Nevada Lithium Announces Rare Earth Elements Within its Bonnie Claire Lithium Project
Nevada Lithium Chases "Commodity Salad" to Distract from Massive Capex and Speculative Mining Methods
The news release dated January 6, 2026, announces the identification of Rare Earth Elements (REE) within the existing drill core at the Bonnie Claire Lithium Project in Nevada. Assay results from one core hole (BC2401C) show Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) ranging from 0.012% to 0.031% over very short intervals (0.27m to 0.31m) at depths between 1,987 and 2,767 feet. Management highlights that these REEs co-occur with high-grade lithium and boron and could potentially provide a by-product revenue stream. This follows previous 2025 announcements adding boron, cesium, and rubidium to the project’s target list.
- Economic Impact: Minimal to negligible at this stage. The TREO grades reported (max 0.031%) are extremely low compared to primary REE deposits. While management frames this as a "by-product," the cost of separating and refining REEs from a complex clay-hosted lithium/boron deposit could exceed their value.
- Operational Impact: No immediate change to project development. The company is currently "investigating" extraction within the existing flowsheet. This adds complexity to a metallurgical process that is already burdened by the need to recover lithium and boron.
- Sentiment vs. Reality: This news appears to be part of a recurring pattern where the company re-assays old core to include whatever mineral is currently on the "US Critical Minerals List" to maintain news flow. Since August 2025, the company has pivoted from a Lithium-Boron project to one including Cesium, Rubidium, and now REEs.
- Materiality: Routine. This is a discovery of trace mineralization on an existing project. It does not change the fundamental challenge: the $2.1 Billion initial capital expenditure required to build the mine.
Nevada Lithium Resources Inc. owns 100% of the Bonnie Claire project in Nye County, Nevada. It is a sedimentary (claystone) deposit. * Flagship Project: Bonnie Claire. * PEA Metrics: After-tax NPV8% of US$6.83 Billion and IRR of 32.3%. * The Catch: These numbers assume an initial Capex of US$2.13 Billion. The company is currently valued at roughly 1% of its purported NPV, indicating the market views the project as highly unlikely to be built in its current form. * Mining Method: Hydraulic Borehole Mining (HBHM), which is significantly less common than open-pit or traditional underground mining.