Tickers: OTC: NRVTF | TSXV: NRM | Frankfurt: N7R
Been digging into Noram Lithium lately. This definitely isn't something I'm looking at as a safe long-term investment. It's a highly speculative junior developer with a large Nevada lithium deposit and a fairly clear catalyst coming up.
What caught my attention is that Zeus is about to be looked at again under a very different set of assumptions than it was in 2021. The updated PEA will use new pricing, revised pit optimization and mine planning, and potentially include additional critical minerals.
That doesn't mean the project suddenly works.
But it should give us a much better idea of what Zeus actually looks like today.
For a junior this speculative, that's enough to make it interesting.
**Key points from the August 20 update:**
* Zeus is 100% owned and sits in Clayton Valley, Nevada.
* Noram says previous PEAs outlined several hundred million tonnes of lithium-rich clay, with the potential for more than 1 billion tonnes depending on the cutoff grade.
* Global Resource Engineers has been engaged to update the PEA, which Noram expects by late October.
* The new study is using a long-term lithium carbonate price of US$24,000/t.
* It's also incorporating revised pit optimization parameters, including a lower cutoff grade, along with updated mine planning and engineering criteria.
* They're evaluating cesium, rubidium and potash as potential by-products, where supported by the ongoing geological, metallurgical and economic work.
**What I'm watching:**
The last PEA was completed in 2021. Noram says there's been significant technical, engineering and metallurgical work completed since then, and the new study is looking at Zeus under updated assumptions.
If the revised mine plan, lower cutoff and potential by-products materially change the economics, October could give investors a very different picture of the project.
The main risk is that US$24,000/t lithium is still an assumption. The by-products also need to be supported by the geological, metallurgical and economic work. A PEA is preliminary, and there is still a long road through financing, permitting, engineering and development before anything resembling a mine exists.
**My view:**
* This is still a very high-risk speculative junior.
* The updated PEA should give investors a much better basis for judging Zeus under the company's current assumptions.
* A strong study would make the project more interesting, but I'll be paying close attention to how much of the economics depend on the US$24,000/t lithium assumption and potential by-product credits.
* There's still a very long road from a PEA to financing, permitting, construction and production.
Website: [https://noramlithiumcorp.com/](https://noramlithiumcorp.com/)
Press release: [https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/oil-gas-and-energy/noram-advances-updated-preliminary-economic-assessment-to-reflect-current-indust-1209646](https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/oil-gas-and-energy/noram-advances-updated-preliminary-economic-assessment-to-reflect-current-indust-1209646)
DYODD.