Surge Battery approved for expanded exploration at Nevada lithium project

Surge Battery Metals (TSXV: NILI) announced on Wednesday that its expanded exploration plans for the Nevada North Lithium Project (NNLP) have been approved by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Shares of the lithium junior rose.The approval, says Surge, represents a “significant permitting milestone” for NNLP as it expands the amount of disturbance allowed for exploration drilling and other activities to 250 acres from the current 5 acres. The decision allows the company to begin construction of new roads and cross-country trails and drill pads.Exploration activities being planned drilling to expand the current resource at NNLP, as well as bulk sampling, test pitting, and hydrogeologic and geotechnical studies.In early 2024, Surge announced an initial resource estimate for NNLP that confirmed it as “one of the highest-grade lithium clay deposits worldwide.” The inferred resource was shown to be 4.7 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) grading 2,839 parts per million (ppm) lithium. This was later expanded to 11.24 million tonnes grading 3,010 ppm lithium in September.The current NLLP resource was based on three rounds of drilling (28 drill holes) completed between 2022 and 2024 that identified a strongly mineralized zone of lithium-bearing clays occupying a strike length of more than 4,300 metres and a known width of greater than 1,500 metres. Based on this resource, Surge has been looking to complete a preliminary economic assessment for NNLP. To support the study, further drilling is being planned for this year, pending BLM approval of the company’s exploration plan, which has now been obtained.“We have developed our spring/summer drill plan for 2025 and are looking forward to the drilling season and updating our mineral resource estimate later in Q4,” stated Greg Reimer, chief executive officer of Surge Battery, in a press release.Shares of Surge Battery Metals rose 11.4% to C$0.39 apiece, near the midpoint of its 52-week range, by 11 a.m. ET following the BLM approval. The Vancouver-based explorer has a market capitalization of C$63.4 million ($44 million).Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com