Stria Lithium Inc. (TSX-V:SRA) (OTCQX:SRCAF) is pleased to report the results from the Company’s December 2017 first drilling program at its Pontax Lithium Property  located in west central Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Northern Québec. The drilling program, Stria’s first since it acquired 100% mineral rights to the Property in December 2013, targeted the Pontax Spodumene Pegmatite occurrence, the main lithium occurrence on the Property.

Highlights:

• Seven BTW-diameter drill holes completed for a total of 911.4 m drilled (Table 1).
• A total of 426 m of core were sampled and submitted for assays, of which 103.7 m (24.3%) represent spodumene bearing pegmatite.
• All seven holes intersected spodumene bearing pegmatite dykes grading from 0.65% Li₂O to 2.49% Li₂O over a minimal true thickness¹ of 1.0 m (Table 1).
• Best intersection¹: Hole 975-17-014, drilled at -45 degrees to a depth of 141 m, intersected 21.39 m grading 1.16% Li₂O at a vertical depth of 48.2 m (from 68.90 m to 99.45 m; core length: 30.55 m; Table 1), including:
  • 22 m grading 2.18% Li₂O (from 92.00 m to 99.45 m; core length: 7.45 m) and
  • 15 m grading 3.18% Li₂0 (from 68.9 m to 70.55 m; core length: 1.65 m)
• High-grade intercept in Hole 975-17-011, drilled at -45 degrees to a depth of 107.4 m, with 2.88 m¹ grading 2.49% Li₂O (from 64.31 m to 68.42 m; core length: 4.11 m)
• The spodumene bearing pegmatite dyke swarm is currently open along strike to the northeast and at depth, while thinning out toward the southwest.
• Metabasalt wall rocks were excluded from intersection calculations, despite being locally lithium bearing.

Mr. Gary Economo, President and CEO of Stria commented: “We are encouraged by the results from our first round of drilling at the Pontax Spodumene Pegmatite occurrence which confirms the pegmatite swarm extends over a minimum strike length of 500 m and to a minimum depth of 90 m with a potential thickening of the swarm to the northeast. Plans are underway for a second phase of infill and extension drilling to further test the continuity and grade of the spodumene bearing pegmatite swarm”.

¹ True thicknesses are reported in this news release. The drill holes have been loaded into a 3-D visualisation software and the three-dimensional deposit envelope has an azimuth of N325 degrees and dips vertically. Drill holes crosscut the envelope of the mineralized zone at an angle of approximately 45 degrees. The conversion factor for true thickness is 0.7 of the core intersection length.

Drilling at the Pontax Lithium Property commenced on December 6, 2017, using a single heliportable drill rig operated by Forages Chibougamau Ltd of Chibougamau, Québec, and was completed on December 18, 2017. The drilling was designed to further test the continuity, thickness and grade of the spodumene bearing pegmatite swarm at depth and along strike at a 50 to 100 m spacing. Out of the eight BTW-diameter holes planned, seven were completed for a total of 911.4 m drilled.

A map showing the location of the drill holes and main mineralized intercepts is available on the Company’s Website at: http://strialithium.com/

The 2017 drilling program builds on the results of an earlier drilling and channel sampling program carried out by the previous owners of the Property in 2009 and 2012. Historic holes (total: 864 m) intersected a swarm of lithium bearing pegmatite dykes of an aggregated thickness of approximately 20 m, with the best intersection found in hole 09-555-05 (0.97% Li₂O over 14.7 m reported as true thickness intervals (from 36.0 m to 57.0 m), including 1.43% Li₂O over 9.1 m (from 36.0 m to 49.0 m)². The average thickness of the Pontax spodumene-bearing pegmatite swarm is 60 m with the thickest zone lying along the northeast edge.

² Source: Girard, R., 2011: Technical report on the Pontax Lithium property: A lithium exploration project near the lower Eastmain River area, Northern Québec; available at www.sedar.com under Khalkos Exploration Inc.).

¹ Lithium analyses were performed by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs) of Ancaster, Ontario, an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certified facility for multi-element analysis using ICP-OES spectral analysis after a sodium peroxide fusion (code 8-Peroxide) and are reported as Lithium oxide (Li₂O).

The fall 2017 exploration program at the Pontax Lithium Property was designed and operated by IOS Services Géoscientifiques Inc. of Chicoutimi, Québec, under the supervision of the Table Jamésienne de Concertation Minière (TJCM) of Chibougamau, Québec. All seven core holes were shipped from the field to IOS’s laboratory facilities in Saguenay, Québec in preparation for logging and sampling and for core sample preparation (crushing and grinding). In January 2018, IOS prepared 426 split core samples which were then submitted to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Actlabs) of Ancaster, Ontario, an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 certified facility for multi-element analysis using ICP-OES spectral analysis after a sodium peroxide fusion (code 8-Peroxide). Quality control, monitored by an IOS chemist, consists of 15% reference materials including blank, duplicates and certified reference material for a total of 68 QA\QC analysis.

About the Pontax Lithium Property

Stria Lithium’s 100%-owned Pontax Lithium Property consists of 68 contiguous map-designated claims covering 3,612.65 ha extending across NTS sheet 32N-14 onto NTS sheet 32N-15. The Property is located in west central Eeyou Istchee James Bay territory, Northern Québec, approximately 30 km to the south of KM 381 Truck Stop on Route de la Baie-James. Stria acquired 100% mineral rights to the Property in December 2013.

In May, 2016, the Company reported that metallurgical testing of a 16.5 t bulk sample extracted from the Pontax Spodumene Pegmatite occurence achieved an initial assay result of 6.3% Li₂O from spodumene concentrate with an 85% overall lithium recovery (refer to Stria news release dated May 24, 2016 available at http://strialithium.com/ or at www.sedar.com under Stria Lithium Inc.)

About Stria Lithium Inc.

Stria is a Canadian junior mining exploration company with an expanding technology focus and is the sole owner of the Pontax Spodumene Lithium property in Northern Québec. Stria’s mission is to be a reliable, profitable global source for both lithium metal and lithium compound products and process technologies for producing value added lithium products.

Stria’s expanded business focus is on the application of in-house developed technologies and processes that lead to the production and milling of lithium metal and lithium metal foil for advanced lithium batteries. From the production of lithium metal also comes the value added production of: lithium hydroxide; lithium carbonate; lithium fluoride; and lithium chloride.

Lithium is a critical metal in the universal fight against global warming. It is a core component of Lithium-Ion batteries used for powering electric vehicles and for industrial scale energy storage.

Stria is part of the 2GL Platform green energy technology strategy alliance with Grafoid Inc., Focus Graphite Inc. and Braille Battery Inc. Stria Lithium’s mission is to be a reliable, profitable Canadian source for lithium metal products and process technologies for producing value added lithium products.

Qualified Person

Mr. Réjean Girard, P.Geo., President of IOS Services Géoscientifiques Inc. and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects – has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.

Mr. Marc-André Bernier, M.Sc, P.Geo. (Québec and Ontario), TJCM Senior Geoscientist and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the non-technical content of this news release.