RE: RNS3 Nov 2025 09:14
I must admit here I missed what is a lot of detailed information about the testing done on the 'Pioche' samples by our chap who hasa 20% stake in the project. It was lower down the RNS. There is a lot of it and I just paste a small sample below, I would recommend anyone who did not (like me) initially read this do so as it does clarify why Pioche did not get the results that we are now getting;
""A second objective was to test the same range of samples for their gelling effect in saltwater, an important application for drilling through saltwater formations in oil and gas wells. Tolsa did not evaluate this application. The Company's testing was carried out in accordance with American Petroleum Institute procedures and yielded results comparable to those obtained from Amargosa sepiolite. This underlines the potential for Pioche sepiolite to replace Amargosa sepiolite where future mining is under regulatory threat.
In the final stages of the Phase 2 testwork, the processing method was developed further and achieved a significant breakthrough, increasing the saltwater viscosity in the two samples tested by a factor of 4x, giving results only seen so far in the Company's testing of Spanish sepiolite.
Given the limitations on samples currently available to the Company, where some of the highest quality samples based on Tolsa's own testing could not be tested, this is a very significant result.
Taken together all of the work carried out by the Company continues to highlight the East Mesa area of the Pioche Property as the prime target for resource definition and first commercial production. Geological cross sections are attached.
The Company is now in the process of producing on the bench-scale kg quantities of processed sepiolite for customer testing having only supplied raw clay products to date"
Sign In
Follow the stocks
