IRIS Metals Limited announced that it has contracted with an RC drilling rig to commence a 10,000 m program at its South Dakota Lithium Project, aimed at resource definition. The drilling program will be targeting the Black Diamond Mine and the Beecher Mine pegmatites. The Black Diamond Mine is located on a freehold patented mining claim and was predominantly mined for beryllium back in the 50's and 60's. The walls on both sides of the open cut contain logs of spodumene, and mapping conducted by USGS geologist back in 1945 indicate the potential for significant volumes of this spodumene rich zone.

The LCT-pegmatite extends north over a 950m strike length with widths up to 60m wide. Historic diamond drilling conducted in the early 40's demonstrated that the pegmatite is open to at least 60m below surface. Spodumene is mapped over the entire length of the Black Diamond pegmatite supported by the strong lithium readings returned when testing the pegmatite with a LIBS analyzer.

Drill testing of the southern extension of the Beecher Mine is also planned. The Beecher Mine historically produced lithium concentrate along with other commercial minerals. As Black Diamond and Beecher Extended are on patented claims, the approval process for drilling is far easier than for a BLM Claim.

Considering this expedited process for obtaining drilling permits IRIS has contracted an RC drilling company to carry out an initial 10,000m drilling program. This program will initially focus on testing under and along strike of the historic Black Diamond mine as well as testing the southern strike extension of the mineralized Beecher pegmatite. RC drilling is also planned to be carried out on the Beecher extended patented claim.

This will test for lithium spodumene directly along strike of the historic Beecher Lode mine. The Beecher Lode was the largest historical lithium producing mine in the Black Hills. Metallurgical Test Work: IRIS has contracted Independent Metallurgical Operations (IMO) to manage the metallurgical test work of spodumene pegmatite ore material sampled from the Beecher lithium trend.

IMO will oversee the heavy liquid separation (HLS) and dense media separation (DMS) test work to be carried out by SGS laboratories in Canada. Bulk material comprising 240kg of fresh mineralized pegmatite will be sampled from various locations at the Beecher project. Geologists will select representative material from sites with varying sized spodumene minerals.