Nickel Rock Reports on Significant Developments at Clayton Valley

Albemarle reported it will begin a program to evaluate clays and other available Nevada resources for commercial production of lithium. Albemarle said that beginning in 2021, the company plans to invest $30 million to $50 million to double the current production at the Nevada site by 2025, making full use of its brine water rights. www.albemarle.com/news/albemarle-announces-expansion-of-nevada-site-to-increase-domestic-production-of-lithium.

Additionally, in 2021 Albemarle reported it will commence exploration of clay and evaluate technology that could accelerate the viability of lithium production from clay resources in the region.

"As a leader in the lithium industry, our priority is to optimize our world-class resources and production. This includes Silver Peak, a site uniquely positioned as the only lithium-producing resource in the United States," said Eric Norris, Albemarle President, Lithium. "This investment in domestic capacity shows that we are committed to looking at the many ways in which Silver Peak can provide domestic support for the growing EV market."

The general structure of the producing area in the north part of the Clayton Valley basin is known from geophysical surveys and drilling to be a graben structure with its most down-dropped portion the east-northeast side of the valley (Zampirro, 2004).

A similar graben structure has been identified on the property of Nickel Rock Minerals in the northwest part of the Clayton Valley basin where the Goat Island graben is inferred from gravity inversion (Quantec, 2008; Petrick, 2008). The valley is segmented into a northerly trending, one to km wide subbasin with a distinct escarpment on each side caused by the displacement of a block of land downward. Recent work by other operators indicates that important deposits of lithium-bearing claystone are being found in Clayton Valley and this will be the primary target for the proposed program currently being arranged. Readers are cautioned that the information in this press release regarding the property of Albemarle is not necessarily indicative of the mineralization on the property of interest.

A short distance to the east, Cypress Development owns 100 per cent of the Clayton Valley lithium projects located immediately east of Albemarle's mine. Exploration and development by Cypress have discovered a large world-class resource of lithium-bearing claystone adjacent to the brine field. Here, lithium mineralization occurs within montmorillonite clays throughout the sediments to a depth of at least 150 metres. Metallurgical testing indicates low-cost processing can be achieved by leaching with low acid consumption (125 kg/t) and high lithium recovery over 85 per cent Li.

These high extractions prove that the dominant lithium-bearing minerals present are not hectorite, a refractory clay mineral which requires roasting and/or high acid consumption to liberate the lithium. www.cypressdevelopmentcorp.com 2020-05-19 Clayton pre-feasibility.pdf.

Testing by other companies on their lithium clay properties, including Lithium Americas (Thacker Pass project, Nevada), Bacanora Minerals (Sonora project, Mexico), Ioneer (Rhyolite Ridge project, Nevada) and Cypress Development (Clayton Valley project) have all indicated that economic extraction of the lithium may well be possible in the not-too-distant future.

Qualified Person

Alan Morris is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has approved the technical information contained within this news release.

About Nickel Rock Resources Inc. www.nickelrockresources.com

Nickel Rock Resources Inc. is a Canadian-based mineral exploration company with a highly focused effort on exploration for high value battery metals required for the electric vehicle (EV) market. In addition to our existing Clayton Valley lithium project the Company recently announced several acquisitions resulting in a significant property package prospective for awaruite, a naturally occurring nickel-iron alloy important in the manufacture of environmentally efficient batteries for the electric vehicle markets globally.

Nickel Project

The Mount Sidney Williams Group consists of five claim blocks in four groups with a total area of 6,125.32 hectares in the area surrounding Mount Sidney Williams, both adjoining and in close proximity to the Decar project of FPX Nickel Corp. (TSXV:FPX), located 100 kilometres northwest of Fort St. James, B.C., in the Omineca Mining Division. Metallic mineralization includes nickel, cobalt, and chromium. At least some of the nickel mineralization occurs as awaruite.

The Mitchell Range Group area claim consist of two contiguous claim blocks covering 3,134.70 hectares with demonstrated metallic mineralization including nickel, cobalt, and chromium. Nickel-cobalt mineralization has not been well explored, but the presence of awaruite has been documented. The Company is planning detailed exploration for the upcoming exploration season. The acquisition of the Hard Nickel Group and the Nickel 100 claims are subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.

Lithium Project

The Clayton Valley Project is an early-stage lithium brine prospect in Esmeralda County, Nevada. A total of 77 placer claims covering about 640 ha (1,500 acres) were staked over the western side of the Clayton Valley playa. The property position covers an inferred graben bounded by the Silver Peak range front on the west and Goat Island on the east. The exploration concept infers the graben is a sub-basin of the larger Clayton Valley basin and may represent a secondary trap for both lithium brines and lithium bearing montmorillonite clays within the greater system.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

“Robert Setter”

Robert Setter, President & CEO

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This news release may contain forward-looking statements which include, but are not limited to, comments that involve future events and conditions, which are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Except for statements of historical facts, comments that address resource potential, upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt and security of mineral property titles, availability of funds, and others are forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are not guaranteeing future performance and actual results may vary materially from those statements. General business conditions are factors that could cause actual results to vary materially from forward-looking statements.

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