First Scoping Drill Hole Completed At The Jackpot Lake Lithium Brine Project

VANCOUVER - Usha Resources Ltd. (USHA) has successfully completed hole JP22-1 at the Jackpot Lake Lithium Brine Property ("Project"). The Company will now proceed with drilling its second hole and sampling JP22–1.

USHA's 2023 drill program marks the first drill testing of the Jackpot Lake Project which is hosted within a basin estimated to be 10,900 acres and 625 meters deep. JP22-1 was completed to a total depth of 1,723 feet or 525 meters below ground and now confirms: Support for a similar geologic setting to that of Clayton Valley, hosting Albemarle's Silver Peak Nevada Lithium Mine, the only producing lithium mine in North America; Lithium is present in JP22-1 at a grade of up to 300 ppm within ten samples collected from shallow surface soils (<442 ft). The Project target was identified based on historical geophysical studies and 129 core samples collected by the USGS with an average lithium value of 175 ppm; Evaporitic crystallization, indicative of a brine-forming environment, extends to the top of the basal conglomerate, with interbedding, veining and inclusions increasing significantly beginning at a depth of 1,250 feet (381 meters). Interbedded zones included up to 90% evaporites; A higher porosity zone comprised of sand and conglomerate with evaporite crystallization was identified beginning at 1,629 feet that continued on to the bottom of the hole at 1,723 feet or 525 meters; and Static water was present at approximately 146 feet. The total water column at the Project is anticipated to be greater than 1,577 feet or 481 meters.

Most notably, the hole terminated in a higher porosity zone of sand and conglomerate. Reaching this sand-conglomerate zone was a high priority for the program as it should contain the greatest porosity within the basin aquifer and serve as a pumpable zone into which the fluids above can drain. As per the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) completed by Pure Energy Minerals for their Clayton Valley project, their sand and conglomerate zone was identified to contain a large volume of brine with superior grades.

"The significance of evidence supporting the geologic setting coupled with the geological similarities and notable proximity to the sole domestic producer of lithium in the United States bodes well for USHA's future potential – both near and long-term," said Deepak Varshney, CEO. "We have been very pleased with our maiden drilling program findings to-date and it's great seeing the core beginning to come out of the ground. Shallow basins with the characteristics of Jackpot are uncommon and to be able to validate our thesis for the Project on the first drill hole is very exciting. We are eagerly now moving on to hole number two as sampling of JP22-1 gets underway. Brine projects have the ability to move towards production much quicker than their counterparts in the hard rock space, and the identification of heavily crystallized layers overlaying permeable pumpable sands and conglomerate, along with confirmed lithium in soil samples, shows that Jackpot has the potential to produce and help meet this demand in the coming decade."