The demand for lithium is heating up, this is undeniable, and nowhere is this more evident than the quality of projects emerging in Nevada.
Grid Battery Metals (TSXV:CELL), is a company that has recently gained attention in the investment community due to its promising Nevada project, the property. This property is strategically located and adjoins the southern section of Nevada’s most recent and highly anticipated lithium deposit, the Surge Battery Metals’ Northern Nevada Lithium project, which adds to its appeal and potential.
Before delving into the investment highlights of Grid Battery Metals, it is important to understand the significance of the electric vehicle revolution and the global shift towards clean technology. The increasing demand for electric vehicles has led to a surging need for lithium-ion batteries, which rely on metals like lithium, cobalt, and nickel. These metals are crucial for energy storage and delivery, and their importance cannot be overstated in the context of a sustainable future.
Auto manufacturers are producing more electric vehicles (EVs) each year and governments are stepping up with EV subsidies for both consumers and manufacturers.
The U.S. government’s implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, (IRA) aimed at promoting clean technology, has sent a strong signal to the market. The IRA has created significant government subsidies for US-based EV purchasers that buy an EV made from North American-based sources of critical metals such as lithium. North American lithium properties such as Grid’s Texas Springs, Volt Canyon and Clayton Valley have become more valuable as a result. This move also suggests that even traditionally oil and gas-focused countries are recognizing the importance of transitioning to cleaner energy sources. As a result, companies like Grid Battery Metals are poised to benefit greatly from this shift.
Texas Springs Property
Grid Battery Metals acquired the 4 sq. km. Texas Spring Property this past summer for US$55,000 and 8 million shares from Springfield Land Limited Liability.
The company owns a 100 per cent interest in the Texas Spring Property which consists of mineral lode claims located in Elko County, Nevada. The Texas Spring property holds great promise for Grid Battery Metals and is in the Granite Range southeast of Jackpot, about 73 km north-northeast of Wells. The target is a lithium clay deposit in volcanic tuff and tuffaceous sediments of the Humbolt Formation.
Situated in an area with already-established lithium projects, the property has the potential to contribute significantly to the company’s growth.
The Texas Spring property adjoins the southern border of the Nevada North Lithium Project – owned by Surge Battery Metals Inc. (TSXV:NILI) and comprised of 303 mineral claims. Surge’s first round of drilling identified strongly mineralized lithium bearing clays. The average lithium content within all near surface clay zones intersected in the 2022 drilling program, applying a 1,000 ppm cut-off, was 3,254 ppm. More recently in 2023, additional drilling results on this property have shown higher grade lithium up to 8070 ppm after a secondary drilling project was completed.
With a strategic location near Surge’s project, Grid Battery Metals can leverage existing infrastructure and resources to expedite development.
The team recently completed the first phase of its summer / fall exploration program at the property to predict geological structure and possible locations for lithium accumulation. This should help the company in determining next steps for the overall exploration plan, including a potential drilling program, and possibly more.
The exploration program at Texas Springs included a detailed soil sampling on a 50 metre by 100 metre spacing and a multi-line CSAMT geophysical survey to obtain information about subsurface resistivity and geology. Together these geological techniques should help predict geological structure and possible locations for lithium accumulation. This is part of a methodical and systematic approach to high quality mineral exploration for this highly sought after metal in Nevada and will assist Grid to determine the next steps for the overall exploration plan, which will likely include a future drilling program.
Tim Fernback, Grid President & CEO commented at the time of issuing news on the Texas Springs Phase 1 exploration program completion “Now that the soil sampling and CSAMT geophysical survey programs are complete at Texas Springs, we will move our exploration crews to Monitor Valley Nevada to begin a similar program on our Volt Canyon property. Once we receive the results from the assay lab and geophysics contractor, we will gather as a group to interpret the geological data and plan our next steps at Texas Springs.”
In an interview with Stockhouse Editorial, he further explained that having been active in the financing and organization of different energy metal explorers for close to 15 years, the team of principal geologists has been active in Nevada looking for lithium projects.
“Way back when there weren’t very many people in Nevada looking for projects, we were big believers in this electric vehicle revolution,” he said. “I like to call these things the undeniable truths. It is undeniable that electric vehicles will become a greater and greater percentage of vehicles over the next say 25, 30 years. It is undeniable.”
Grid Battery Metals – a closer look
One of the key factors that sets this highly experienced Nevada-based mining services company apart, is its leadership team. With a proven track record in the industry, the team has demonstrated its ability to finance a company successfully. This financial expertise serves as a strong foundation for their subsequent focus on acquiring in-depth knowledge of the geology and resource potential of their projects.
Having served as Chief Executive Officer of Surge before leaving to start this new endeavour at Grid Battery Metals, CEO Fernback brings a quarter century of experience in both mining and finance to the table.
He stated that the company’s board of directors and management team have been very active in the battery metals space, having served with several companies over the years looking for these critical EV metals.
“That whole group on the project and our geological team, began with our key geological advisor Alan Morris, who has been working with our team for close to a decade. The company has worked quite closely with several experienced mining groups in Nevada like Rangefront Exploration, who have been actively involved in the Nevada Mineral Exploration industry since 2008. These relationships have been key to understanding the geology of Nevada and so much so that we have recently added a new qualified professional on our team who is actually coming from Rangefront and has quite a bit of experience in this part of the world. His name is Seth Cude, he is our new QP (qualified person).”
The company also owns a 100 per cent interest in 113 lithium lode and placer claims covering over 6.4 square km. in Clayton Valley and a 100 per cent interest in the Volt Canyon Project, 80 placer claims covering approximately 6.3 square km. of alluvial sediments and clays located 122 km northeast of Tonopah, Nevada.
Grid Battery Metals currently boasts a market capitalization of C$17 million, but the company has ambitious plans to grow this figure to a hundred million dollars. Given the team’s prior experience with Surge Battery Metals, where they successfully extracted valuable resources and integrated them into the electric vehicle and renewable energy sectors, their goal seems attainable.
CEO Fernback noted that early investors in Surge have made up to 20 times their money, and now this opportunity with Grid presents a new “ground floor” opportunity to an emerging lithium project, possibly another chance to multiply returns?
“We have been in Nevada for a long time. We are good at finding money, we are good at keeping the exploration programs going. We are good at getting the word out about what we are doing, right? We are evangelical about getting out there and getting the word out. We believe we are in the right place at the right time. I think this is going to just get better and better. There may be ups and downs that happen within the coming 20-year cycle, but it is going to generally trend up,” he said.
Investment corner
As the demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage continues to soar, companies like Grid Battery Metals are well-positioned to capitalize on this trend.
Since this time, last year, Grid Battery Metals’ stock has risen 46.1 per cent with 35.7 per cent growth year to date. CEO Fernback calls this growth “organic interest” stemming from the battery metal space.
“I think our company itself has a pretty decent following. People are always looking at what we’re doing next as a project and know that we can find good properties in Nevada and other locations all within the battery metal mining space,” he said. “Our team is very experienced in raising capital and to that point we have been able to raise capital three times this year alone. With close to C$9 million in cash and marketable securities on hand at the moment, we are well funded for both 2023 and 2024 exploration seasons.”
With a combination of experienced leadership, strategic project location, and a focus on sustainable resource extraction, Grid Battery Metals is a compelling investment opportunity for those looking to gain exposure to the burgeoning clean technology sector.
“If you can get into an industry that is in one of those undeniable truths backed by trends like overwhelming electric vehicle adoption by consumers, it makes it a lot easier to fund, makes it a lot easier to grow. Grid Battery Metals is going to be a really good example of that investment trend coming to life.” CEO Fernback said.
To keep up with the latest updates from the company, visit gridbatterymetals.com.
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