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Deliver a JORC/43-101 compliant mineral resource estimate; and
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Test for extensions to the historical resource.
Mining Plus Pty Ltd have continued resource modelling studies and post their site visit they await the receipt of the final outstanding assays as they work towards delivering a JORC/43-101 compliant resource in Q3 of 2022.
Kibby Basin Lithium Project
Drilling at the Kibby Basin Lithium Project has been extremely slow and frustrating to date. Despite casing the hole (KB22-01) to 1,060ft, the playa sediments have made drilling with the current Aircore drill rig too difficult to continue. A decision has been made in conjunction with our drill operator Drill NV to switch out to a more conventional Core drill rig to complete the remainder of hole one as well as the next two holes planned for this program. A new contract has been entered into with Drill NV and despite the loss of time on hole one (KB22-01), the cost of the overall program is unchanged from MQR’s initial budget.
The Three-hole (3,000m) programme is now expected to be completed by October 2022. Although this time delay has been frustrating and quite time consuming, the overall potential of the Project remains unchanged.
KB22-01 (1,000m) and KB22-02 (1,000m) will test the large conductive anomaly at depth. KB22-03 (1,000m) will focus on infilling between KB22-01 & KB22-02 to determine brine volume estimation.
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The potential deposit type is a continental, mineral-enriched brine aquifer within a hydrographically closed basin (endorheic basin). Continental brines are the primary source for lithium products worldwide. Bradley and others (2013) noted that “all producing lithium brine deposits share a number of first-order characteristics: (1) arid climate; (2) closed basin containing a playa or salar; (3) tectonically driven subsidence; (4) associated igneous or geothermal activity; (5) suitable lithium source-rocks; (6) one or more adequate aquifers; and (7) sufficient time to concentrate a brine.
The target is a potential lithium enriched aquifer at an estimated 800-1,000 meter depth. It is at this depth from which Albermarle, which owns the only producing lithium mine in North America and located in Clayton Valley, has been successfully extracting lithium brines.”
Property Geology
The Kibby Basin Lithium Project has similar features as Clayton Valley, Nevada and contains potential favourable conditions for the development of lithium‐rich brines such as; an arid climate, major catch basin, basin has structural traps and is closed with no outlets for drainage, associated igneous or geothermal activity, suitable lithium source rocks and one or more adequate aquifers.
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Recent Activity at the Project
A gravity survey was completed over the Kibby Basin property in June 2016 with the objective of generating a model of the basin fill as an aid to lithium exploration. Results of the survey are integrated with an earlier airborne magnetic survey completed by the USGS and reported upon by Wright (2016).
The gravity survey showed the Kibby Basin to be a “drop down” basin which provides a catch basin for lithium bearing ash and gravels over millions of years.
Kibby Basin Lithium Claims Permitted for Water
The Kibby Basin lithium property is fully permitted by the state of Nevada to extract a maximum 2,896 acre-feet (944 million gallons) annually of water for brine processing and production of lithium compounds.
Obtaining a water permit for the Kibby Basin lithium project was a major milestone for Belmont where, because of the desert conditions in the region, water is of major importance to any potential mining operation. The Clayton Valley Basin for instance is over-appropriated (current water rights are in excess of water volumes available for an average year) and obtaining water rights for proposed operations is a hurdle that several companies in the Clayton Valley Basin have yet to overcome, even in their advanced stage of development.
Cypress Development (TSV:CYP) recently paid $3,000,000 for a water permit in Clayton Valley (Cypress NR) which allows for the beneficial use of 1,770 acre/feet (577 million gallons) annually of water for mining, milling and domestic use.
Summary
The Kibby Basin Lithium Project is a highly prospective asset located within a 60km radius of North America’s only producing Lithium mine, owned by the world’s largest Lithium producer, Albemarle. The Kibby Basin Project contains potentially favourable conditions for the development of lithium‐rich brines and has similar features as Clayton Valley which hosts Albemarle Silver Peak Lithium mine.
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About the Belmont/Marquee option/JV Agreement
In November 2021, Belmont announced a Option/JV agreement with Marquee Resources (ASX.MQR) for the Kibby Playa Block, one of five claim blocks owned by Belmont on the Kibby Basin.
The agreement terms are for Marquee to issue Belmont C$100,000 cash upon signing (completed); issue 3,000,000 Marquee shares (1,000,000 issued as of December 10, 2021); and incur C$2,500,000 in exploration expenditures within 15 months of the signing of the Option Agreement in order to earn up to an 80% interest in the Kibby Playa claim block.
About Belmont Resources
Belmont Resources has assembled a portfolio of highly prospective copper-gold-lithium & uranium projects located in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Washington and Nevada States. Its holdings include the Come By Chance (CBC), Athelstan-Jackpot (AJ) and Pathfinder situated in the prolific Greenwood mining camp in southern British Columbia. The Crackingstone Uranium project in the uranium rich Athabaska Basin of northern Saskatchewan. The Lone Star copper-gold mine in the mineral rich Republic mining camp of north central Washington State. The Kibby Basin Lithium project located 60 kilometers north of the lithium rich Clayton Valley Basin.
The Belmont project portfolio:
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Athelstan-Jackpot, B.C. – * Gold-Silver mines
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Kibby Basin, Nevada – Lithium
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Come By Chance, B.C. – * Copper-Gold mine
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Lone Star, Washington – * Copper-Gold mine
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Pathfinder, B.C. – * Gold–Silver mines
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NI 43-101 Disclosure:
The technical information in this news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements as set out in National Instrument 43-101 and has been reviewed and approved by Laurence Sookochoff, P.Eng. Mr. Sookochoff is a Director of Belmont Resources Inc.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“George Sookochoff”
George Sookochoff, CEO/President
Ph: 604-505-4061
Email: george@belmontresources.com
Website: www.BelmontResources.com
We seek safe harbor. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange has not approved nor disapproved of the information contained herein.