West Cobar Metals (ASX:WC1) is set to begin a maiden drilling program at its Nevada Lithium Project in the US before the end of this month.
At the Montezuma Well area of the project, West Cobar, which has a market capitalisation of $7.38 million, plans to drill 5 reverse circulation (RC) holes to test for claystone-hosted lithium mineralisation.
Meanwhile, at the Big Smoky Valley claim, the company will drill 6 RC holes to test for shallow lithium-in-claystone mineralisation.
In conjunction with this announcement, West Cobar says it has settled a confidentiality breach claim with Nedeel LLC, Kryptonite LLC, and GF Global LLC (together NVR).
On 26 June 2023, West Cobar received a claim from NVR alleging it had breached a confidentiality agreement between the two companies. NVR’s claim alleged that West Cobar subsidiary WC1 Nevada Lithium — which is the holder of mining tenements in Nevada — was also bound by the confidentiality agreement.
West Cobar at the time said it was investigating the claim and has now agreed to issue NVR 1.5 million WC1 shares, 3 million unquoted options exercisable into WC1 shares at $0.20, and 2.5 million performance rights, subject to shareholder approval at the next annual general meeting, as a settlement.
The performance rights are convertible into WC1 shares upon completing exploratory drilling on its Nevada claims that result in a single intercept of 20m true width having an average grade of lithium equal to or greater than 700 parts per million before 31 August 2025. The shares are subject to a 6-month voluntary escrow.
The Nevada Lithium Project comprises the Montezuma Well and Big Smoky Valley claims and is located near Tonopah in the US.
West Cobar Metals is a minerals explorer and developer focused on its critical minerals projects located across Australia and the US.
As of 30 June 2023, West Cobar had $2.3 million cash and cash equivalents at hand, according to its latest quarterly report.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: West Cobar Metals
