| Vancouver, British Columbia, September 28, 2021 ( | GLOBE NEWSWIRE) | -- Ameriwest Lithium Inc. |
| (“Ameriwest” or the “Company”) (CSE: AWLI) (OTC: AWLIF) (FSE: 5HV0), a North American | | |
| lithium exploration and development company, is pleased to announce it has it has been awarded seven | | |
| exploration permits by the Arizona State Land Department to allow the Company to explore for | | |
| prospective lithium-bearing clays located on lands in west-central Arizona. The property totals nearly | | |
| 2,859 acres (1,157 hectares) in Yavapai County. Ameriwest refers to the prospect as the Thompson | | |
| Valley Hectorite Deposit (“Thompson Valley” or the “Property”). | | |
| David Watkinson, President and CEO of Ameriwest stated, “We are pleased to make this, the fourth of | | |
| a series of lithium exploration properties recently staked by the Company in the United States. This | | |
| deposit represents prospective lithium sedimentary mineralization with surface or near-surface exposure | | |
| of lithium-bearing clays, with historic grades reported as comparable to those found in similar | | |
| sedimentary deposits found in Clayton Valley, NV. Ameriwest’s technical team has put together a series | | |
| of high-quality exploration properties in an extremely short period of time and each of these properties | | |
| holds promise for the discovery of lithium and, with exploration success, the potential delineation of | | |
| mineral resources.” | | |
| Surface clay deposits were initially discovered in the area in the mid-1950’s by Joseph Lyles and | | |
| became known as the “White Hills” deposits. The deposits contain bentonite (montmorillonite) and | | |
| hectorite clays. The deposits have also been sampled historically and are known to contain lithium. | | |
| Exploration data from the 1960’s shows lithium content of the bentonite ranges from 0.3 to 0.5% Li2O | | |
| (1,400 to 2,300 ppm Li), which is similar to the lithium contents for other lithium-clay projects located | | |
| further north in Arizona (Source: Lithium Bearing Bentonite Deposit, Yavapai County, Arizona, J. J. | | |
| Norton, Geology Survey Research, 1965). Note that these are historic samples taken prior to the | | |
| implementation of National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”), QA/QC procedures are unknown, and | | |
| Ameriwest’s geologists cannot verify the results. The results do indicate the presence of lithium and | | |
| warrant the need for additional exploration to evaluate the deposits. | | |
| Mining operations in the area began in 1985 at the adjacent Lyles Hectorite Mine and it was reported | | |
| that a few truckloads of the white clay were shipped per year for limited use as a viscosifier for | | |
| cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The mine is currently owned and operated by Vanderbilt Minerals, | | |
| LLC, a subsidiary of R.T. Vanderbilt Holding Company, a private industrial minerals and chemical | | |
| company that has operated since 1916 and produces and sells industrial minerals and chemicals on a | | |
| world-wide basis. | | |
| The Lyles Mine is located on a State mineral lease adjacent to Ameriwest’s lithium’s mineral leases | | |
| and exploration permits. The deposits are shallow, occurring at or near surface, perhaps under a sandy | | |
| or hard caliche layer. It has been reported that the overall clay sequence is 70 feet (21 m) thick, | | |
| containing a hectorite bed with a thickness ranging from 8 to 35 feet (2.4 to 11 m). This is supported by | | |
| an older reference that indicates a thickness of over 40 feet (12 m) as a relatively uniform deposit over | | |
| the area. Note that the vicinity of Ameriwest’s Property adjacent to the Lyles Mine does not guarantee | | |
| exploration success or that mineral resources or reserves will be defined. No mineral resources or | | |
| reserves have yet been delineated on the Property. | | |
| Ameriwest will be moving towards a field exploration program of geologic mapping and surface | | |
| sampling to better define the extent and grade of the deposit. The location has good access and is not | | |
| far from State Highway 93. A county road passes directly through the prospect in an area known as | | |
| Thompson Valley. The lands are 120 miles (190 km) north of Phoenix, and a large copper mine is found | | |
| near Bagdad, AZ 35 miles (56 km) to the northwest. | | |
| Greg Bell, P.E. (Arizona), a qualified person under the NI 43-101 instrument, has reviewed and | | |
| approved the technical content of this release. | | |
