DENVER, Dec. 13, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pure Energy Minerals Limited (TSX VENTURE:PE) (OTCQB:PEMIF) (the “Company” or “Pure Energy”) is pleased to announce that the Secretary of Mining in the Salta Province, Argentina has granted the Company its environmental impact report (EIR) for the next phase of work on the Terra Cotta Project (the “TC Project”) at Salar de Pocitos. The approved EIR authorizes drilling, sampling, and aquifer testing at the TC Project, a program which may include up to 10 exploratory boreholes. In early January 2018, the Company plans to begin construction of the necessary roads and drill pads for the first holes of its expanded exploration program. Drillers are expected to collar the initial diamond core hole during the second week of January.
Walter Weinig, Pure Energy’s Vice President of Projects and Permitting, commented, “We have been pleased to work through a smooth and timely permitting process with the Secretary of Mining in Salta. Approval of the EIR allows us to accelerate exploration at the Terra Cotta Project. We have identified several promising drill targets based on the results of our mapping, sampling, and geophysical work. The electrical geophysics indicates the potential for lithium brine to considerable depth over a large area of our concessions. We are very excited to see the results from the first substantial drilling into the heart of the Salar de Pocitos.”
Pure Energy’s Terra Cotta Project is located in the core of Argentina’s lithium-rich Puna Region. Significant deposits of lithium in brine occur approximately 32 km (20 miles) north at Rincon Salar and approximately 90 km (56 miles) south at Salar del Hombre Muerto. The Pocitos Salar is directly accessible by Salta Provincial Highway 17 and enjoys excellent infrastructure, including a gas pipeline and rail line on the eastern edge of the salar and a high voltage power line only 30 km (18 miles) to the north.
Quality Assurance
Walter Weinig, Professional Geologist and SME Registered Member (SME Registered Member # 4168729), is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101 and supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Weinig is not independent of the Company as he is an officer.
About Pure Energy Minerals Limited
Pure Energy Minerals is a lithium resource developer that is driven to become a low-cost supplier for the growing lithium battery industry. The Company is developing the Clayton Valley Project (“CV Project”) in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Company is also exploring a major new lithium brine project in the Lithium Triangle of South America, the Terra Cotta Project (“TCP”). The TCP is located on Pocitos Salar in Salta, Argentina, where it enjoys some of the best infrastructure and access of any lithium brine exploration project in Argentina.
Pure Energy has developed core strengths in innovative development and processing technologies for lithium brines and lithium mineral deposits. Key attributes and activities include:
• A large, strategic land position with excellent infrastructure in a first-class mining jurisdiction: approximately 10,542 hectares (26,050 acres) in Clayton Valley, Esmeralda County, Nevada, located a 3-hour drive from the Gigafactory;
• An inferred mineral resource of approximately 247,000 tonnes of lithium hydroxide (218,000 tonnes of LCE) at the CV Project with an average grade of 123 mg/L lithium;
• The only lithium brine resource in North America to yield a positive Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) including an estimated after-tax NPV (8% discount) of US $264 million and an estimated IRR of 21%;
• Advanced metallurgical testwork demonstrating the improved efficacy of a new, environmentally responsible lithium processing technology that produces low-cost battery grade lithium hydroxide;
• An early stage exploration program on the 13,000-hectare (32,000 acre) TCP, located on Pocitos Salar in Salta Province; and
• An active business development program, applying Company expertise to the evaluation of new lithium targets around the world.
On behalf of the Board of Directors,
“Patrick Highsmith”
Chief Executive Officer
CONTACT:
Pure Energy Minerals Limited (www.pureenergyminerals.com)
Email: info@pureenergyminerals.com
Telephone – 604 608 6611, ext 5
Cautionary Statements and Forward-Looking Information
The information in this news release contains forward looking statements that are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward looking statements. Factors that could cause such differences include: changes in world commodity markets, equity markets, costs and supply of materials and equipment relevant to the mining industry, weather or other conditions that may affect access to the TCP site, change in government and changes to regulations affecting the mining industry. Forward-looking statements in this release may include statements regarding future exploration on the Terra Cotta Project. Although we believe the expectations reflected in our forward looking statements are reasonable, results may vary, and we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
The economic analysis contained in the PEA is based on inferred resources, which are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves. The PEA is preliminary in nature and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. See the Company’s most recent technical report on the CV Project, filed under the Company’s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, for a discussion of the key parameters and assumptions used in the preparation of the economic analysis.
The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable laws.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.