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Ringbolt Ventures Ltd. announced on Tuesday it has engaged the services of Beeman Drilling Services, Inc. of Moab, Utah to undertake a potash drilling program on its Lisbon Valley Project in Utah.
Beeman Drilling was formed over 30 years ago and its personnel have extensive experience, dating back to the 1950’s, drilling in the Lisbon Valley and surrounding areas. Fieldwork to prepare for drilling operations is expected to be completed within days.
Ringbolt Ventures President and CEO, Simon Tam, stated, “This is a significant step in Ringbolt’s Lisbon Valley Potash Project. We are fortunate to have a highly experienced drilling company like Beeman Drilling working on our Potash projects.”
Potash was first discovered in the Paradox Basin in an oil and gas well in 1924. In 1962, Superior Oil Company drilled the first potash at the crest of the Lisbon Valley anticline. Since 1964, potash and by product salt have been produced from the Cane Creek mine.
The Cane Creek mine was first owned and operated by Texas Gulf Sulphur, and is now owned and operated by Intrepid Potash Company. Potash was originally produced by underground mining and, in 1970, the mine was converted to solution mining. Solution mining has proven to be the ideal process in the project area because of the hot summers and low humidity. The mine has produced nearly continuously since 1964, and reportedly has a future mine life of 30 years.
Technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Derrick Strickland, P.Geo, a qualified person as defined in NI 43-101.
About Ringbolt Ventures Ltd.
Ringbolt Ventures’ Lisbon Valley potash project consists of nine state mineral leases totalling 6,421 acres and applications for potash prospecting permits, totalling 24,640 acres. The project is located in San Juan County, Utah, within the Paradox Basin, a large sedimentary basin containing rocks of Pennsylvanian to Cretaceous age. The salt and potash beds are in the Pennsylvanian Paradox formation that is over 4,000 feet thick, with 29 separate cycles of salt, potash and clastic sediments. The salt beds are located near the top of the evaporate sequence and occur at depths of 3,000 to 4,800 feet in the project area.
Map of the Lisbon Valley potash property located in the Paradox Basin supplied by the company. According to the United States Geological Services (USGS) the area contain over 2 billion tons of potash. The Paradox Basin is home to Intrepid Potash’s Cane Creek potash mine, which is located less than 20 miles from Ringbolt’s property.
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