Northern Fish Lake Valley Lithium Prospect
Doubling North American Lithium Output
Walker Lane Research Partners is advancing the Confluence Fish Lake Valley lithium project in northern Fish Lake Valley. This project represents a transformative opportunity to secure North American lithium supply and has the potential to dramatically increase domestic lithium production. With successful exploration and exploitation, this prospect could double current output levels of lithium carbonate.
Northern Fish Lake Valley, Nevada has the greatest potential for untapped Li-brine and Lithium-sedimentary deposits in the western Great Basin. The structural, stratigraphic, and hydrothermal conditions that led to lithium accumulation in North America’s only producing Li-brine deposit underlying Clayton Valley (Albermarle) 30 km farther east are shared with this prospect.
The basin targeted for detailed investigation was identified during first-phase exploration. Earlier work involved a decade of regional and local geological and geophysical studies, involving over 38,000 man-hours and expenditure of over $4,000,000.
Advanced 3D Modeling Guides Strategic Drilling for Lithium Brine
Next phase exploration will acquire and analyze target-specific geophysical data and culminate in exploration drilling.
First, a detailed 3D basin model based on high-resolution gravity data, DTEM /MT survey results, and seismic reflection profiles will be constructed.
Once complete, the model will allow optimal siting and drilling of 5 exploration wells to assess concentrations of Li-brine and/or Li and B enriched sedimentary rocks.
All predictive geological indicators suggest that the Northern Fish Lake valley hosts the most prospective untapped brine resource in the Great Basin and may host a twin of the Silver Peak lithium asset.
Lithium Brines in the Walker Lane
The basins beneath Clayton Valley and northern Fish Lake Valley are separated east-to-west by 30 km and lie in the upper-plate of a late Cenozoic metamorphic core complex.
The core complex separates the basins as a topographic high and exposes pre-Cenozoic metamorphic basement and low-angle detachment faults.
The detachment faults and linked high-angle faults provided fluid passageways for the upward migration of Li- and B-rich hydrothermal fluids from the mid- to lower crust.
The hydrothermal fluids altered and enriched thick accumulations of sedimentary and minor interbedded volcanic rocks forming the basin fill.
Active groundwater leaching of the sedimentary and volcanic rocks formed the Li-brine being extracted from Clayton Valley for the last 58 years.
Simplified block model illustrating linked transcurrent, detachment, and high-angle faults that provided fluid passageways for the upward migration of Li- and B-rich hydrothermal fluids from the mid- to lower crust.
From Oldow et al. 1994
Lithium in Fish Lake Valley
In northern Fish Lake Valley, our exhaustive geological and geophysical analysis over the last decade indicates two deep basins that represent the most prospective Li targets.
Walker Lane Research Partners holds mineral rights to the most prospective target, which is a prismatic, fault-bounded basin that contains up to 2000 m of latest Cenozoic sedimentary and volcanic deposits.
Previous exploration in the area show occurrences of Li-brine ranging from 100 to 150 mg/L with B ranging from 1,500 to 2,670 mg/L. Sedimentary rocks adjacent to the deep basins have Li concentration zones consistently enriched to around 1,000 ppm and up to 2,100 ppm. The high Li zones are co-located with B concentrations of up to 15,700 ppm. The Li and B enrichment of the basin-fill is a documented product of hydrothermal alteration of the sediments.