NOA Lithium Reports High-Grade Results from its Fourth Hole at Rio Grande

NOA is a lithium exploration and development company formed to acquire assets with significant resource potential.

NOA Lithium Brines Inc. announced to report positive lithium results from brine samples from RG23-004, the fourth hole of the Phase 1 diamond drill program at its Rio Grande project (“Rio Grande” or the “Project”). The hole, located at the El Camino claim on the northeast edge of the salar, completed to a depth of 551 meters (“m”), intersected a high-grade lithium (“Li”) brine aquifer of significant thickness starting from a down-hole depth of only 2.5 meters (“m”).

Highlights from the fourth drill hole include: 

• 400 meters (2.5 m – 511 m) grading an average of 619 milligrams per litre (“mg/l”) lithium;
• Average concentration of 360 mg/l Li in the upper 100 m, while the remainder of the hole averaged a high-grade concentration of 675 mg/l Li; and
• Encountered highest-grade concentration of 794 mg/l Li at 333 m.

NOA’s Chief Executive Officer Gabriel Rubacha states: “Our drilling at Rio Grande continues to yield very positive results, confirming the high-grade potential of the Project. In particular, this fourth hole demonstrates the significant potential in the northern and northeastern areas of the salar, where NOA’s claims cover a large, prospective area of the Rio Grande project. We are currently completing our fifth hole, which is expected to be finalized in the coming weeks, and are eagerly looking forward to announcing our maiden resource estimate, which remains on track to be completed later this quarter.”

Diamond drill hole RG23-004 was completed at a depth of 551 m. From a depth of 2.5 m, the formations saturated with brine began. The lithology of the well is composed mainly of gravel and sand with intercalations of halite and sulfates, whose thickness varied along the depth. Packer test sampling was carried out, revealing brine-saturated units throughout nearly the entire depth of the +500 m (covering approximately 400 m of the 551 m drilled), with the exception of four horizons ranging from 14 m to 29 m in thickness.

Hole RG23-005, the fifth hole of the Phase 1 diamond drill program at the Rio Grande project, is well advanced and is anticipated to be completed in the coming weeks. The location of RG23-004 and NEWS RELEASE {00722976 v1} RG23-005 are shown in Figure 1. The ongoing Phase 1 drilling campaign will constitute the basis for the maiden resource at the Rio Grande Project and is scheduled for release in Q1/2024.

Hole RG23-004 was executed with diamond drilling (HQ-size), permitting the extraction of core samples of the salar basin formations and collection of brine samples where possible. Drilling was carried out by Salta-based Hidrotec S.A., under the supervision of NOA’s geologists.

Results for Hole RG23-004 

The results of the brine analyses and the respective intervals are shown in Table 1 below and drill collar information is presented in Table 2 below. Hole RG23-004, drilled at the El Camino claim (shown in Figure 1 below) reached a depth of 551 m.