Sonora Lithium Project Update

RNS Number : 3976I

Rare Earth Minerals PLC

25 March 2015

 

25 March 2015

Rare Earth Minerals Plc.

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

Sonora Lithium Project Update

Rare Earth Minerals Plc (AIM: REM) is pleased to announce the initial results from the successful drilling campaign on La Ventana, and the intersection of a new lithium target on  El Sauz / Fleur.

The programme on La Ventana was primarily in-fill drilling which will be utilised to increase confidence in the current mineral resources. In addition a hole drilled to identify possible resource expansion targets to the west of the current delineated ore bodies on Ventana and El Sauz / Fleur, successfully intersected at shallow depth two clay beds of 7.8 metres and 38.7 metres respectively.

Good progress is also being made on the process design work, in particular Hatch Pty Ltd, along with other key consultants have been working with Bacanora Minerals Ltd ("Bacanora") to work on plant design, process optimisation and equipment sizing for commercial scale plant and equipment.

The full Bacanora news release is available at http://www.bacanoraminerals.com/

David Lenigas, The Company's Chairman, commented;

"The intersection of what appears to be a repeat structure to the immediate west of the already defined 3.28 million tonnes of indicated mineral resource, is further excellent news for the possible expansion of the mineral resource at Sonora Lithium Project."

"This progress along with the advancement of the design of a commercial lithium compound production plant should mean that not only should we see increasing certainty around the potential production of lithium compounds from the Sonora Project, but also an expanding resource to meet the forecasted demand curve in the coming years."

Exploration and Resource Development:

La Ventana concession:

·     2,100 metres have been drilled in 14 in-fill holes on La Ventana, a further nine holes remain to be drilled in the ongoing programme.

·     Intercepts of the Upper Clay range from 26.1 to 50.8 metres in length and those for the Lower Clay range from 12.98 to 22.5 metres on La Ventana.

·     Analyses received for the first three holes indicate that weighted averages for lithium content in the Upper Clay Unit varies from 955 ppm over 41.6 metres (hole LV-19) to 2,264 ppm Li over 7.75 metres (hole LV-21); for the Lower Clay Unit lithium content varies from 1,618 ppm over 23.84 metres to 2,649 ppm over 12.80 metres. Individual 1.5 metre long samples of clay range up to 5,130 ppm Li.

El Sauz and Fleur concessions:

·     Drill hole ES-42, a hole that was sited to target further possible expansion in mineral resources, intersected 7.8 metres of the Upper Clay Unit at a depth of 16 metres below surface and 23.0 metres of the Lower Clay Unit at 38.7 metres below the surface.

·     The intercepts from hole ES-42, represents an additional mineral resource target area, which is intended to be pursued through further drilling.

·     The proximity of this new discovery to the current mineral resource on La Ventana and El Sauz and Fleur, may allow it to be included as part of the mine planning and mine design work currently being carried out.

Lithium Plant and Process Design Work:

·     Hatch Pty Ltd. ("Hatch"), Bacanora' s engineering consultant, have completed their initial work and provided Bacanora with several optimisation and process engineering recommendations for the production of Lithium Carbonate and Lithium Hydroxide.

·     Process Engineering, LLC, of Tucson, Arizona, in association with Ernest Burga, a lithium process engineer, is continuing work on plant design, scale-up and process certification;

·     Sonora Resources, LLC, of Yuma, Arizona, a private engineering consultancy, has been contracted to provide the pre-feasibility study for the proposed lithium mining and lithium carbonate production facility;

·     Ore-to-product metallurgical test work continues on one tonne bulk ore samples taken from surface exposures on the Sonora Lithium Project.  This test work is part of the optimization work on lithium carbonate recovery and is required to provide design criteria for full size plant and equipment.  Process optimisation studies at the Company's pilot plant in Hermosillo have been aided by the addition of a gas-fired rotary calcining unit for roasting lithium-bearing samples as well as resin columns in the lithium carbonate recovery circuit.

Details of REM's ownership:

REM owns 15.02% of Bacanora. This interest, when aggregated with REM's 30% direct interest in Megalit S.A de CV (the company holding the Buenavista, Megalit and San Gabriel concessions) and the 30% direct interest in Mexalit S.A de CV (the company holding El Sauz, El Sauz 1, El Sauz 2, Fleur and Fleur 1 concessions), results in a total economic interest in each of these companies of 40.51%.

- Ends -

For further information please contact: 

Rare Earth Minerals plc                                                                   [phone]

David Lenigas

Kiran Morzaria

WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Broker)                                        [phone]

James Joyce

Mark Leonard

Square1 Consulting                                                                         [phone]

David Bick

Mark Longson                                                            

 

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