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Ringbolt Ventures Ltd. (the “Company” or “Ringbolt”) (TSX VENTURE:RBV)(OCTBB:RNGTF)(FRANKFURT:3OZ) is pleased to announce that it has received a permit to carry out an initial drilling program.
The State of Utah, Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil, Gas, and Mining has approved a “Notice of Intent of Conduct Exploration” for drilling. The planned exploration will primarily consist of drilling to a depth of approximately 5,000 feet to test the potash and salt horizons on one of its state leases. The drill plan is to use reverse circulation drilling to the top of salt bed 5 at an approximate depth of 2,800 feet where there is a reported historical assay of 18.5% K2O and then core drill the potash bed. Reverse circulation drilling will then continue to the top of salt bed 9 at an approximate depth of 3,770 feet where there is a reported historical assay of 31.09% K2O (historical drill hole) located 1,000 feet from planned drill hole location.
Ringbolt Ventures President and CEO, Simon Tam, stated; “The issuing of the first drill permit in the highly prospective Paradox Basin is large step forward in Ringbolt’s strategic development plan. Utah offers significantly lower taxes than Saskatchewan and a transportation advantage in serving several large U.S. markets. The company is looking forward to the upcoming drill program as it represents a significant milestone of the hard work undertaken by the Ringbolt Team.”
Potash was first discovered in an oil and gas well in the Paradox Basin back 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 nearby 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 Inc. In addition to the commercial deposits found in the Cane Creek area, other potentially valuable zones are known to occur in the Paradox Basin. In 1960, the U.S. Geological Survey classified these areas as Known Potash Leasing Areas (KPLAs), areas where potentially valuable deposits of potash are known to exist. 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 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.
Read the full news release here. Image of Lisbon Valley potash property from Ringbolt Ventures.
