Rockland Resources Updates Activities on the Lithium Butte Property, Utah
VANCOUVER, September 13, 2023 - Rockland Resources Ltd. (the "Company" or "Rockland") (CSE:RKL) continues to prepare for the first "modern" drill program targeting lithium and beryllium mineralization on its Lithium Butte Property, located in Juab County, approximately 185 kilometres southwest of Salt Lake City, Utah.
Activities completed or planned include:
- The reclamation surety amount has been posted and received by DOGM, in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), related to the Company's Notice of Intent (NOI).
- In early August, Company personnel met with representatives of National EWP Inc., of Elko Nevada, to inspect the specific drill sites ahead of mobilization of the drill equipment and personnel.
- An excavation contractor has been retained to prepare drill site locations, clear roads and trails of debris, and is expected on site this week. Drilling will follow, subject to the drill contractor's schedule, later in September or early in October.
- The company's site preparation and drill program are specifically designed with compact, low-impact equipment to minimize the environmental footprint. The program proposes 1,220 metres (4,000 ft) of reverse-circulation (RC) drilling, in 14-16 holes, directed at areas of known (from surface sampling) lithium and beryllium mineralization, and also "blind" targets under alluvium and/or volcanic cover.
- The "Saddle Zone" is the main beryllium ("Be") target on the Lithium Butte property, where sampling by the Company has returned continuous chip samples from outcrop over 25.5 metres averaging 1,142 parts per million ("ppm") Be (and 352 ppm lithium ("Li")), with a higher-grade portion returning 2423 ppm Be over 6.13m (and 371 ppm Li). Materion's beryllium ore grade at the Spor Mountain operations is estimated at 2,500 ppm Be (0.25% Be) (USGS Be Fact Sheet, 2016).
The Lithium Butte property hosts claystone volcanic tuff breccia units interpreted to be prospective for lithium, beryllium and rare earth mineralization. Company sampling has returned up to 4,080 ppm Li from a grab sample and channel sampling returned 25.2 metres at 1,388 ppm Li, including 8.0 metres at 2,155 ppm Li and 0.7 metres at 3,540 ppm Li. Multiple prospective targets have been indicated and Rockland's RC program is designed to test for both lithium and beryllium mineralization.
Beryllium is a high-value, essential, light metal with wide applications in the aerospace, computer, telecommunications, electronics, medical, satellite and defence sectors. Beryllium on the Lithium Butte property occurs as the beryllium mineral bertrandite which is also mined from the Spor Mountain open-pit operations located 30 kilometres east of the property, by Materion Corp. ("Materion"). The Spor Mountain operations are the largest source of beryllium in the United States, accounting for approximately 63% of the world's annual production in 2020.
Mike England, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, states: "We are excited to initiate drill pad preparation this week, directed at a maiden drill program when the drill contractor becomes available in late September or early October. Drilling will be directed at multiple mineral targets."
Juab County is an active exploration and mining area, with beryllium produced by Materion from the Spor Mountain mine, gold exploration and production at the Tintic Mine by Osisko Development Corp., and drilling and exploration at the Tintic project by Ivanhoe Electric. (Utah Geological Survey Circular 134, 37 p., https://doi.org/10.34191/C-134.)
Program QA/QC - Samples taken to date were transported in sealed bags by the Company personnel and shipped to Activation Laboratories ("Actlabs") in Ancaster, Ontario. Actlabs is an independent ISO/IEC 17025 certified laboratory. Li analysis was performed using sodium peroxide fusion and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). As part of the QA/QC program Rockland geologists included blanks and certified reference materials (CRM) with the soil samples. No significant deviations from expected grades with blanks or CRMs were noted.
Lindsay Bottomer, P.Geo., a Qualified Person as defined in NI43-101, is responsible for reviewing and approving the geological contents of this news release.
About Rockland Resources Ltd.
Rockland Resources is engaged in the business of mineral exploration and the acquisition of mineral property assets for the benefit of its shareholders. The Company also now owns 100-per-cent of the Cole Gold Mines property, located in Ball township, Red Lake mining division, Ontario. The Cole Property hosts high-grade gold mineralization in a classic Red Lake-type structurally controlled gold deposit environment.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
Michael England, CEO & Director
For further information, please contact:
Mike England
Email: mike@engcom.ca
Neither the Canadian Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains forward-looking statements, which relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from those expected. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required under applicable securities legislation, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. All of the forward-looking statements made in this press release are qualified by these cautionary statements and by those made in our filings with SEDAR in Canada (available at WWW.SEDAR.COM).
SOURCE: Rockland Resources Ltd.
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