Raw petrographic microscopy photos and XRD data used in assessing the mineralogy of the Li-b enriched stratiform ore zone in the Cave Spring Formation, Rhyolite Ridge, NV, USA

The Rhyolite Ridge Project in the Silver Peak Range contains lithium and boron mineralization hosted by late Miocene-early Pliocene strata-bound sediments in an intermontane valley. The ioneer USA Corporation is developing this project and is the industry-sponsor for this research along with the USGS and CREG. A lacustrine section called Cave Spring Formation, measuring up to 1,500 feet thick, hosts the sediments of interest. The unit with economic potential is the middle unit, a 60-foot interval called the Searlesite layer that is mineralized with both lithium clays and boron and is the targeted ore zone and the focus of this research. The younger, marl-rich member of this unit, the Li-Marl layer, shows no searlesite but has higher concentrations of lithium, hosted in smectite-rich interbeds.
This research characterizes the lithium and boron mineralization and examines whether diagenesis of tuffaceous sediments (including precipitation of zeolites and searlesite) enhances Li concentrat..., Section 5.7 - Petrographic Microscopy
One hundred seventeen polished thin sections have been prepared using the Wagner Petrographic thin section service in Lindon, UT. Twenty-five of these thin sections were prepared from the 17 Crux Samples and are the focus of microscopy analysis. Fifteen of the non-Crux Sample thin sections were used to select samples for Ar-Ar geochronology, as described in section 5.9. Petrographic microscopy allowed for textural analysis of bedding, depositional features, position of zeolites relative to clays and glass, correlations between phases and sanidine freshness evaluation. It also refined target areas for Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) work. The ore zone is extremely fine-grained and optical microscopy is not powerful enough to characterize the relationships between minerals. Refining target areas by use of optical microscopy focused and expedited observations in preparation for SEM analysis.
Section 5.5 - X-Ray Diffraction (XRD)
X-ray diffraction (X..., , # Raw petrographic microscopy photos and XRD data used in assessing the mineralogy of the Li-b enriched stratiform ore zone in the Cave Spring Formation, Rhyolite Ridge, NV, USA

## Description of Appendix III Raw Data

See Appendix III for interpreted images. This is the repository for high-resolution original photos that remain uninterpreted.

### Description of the data and file structure

Each folder, labeled by sample number, contains all images from a given sample.

Each image is labeled with: Figure number (correlated to its image in the text), Sample number, Location letter, power of magnification, PPL (plane-polarized light) or XPL (cross-polarized light), and, if applicable, \"rotated\" (representing 45 degree rotation to show variability of extinction phases).

Example file name: Figure III-2.3 DCC-062, locA, 20x, XPL, rotated

## Description of Appendix VI - XRD Raw Data

Grain mounts were constructed for topographic imaging using XRD.

### Description of the data and file s...