Evolution Mining Limited has completed its funding commitments for the Nevada North Lithium Project in Nevada through an additional CA$3,200,000 cash advance to joint venture vehicle Nevada North Lithium, LLC (NNL).

The transaction alters ownership within the joint venture formed between Surge Battery Metals Inc. and Evolution. Following the final funding installment under NNL’s amended operating agreement, Surge holds a 67.5% interest in the joint venture, while Evolution holds the remaining 32.5% after providing a total of CA$10,000,000 toward project studies.

Practically, the completed funding enables NNL to finalize its 2026 drilling program at the Nevada North Lithium Project. The joint venture has submitted its program details to the Bureau of Land Management under its 2025 Exploration Plan of Operations Permit and issued requests for proposals to drilling contractors. Mobilization is targeted for September 2026, with execution slated to run through the fall and continue into the 2027 drill season.

The upcoming drilling shifts focus from the 2025 nine-hole core program, which collected resource-upgrade data for an upcoming Pre-Feasibility Study. The expanded 2026 campaign is structured to provide necessary data for the subsequent Bankable Feasibility Study (BFS). Work will include condemnation drilling, pit definition, mine plan optimization, water supply and hydrogeological data gathering, and geotechnical logging, alongside collecting bulk tonnage material for metallurgical testwork and flowsheet optimization ahead of a planned pilot program.

Prior drilling across four campaigns at the Nevada North Lithium Project established a mineralized clay zone over 4,700 metres in strike length and supported an updated Mineral Resource Estimate of 10.51 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent grading 3,007 ppm lithium filed on June 30, 2026. The project's Preliminary Economic Assessment, dated May 19, 2025, outlined an after-tax NPV8% of US$9.17 billion and an after-tax IRR of 22.8% at a lithium price of $24,000 per tonne.

“The PFS is on schedule and on budget to be delivered in Q4 of 2026. The recent federal government announcements and the strategic investment by Mike Hess and Brian Paes-Braga allow us to accelerate the BFS timeline. Having defined a resource that now stands as one of the largest and highest grade lithium clay deposits in the United States, and with our Preliminary Economic Assessment confirming compelling Project economics, our focus in 2026 & 2027 shifts to the engineering, metallurgical, and infrastructure work required to advance NNLP toward a construction decision.”

— Greg Reimer, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Read the full announcement: Surge Battery Metals Announces 2026 Drill Program to Accelerate Nevada North Bankable Feasibility Study