Sunrise Resources PLC (AIM:SRES) said it has been advised that Tolsa USA Inc has received approval from the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its proposed trenching programme at the company's Pioche Sepiolite Project in Nevada, USA and that Tolsa will start work this week.
Up to 2 kilometres of excavator trenching will start this week to better expose and sample the mapped sepiolite deposits, the company noted.
In a statement, Sunrise executive chairman Patrick Cheetham commented: "We are pleased to see that the permitting has proceeded smoothly and in a timely manner and that Tolsa is now proceeding immediately with its proposed exploration programme, having already identified multiple horizons of sepiolite at the Pioche Project. The trenching programme will provide further exposures of the sepiolite beds to enable a better evaluation of their thicknesses and quality."
He added: "Whilst our focus remains on the CS and Hazen pozzolan projects, the Pioche Project exemplifies the company's long-standing strategy to identify overlooked mineral opportunities and convert these into cash and free carried royalty interests such as those the company already holds on the Junction, Garfield and Stonewall exploration projects.
"We are pleased that the Pioche Project continues to advance at a fast pace and we look forward to the results from this next stage of evaluation."
On June 28, 2022, Sunrise granted Tolsa a six-month option to purchase the Pioche Project for $1.25 million and an ongoing payment to Sunrise of a 3% royalty. This option may be extended for a further 12 months on payment of $50,000 to Sunrise within the option period.
Tolsa is a US subsidiary of Tolsa SA, the world's largest producer of sepiolite, a non-swelling, lightweight, porous clay with outstanding sorption capacity.
The largest market globally for sepiolite is for use in lightweight 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 as a suspending agent in paints, medicines, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and in high-temperature drilling muds.
Sepiolite is a very uncommon clay because of both its unusual characteristics and scarce occurrence. There are very few commercial deposits in the world and, with one exception, there are no significant sepiolite deposits known in the USA, so a large potential market would exist for any new US producer of sepiolite.