The Nevada North Lithium joint venture has moved its metallurgical program into a scaling phase after early successes. Working through Nevada North Lithium, LLC, the technical team used a representative Master Composite to steer laboratory campaigns designed to refine the flowsheet that will underpin the upcoming pre-feasibility study. Partners for this work include industry laboratories Kemetco Research Inc., Pocock Industrial Inc. and Sepro Mineral Systems Corp., each contributing specialized unit-test capabilities that address front-end upgrade options and downstream processing uncertainties.
Initial testwork focused on upgrading run-of-mine material ahead of chemical treatment and on optimizing the leach circuit to maximize lithium extraction. Bench-scale results have delivered encouraging outcomes, including lithium recoveries above 93% under refined leaching conditions. Those extractions were achieved while targeting lower impurity carryover through controlled acid addition and tailored residence times. With this foundation, the program is now producing larger batches of slurry to feed advanced thickening, filtration and washing trials that will inform equipment sizing and operational design for the PFS.
Flowsheet optimization and scaled testing
The program’s progression from small-scale screening to larger, process-representative tests represents a deliberate effort to reduce technical risk. Beneficiation work completed with Sepro on both the Master Composite and variability samples showed that much of the inert gangue can be removed early in the circuit, which materially lowers downstream capital and operating expenditures. Parallel leach testing at Kemetco refined parameters that now demonstrate strong alignment with flowsheet models prepared by Fluor, setting the stage for scaled slurry generation and subsequent unit operation trials with Pocock.
Addressing solid-liquid separation
Separation of clay-rich lithium material is recognized as a primary technical challenge because of fine particle sizes and complex rheology. Early experiments yielded a physically stable filter cake from beneficiated feed, an encouraging sign for de-risking mechanical separation steps. The next phase will use scaled leach slurry to run systematic thickening, filtration and washing tests, generating empirical data required to select and size equipment such as high-rate thickeners, pressure filters or belt filters for the PFS.
Beneficiation insights
Removing unwanted material before leaching lowers acid consumption and reduces volumes sent to downstream processing. The beneficiation program targeted coarse rejection of gangue and retention of lithium-bearing clays, and it has demonstrated that a practical, early-stage upgrade is achievable on both master and variability composites. These outcomes are expected to cut the mass that must be chemically treated and to improve the economics that feed into the Preliminary Economic Assessment and the impending PFS.
Leach circuit performance
Optimization at Kemetco concentrated on acid regimes and contact times to reach the highest possible lithium extraction while suppressing impurities. The program has repeatedly surpassed the 93% extraction threshold under refined conditions, a result that corroborates current process models. The overall project recovery figure reported in the PFS will reflect downstream performance and will be disclosed when the study is published.
Project context, governance and next steps
Nevada North Lithium, LLC is a joint venture owned 70.54% by Surge Battery metals Inc. and 29.46% by Evolution Mining Limited. The property lies southeast of Jackpot, Nevada, and drill campaigns to date have delineated lithium-bearing clays across more than 4,700 meters of strike and greater than 2,000 meters of known width. As previously disclosed, a Preliminary Economic Assessment dated May 19, 2026 reported an after-tax NPV8% of US $9.17 billion and an after-tax IRR of 22.8% at $24,000/t Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE) with an OPEX of US $5,243/t LCE. The project’s pit-constrained Measured & Indicated Resource contains an estimated 10.51 Mt LCE grading 3007 ppm Li at a 1,250-ppm cutoff.
Technical oversight for the release was provided by Alan J. Morris, MSc, CPG, Geological Advisor to the company and a Qualified Person as defined under NI 43-101. Management has emphasized that ongoing scaled tests with Pocock are intended to produce the empirical datasets necessary to finalize equipment selection and to support the PFS that will publish consolidated recovery and design parameters. Surge’s CEO, Greg Reimer, noted that combining resource upgrades with robust metallurgical data is central to advancing the project toward commercialization.