Pioche Sepiolite Project – Under Sale Option to Tolsa S.A.
The Pioche Sepiolite Project (the “Project”) is currently under option for sale to Tolsa USA Inc, a subsidiary of Spanish company Tolsa S.A, the world’s leading producer of the rare industrial mineral, sepiolite.
Tolsa may purchase the project for US$1.4 million at any time before 28 December 2024 and has paid US$150,000 in option fees to date. Sunrise will retain a 3% net revenue royalty for a 25-year period from the commencement of commercial production should Tolsa exercise its option.
The Project is located close to the historic mining town of Pioche in Lincoln County, Nevada. It lies within 4km of US Highway 93, from which it can be accessed by a network of 4WD tracks, and 47km from rail at the town of Caliente, Nevada.
The Project was acquired at low costs by claim staking.
Large Deposit of Sepiolite Defined by Drilling
In the summer of 2023, Tolsa carried out a drill programme at the Project. Twenty drill holes were competed for a total of 929.5 linear ft. Holes were drilled to an average depth of 47ft reflecting the shallow occurrence of sepiolite amenable to open-pit mining. The drill holes were spaced relatively evenly over an area of 2km x 1.1km. A helical drill stem was used to extract the samples and good recovery was achieved.
The drilling confirmed two main levels of medium-high grade sepiolite clay over a wide area and 166 samples were taken and shipped to Tolsa’s laboratories in Madrid for testing.
Tolsa completed a Phase 2 drill programme in July 2024 which was carried out using the sonic method of drilling. Twelve vertical holes were completed for a total of 460m of drilling covering approximately 260 hectares of the central and eastern portions of the claim block. Additionally, a series of pit samples were excavated in the well-defined sepiolite beds over a strike length of 2.7km whilst the heavy machinery was on site. Samples have been sent to Tolsa’s laboratory is Spain for sepiolite characterisation.
About the Pioche Sepiolite Project
About Sepiolite
Sepiolite has unique characteristics, is scarce, and there are very few commercial deposits in the world.
It is a non-swelling, lightweight, porous hydrous magnesium silicate clay. It possesses a high surface area due to channels in the crystal lattice that gives it a structural nano-porosity. Its unusual crystal shape also adds to the internal porosity and gives it a light weight.
Sepiolite’s high surface area and porosity account for sepiolite’s outstanding sorption capacity. Just 20g of sepiolite can have an internal surface area equivalent to that of a football field and sepiolite can absorb more than its weight in water. The largest market globally for sepiolite is for use in light-weight non-clumping pet litters where it has superior properties compared to other clays used in this application.
Sepiolite is also used extensively in agriculture as a slow-release absorbent and adsorbent carrier for chemicals and pesticides and in animal feeds as a binder and carrier for nutrients and growth promoter. It is also used to decolour vegetable and mineral oils.
The unusual crystal shape means that sepiolite is not easily flocculated and so it’s colloidal properties make it useful as a suspending agent in paints, medicines, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Sepiolite, unlike other clays, is not affected by salt water and so sepiolite drilling muds are used in oil field wells where brine formations are a problem. It is also the only clay that is stable at high temperatures and so is used in drilling muds for geothermal wells.
Sepiolite is usually mined by open pit methods and is processed by drying, grinding and screening and may undergo further treatments and transformations depending on the market.
