Macarthur Minerals Update

RNS Number : 6259Z

Rare Earth Minerals PLC

31 May 2016

 

Rare Earth Minerals Plc.

("Rare Earth Minerals", "REM" or "the Company")

Macarthur Minerals Update

Macarthur Minerals Limited ("Macarthur Minerals "), in which REM owns an approximate 15.5% shareholding, has announced that

·      it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with Venturex Resources Limited ("VXR") to enter into a Farm-in and Joint Venture Agreement ("FJVA") for rights to lithium on VXR's Sulphur Springs Project ("Suphur Springs"), in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, which is contiguous with some of the Macarthur Minerals' Exploration Licence Applications.

·      if pegmatite-hosted lithium mineralisation is identified at Sulphur Springs, it will allow for exploration and drilling for lithium to be fast tracked on that acreage, as the majority of the Sulphur Springs acreage comprises granted Mining Leases.

·      assay results from the initial heliborne reconnaissance sampling of pegmatites is encouraging and confirms the presence of moderately to strongly fractionated rare element pegmatites within three of Macarthur Minerals' Exploration Licence Applications. These results are positive, support Macarthur Minerals' exploration targeting model, and justify ongoing assessment of the project tenements.

MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH VENTUREX RESOURCES LIMITED  

Macarthur MineralsThe Company (through its 100% owned subsidiary Macarthur Lithium Pty Ltd) and VXR (through its 100% owned subsidiary Venturex Sulphur Springs Pty Ltd) have entered into a MOU that will serve as a framework for entering into a FJVA for exploring for lithium at Sulphur Springs for further development.

The key terms of the MOU are:

·      Macarthur Minerals and VXR will negotiate and enter into a FJVA for lithium rights on the Sulphur Springs acreage within 3 months.

·      entry into the FJVA is conditional upon Macarthur conducting due diligence within two months to confirm that Sulphur Springs is prospective for lithium.

·      Macarthur Minerals will earn into 51% of the rights for lithium on Sulphur Springs by paying expenditure over a period of time, thereafter the FJVA will be a contributing joint venture 51% Macarthur and 49% VXR.

·      the amount of the Macarthur Minerals' expenditure to earn 51% is to be negotiated following completion of due diligence.

·      Macarthur Minerals will manage the FJVA and will be paid a project management fee upon the forming of a contributing joint venture.

The FJVA is subject to regulatory and TSX-V approval, if required.

The full text of MMS release can be found at:
http://web.tmxmoney.com/article.php?newsid=6124958019526074&qm_symbol=MMS

Qualified Person

Kiran Morzaria B.Eng. (ACSM), MBA, has reviewed and approved the information contained in this announcement. Kiran holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial Geology) from the Camborne School of Mines and an MBA (Finance) from CASS Business School.

For further information, please contact: 

Rare Earth Minerals plc                                                                                      [phone]

Kiran Morzaria

WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Broker)                                                         [phone]

James Joyce

Mark Leonard

Square1 Consulting                                                                                             [phone]

David Bick

Mark Longson                                             

Full Release

MACARTHUR MINERALS FURTHER EXPANDS LITHIUM PROJECTS TO OVER 1,000 SQUARE KILOMETRES

Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX-V: MMS) (the "Company" or "Macarthur Minerals") is pleased to announce that it has made application for an additional exploration licence in the Eastern Pilbara region of Western Australia expanding the size of its exploration licence applications to 1,084 square kilometres.

The Company's applications comprise one of the largest potential tenement packages for 'hard rock' lithium for a junior exploration company. The Company is the only TSX-V listed company to have potential projects for lithium in Australia.

The expansion of the Company's tenement (applications) package is consistent with the Company's focus on exploration of raw materials for the production of lithium-ion batteries.

New Pilbara Tenement

The location of the new Pilbara exploration licence application (E45/4732), which covers an area of 138 square kilometres is shown in Figure 1.

Like the Company's previous applications in the Eastern Pilbara, the new application was selected based on its geological attributes compared with the currently accepted exploration model for Lithium-Caesium- Tantalum (LCT type) rare element pegmatites. The application covers an area of potential pegmatite host rock sequences ('greenstone belts') and is located within 5-10km of interpreted syn- to post-tectonic monzogranite intrusions, which are the expected magmatic fluid source for the pegmatites. The fertile character of the monzogranites1, and potential link to lithium mineralisation, adjacent to and within the new application is highlighted by the numerous occurrences of lithium (Li), tantalum (Ta), tin (Sn), and beryl (Be) associated with these monzogranites.

As indicated in Figure 2, the application contains similar geological settings to the Pilgangoora Li-Ta pegmatite deposits, which host the lithium projects of Australian Securities Exchange listed companies, Pilbara Minerals Limited and Altura Mining Limited.

Tenement (application) Package

The Company now holds 11 exploration licence applications covering a total area of 1,084 square kilometres across the Pilgangoora district, the Eastern Pilbara, and the Mid-West region of Western Australia. Figure 1 shows the location of those applications across the Pilbara, excluding E59/2174, which is located to the south in the Mid-West region.

Owing to the Company's large tenement (application) package, it may seek to joint venture some of its tenements to accelerate the exploration program.

Next Steps

The Company will, with the assistance of CSA Global, initially undertake geological reconnaissance to locate outcropping pegmatites. In areas of outcrop, pegmatites, intrusives, and host rocks, will be mapped to ascertain the mineral assemblages and rockchip sampled to determine key geochemical fractionation trends and lithium contents. Areas with subcropping potential host rock units, with no evidence of surface based pegmatites, will be soil sampled to locate geochemical haloes related to lithium-bearing pegmatites. Target areas under transported cover, will require drilling to sample bedrock and locate pegmatites and/or related geochemical aureoles.

The Company's strategy is to acquire a large tenement package targeting pegmatite host rock sequences across different locations to ensure there is a high probability of discovering pegmatites hosting lithium- bearing mineral spodumene.

CHANGE IN COMPANY SECRETARY

The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Nicola Ingram as Company Secretary effective March 31, 2016.

Nicola has over 6 years' experience working closely with the Board and Management of Macarthur engaged in all aspects of the Company's corporate governance practices, including Australian and Canadian regulatory and exchange requirements. Nicola holds a Bachelor of International Business, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance and is a Chartered Secretary (ACIS and AGIA).

ABOUT CSA GLOBAL

CSA Global is a leading geological, mining and management consulting company whose staff includes geologists, mining engineers, project managers, data management professionals, and technical personnel. CSA Global has been operating from Perth, Western Australia since 1986. It is an independent company, with origins dating back to 1984 as part of the CSA Group founded in Ireland. CSA Global now has offices in the UK, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Vancouver, Darwin, and Brisbane. CSA has a high level of expertise in most mineral commodities gained from over twenty years' experience within the exploration and mining industry at an international level. It has experience in all stages of the mining cycle from project generation to production. For further information regarding CSA Global, please refer to the company website at www.csaglobal.com.

Dr Andrew Scogings MSc, PhD, MAIG, MAusIMM, has more than 30 years of experience in industrial minerals exploration, geology, mining, product development, and marketing. During his time with CSA, he has undertaken project management and technical advice for a diverse range of industrial minerals exploration and mining projects including lithium, graphite, chromite, potash, mineral sands, silica, and REE in Australia, Africa, Greenland, Indonesia and Norway. Andrew is a regular contributor to Industrial Minerals Magazine (UK), SME Mining Engineering (USA) and Geobulletin (RSA) having published several papers on the requirements of JORC 2012 Clause 49, highlighting the need to report industrial minerals resources according to market specifications. Andrew was lead author for Industrial Minerals Research's recently published 'Natural Graphite Report- Strategic outlook to 2020'. He is a member of the AIG and AusIMM and is a Registered Professional Geoscientist (RP Geo.) specializing in industrial minerals.

Mr Ralph Porter MSc, BSc (Geology), MAIG, MSEG is a geologist with over 35 years' of mineral exploration experience. He is highly experienced in target generation, project evaluation and exploration program implementation for gold, base metals, tantalum, nickel and PGM's. He has a strong understanding of many deposit styles with particular strength in orogenic gold, epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold systems. He is credited with the discovery of the Pajingo epithermal gold deposits, North Queensland, Australia and was involved in the early exploration and discovery phases of Thunder Bay North PGM-Ni-Cu deposit, Ontario, Canada. Ralph was Exploration Manager for Sons of Gwalia in Western Australia for nearly 10 years including responsibility for tantalum pegmatites for 4 years. Ralph was Special Projects Manager for Sons of Gwalia in Western Australia for nearly 10 years, including responsibility for tantalum pegmatite evaluation and exploration for 4 years.

QUALIFIED PERSONS

Mr Porter, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of CSA Global Pty Ltd and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr Porter has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Dr Scogings, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist (Industrial Minerals), is a full-time employee of CSA Global Pty Ltd and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr Scogings has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX-V: MMS)

Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration and development company that is focused on identifying lithium and counter cyclical investments that complement Macarthur's capabilities.

¹Monzogranites are leucocratic biotite-bearing granitoids considered the final fractionation product of magma.

 

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