Clayton Valley
A Strategic Partnership
Lithium X’s Nevada interests, when combined with Pure Energy’s Clayton Valley South lithium brine project (having a 43-101 inferred mineral resource containing approximately 816,000 metric tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent), will create a combined Clayton Valley project consisting of approximately 26,300 acres surrounding Albemarle’s Silver Peak mine.
- Lithium X has become the largest shareholder of Pure Energy, holding 19.99% and appoint of one Board Member
- Pre-emptive right to maintain its interest on any future financing by Pure Energy
Clayton Valley is host to the only commercially producing lithium project in North America, Albemarle’s Silver Peak brine evaporation pond project
Strategic Position
- Clayton Valley a 3.5 hour drive south of the Tesla Gigafactory
- $4-5B to be invested, $2B by Tesla
- $1.3B in tax incentives over the next 10 years to entice Tesla to build in Nevada
- A commitment by Elon Musk and Tesla to sources domestic raw materials first
Clayton Valley Overview
The Property is located in south-central Esmeralda County, Nevada, approximately 190 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada and the same distance southeast of Reno, Nevada. Clayton Valley is an anomaly in several ways. It is in the center of lithium-enriched rocks and waters related to rhyolitic volcanism and associated hot springs that occur over hundreds of square miles. It has been an intact basin receiving fluids for millions of years, and those fluids are still at shallow depths because the valley is a stable knot in the dynamic Walker Lane and Basin and Range tectonic terrain. There are geologic arguments that lithium in this basin can be delivered via different processes to various reservoir rocks.
It is also the site of the only lithium brine production operation in North America – Albemarle’s Silver Peak, which has been in production since 1966. The number of publicly acknowledged aquifers has now grown from one to seven on the producing property. Pure Energy Minerals has recently released an inferred resource of 816,000 tons of lithium carbonate equivalent on their Clayton Valley South project, located south across a “bounding fault.”
Location & Infrastructure
- Well maintained state highways connect Silver Peak to the main road network in Nevada
- Nevada has fostered a thriving industry with associated development expertise, construction and operations services and a mature regulatory environment
- Single best mining jurisdiction in the US and ranked 3rd globally by the respected “Fraser Institute’s annual Survey of Mining Countries”
- Graded and maintained gravel roads link Silver Peak to the southern half of Clayton Valley
- Nearest rail system is in Hawthorne, Nevada, approximately 90 miles by road
- Public use airport in Tonopah with two runways
- Electrical connection is possible at the sub-station in Silver Peak
- Water supply is currently served by the Silver Peak municipal water supply
Clayton Valley History
- Exploration and intermittent metal production dating back to the 1860’s
- Salt was initially produced for local use
- 1950’s Leprechaun Mining discovered high lithium
- Foote Minerals acquired the property in 1964
- Re-configured the Silver Peak silver mill for lithium and moved forward to lithium carbonate production in 1967
- Foote Minerals was acquired by Cyprus Minerals Co in 1988 and became Cyprus Foote Minerals
- Chemetall acquired the property in 1998 and became Chemetall Foote Corp.
- Rockwood Holdings acquired the property in 2004
- Clayton Valley Lithium Inc. started to stake adjacent claims in 2007
- Rockwood Holdings was purchased by Albemarle Corporation in 2014 for $6.2 Billion USD
- Pure Energy reports 816,000 metric tonnes of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent based on drilling two boreholes in the north section of its claims.
