Sepiolite, Saponite and Bentonite clays have been extracted from various clay pits in the Amargosa since the early 1920s. 

IMV Nevada, a subsidiary of Lhoist North America, currently extracts Sepiolite and Bentonite clays from several pits in the Ash Meadows-Amargosa Flat area. Production in 2014 was reported as 129,700 tonnes (143,000 short tons; Nevada Minerals Yearbook, 2016). The clays occur in shallow, flat-lying deposits in Pliocene lacustrine sediments.

Anomalously high Lithium values were discovered in clay minerals in Clayton Valley, Nevada in the early 1960s, approximately 190 km northwest of the Amargosa project. 

The property area is a playa lake. The region is underlain by felsic volcanic rocks, one of the prime source rocks for Lithium brines. The geology of the project area is conducive for Lithium brine mineralization. 

Significant lithophile ash zones are located to the west and north of the property area. These lithophilic ash zones are relatively deeply buried and if not altered to clay are typically transmissive and permeable for groundwater flow. 

The Amargosa property is a closed basin with favorable structure and geometry apparently trapping fluids.

Groundwater flow direction is towards the east and south, with a gravity low located in the centre of the project area. Regional gravity data indicates the depth to basement rock ranges of 3.0 km to 3.5 km. 

Hydrogeological data indicates significant groundwater flow may be present.

The deposit model for economically viable Lithium brine deposits is relatively simple: Lithium is leached from suitable source rocks or introduced from Lithium-rich hydrothermal fluids, is trapped in a hydrologically closed basin, and is concentrated in the fluid by evaporation.

Productive brines containing 200ppm – 1,400ppm Lithium are pumped from subsurface aquifers, further concentrated by evaporation on surface, and then processed to remove Lithium as carbonates or metal. It is important to be clear that the targets in these deposits are not Lithium-bearing rocks or clays, but subsurface Lithium-rich brines contained in permeable aquifers.

The deposit type proposed for the Amargosa property is that of a lithium brine deposit model based on the Clayton Valley deposit.

BMR work to date has included geological mapping, selective sampling and a Magnetotelluric geophysical survey. This survey defined drill targets within the basin.

Line 3 of the Amargosa magnetotellurics (MT) survey shows a near surface (<300 metre deep) anomalous brine trending over one kilometer. Lithium clays are mined by Lhoist from surface deposits not far from this target. An extremely saline water reservoir is located at depth and this is interpreted as a buried geothermal system which may offer exploration/development opportunities for both green geothermal energy generation as well as lithium extraction.

Drilling has not occurred on the Amargosa property. Shallow drilling has occurred at the clay mine adjacent to the Amargosa project, but no deep holes have been drilled to test for the presence of lithium brines.