The Grass Valley Property is a lithium exploration project consisting of 997 placer claims covering an area of 80 km2 (31 mi2). Located approximately 60 km (36 miles) northeast of Austin, Nevada, the property expresses indicators of a potential lithium brine system. The large, enclosed basin is surrounded by mountains with ample felsic volcanics and intrusives, has active hot spring systems on 3 sides of the valley, and surface salt lithium assays as high as 510 ppm Li.
The Grass Valley Property has near ideal indicators of lithium brine potential. The claims staked on this very long playa are surrounded by the zones of active hot spring activity and the high surface salt lithium values. The basin drains an area of 595 square miles, slightly larger than Clayton Valley.
Exploration to date of this very large basin has been comprised of surface sampling, an MT survey and one drill hole. The MT survey, run by Fritz Geophysics, shows an interpreted major brine zone extending from approximately 500 meters (1,600 feet) to over 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) below the surface. A core hole was drilled in 2022, but was lost before reaching the brine zone. Sediments in the drill hole show evidence of bleaching indicating lithium may have been leached and mobilized in groundwaters.
The Property is located within Grass Valley, Nevada, and is approximately 64 kilometers (“km”) (40 miles) long and 29 km (18 miles) wide. The Grass Valley basin has characteristics in common with lithium brines within structural basins worldwide: 1) arid climate, 2) closed basin, 3) associated volcanic or geothermal activity, 4) adequate felsic source rocks, 5) suitable local structural faulting due to regional tectonics, 6) adequate hydrologic system including subsurface aquifers, and 7) sufficient duration of time under arid conditions to concentrate lithium. Geochemical sampling of sediments in Grass Valley returned highly anomalous lithium values up to 510 ppm, which affirms the presence of prospective lithium within the Grass Valley basin. The combined magnetic, gravity, and resistivity data show a well-defined, extensive basin with accumulated alluvium 600 to +1,070 meters (2,000 to +3,500 feet). thick. The current 997 placer claim block covers an area of 80 km2 (31 mi2) with potential for brine systems as well as sediment resources.
To acquire the property, the Company paid the current year’s claims fees of US$177,231 to government authorities in Nevada and assumed an NSR of 3%. The property was acquired from a company related to Iconic by a common director.
An NI 43-101 Technical report was completed in January 2022 on the Property and approximately USD $1,086,663 has been spent to date on exploration and development of the Property, which included drilling and Magnetotellurics (MT) Surveys.
“The Grass Valley Basin has a large area underlain by what our geophysicist calls brine not dissimilar to our Smith Creek Lithium Project. We are very excited to move forward with both of these lithium brine projects on a 100 percent owned and controlled basis. Additional work to further define and rank drill targets is planned before drill testing at Grass Valley and Smith Creek. This work should define high angle faults and permeable horizons capable of hosting lithium-rich fluids or sediments.”
Richard Kern, CEO of Iconic
Richard Kern, PhD, Director & CEO of Iconic Minerals Ltd. is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information on this web site.
Iconic Minerals Ltd.,
303 – 595 Howe Street,
Vancouver, BC V6C 2T5, Canada
[email protected] | Phone: +1 604 336 8614