Morella Corporation Limited advised that the soil sampling program completed at North Big Smoky Lithium Project (NBS) in September 2022 has identified a large zone of elevated lithium grades across the central part of the project area. The project is located 135 kilometres from Tonopah, and is accessible via Highway 376 in Nevada, USA and comprises 178 placer claims. Morella entered into an earn-in agreement with Lithium Corporation in 2022, whereby Morella has the right to earn a 60% interest in the project, with options to acquire 100% interest. In September 2022, a 259-auger-hole drilling program was executed with the goal of gaining a better understanding of the distribution of lithium in the soils across the NBS deposit.

Holes (up to 1.37m total length) were completed. Mineralogical and geochemical samples were sent for assaying to ALS USA Inc. in Twin Falls, Idaho, a certified laboratory. Results in the central part of the NBS deposit show elevated lithium assays up to 499 ppm with over 40% of the assays with grades of 200 ppm lithium or more.

Nearly 90% of the deposit shows lithium grades greater than 100 ppm. The area to the east of the sampled area was not sampled as it has thick alluvial cover which sits over the playa and is not suitable for soil sampling. PSS horizontal-to-vertical-spectral ratio (HVSR) in order to generate a map of depth to acoustic bedrock, which can be used to assist identification of structures within the project area and tie-in conductive anomaly features with estimated bedrock depths.

Further magnetotelluric geophysical surveys over the remaining claim area after the PSS work has been completed to help model the conductive source.