The Kibby Basin Lithium Project (Kibby Basin) is located 60km north of Clayton Valley in Nevada, USA, which is a region that hosts the sole North American producing lithium mine (Silver Peak Lithium) owned by the world’s largest lithium producer, Albemarle. Marquee’s 100% owned Clayton Valley Lithium Project also sits in the Clayton Valley.
The Project hosts favourable conditions for lithium-rich brines and shares similar features to Clayton Valley.
Importantly, Kibby Basin is fully permitted for water extraction for brine processing and production of lithium compounds within the ~10.35km2 Project area. In Late 2022, Marquee successfully drill-tested a large magnetotelluric anomaly at the Project and the results from two boreholes (KB 22-01 and KB 22-02) confirmed high levels of lithium-bearing sediments along with dissolved lithium in the groundwater (refer to the Company’s announcement to ASX on 12 December 2022 for further information).
Mineralised intervals containing up to 924 ppm lithium with greater than 300 ppm lithium over thicknesses in excess of 450m (1475ft) were identified in core samples of clay-rich playa sediments. Importantly, Lithium mineralisation is fairly consistent in both thickness and grade in the two boreholes, which are 2,000m apart, suggesting extensive lateral occurrence across the basin.
Key results from the program were: