Update - Yangibana Rare Earths Element Project

RNS Number : 3437Z

Rare Earth Minerals PLC

10 December 2014

 

10 December 2014

Rare Earth Minerals Plc.

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

 Update - Yangibana Rare Earths Element Project.

Diamond Drilling Results

Rare Earth Minerals (AIM: REM) advises that Hastings Rare Metals Limited ("Hastings"), REM's 70% joint venture partner in the Yangibana Rare Earths Element ("REE") joint venture ("Yangibana") in Western Australia, has received the final reverse circulation drilling and all diamond drilling assay results from its Stage 2 Drilling Programme at Yangibana.

The Programme has confirmed the potential of the Yangibana Project to host an economically viable rare earths operation. The results reported in this announcement would further enhance the JORC Resource Estimations of 6.79 million tonnes at 1.52% TREO that were previously announced.

The full Hastings news release (with maps) dated 10 December 2014 is available at: http://www.hastingsraremetals.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/HAS-20141210-Diamond-Drilling.pdf

HIGHLIGHTS (from the Hastings news release)

·      Infill diamond drilled core samples at Yangibana North confirm and exceed previous reverse circulation intersections.

·      Best intersections: 

o  4.3m at 2.1% total rare earths oxides (TREO) with 0.82% neodymium oxide equivalent (Nd₂O₃-Eq)

o  7.4m at 1.8% TREO with 0.68% Nd₂O₃-Eq

·      Deeper diamond holes confirm continuity of excellent grade rare earths mineralisation at depth at Yangibana North.

·      Best intersections: 

o  5.5m at 4.3% TREO with 1.64% Nd₂O₃-Eq

o  2.7m at 2.6% TREO with 1.41% Nd₂O₃-Eq

·      Higher grade mineralisation associated with a magnetite-rich carbonatite identified at Yangibana North and Lion's Ear, expanding long-term exploration targets at all prospects.

David Lenigas, The Company's Chairman, comment;

"Drilling Results at Yangibana have continued to exceed our original expectations, for this investment and confirm the significance and potential value of this strategic investment for REM."

Details of Ownership:

On the 1 December 2011 REM announced that it had acquired a 30% free carried interest to Bankable Feasibility Study ("BFS") of the Yangibana North Rare Earth Deposit. Therefore the exploration costs until the commencement of the BFS are borne solely by Hastings Rare Metals Limited (70% owners and operator).The same terms agreed and announced on 1 December 2012 also apply to five out of the seven additional targets to be drilled which includes Lion's Ear, Hook, Gossan, Kane's Gossan, and Yangibana South.

Glossary:

TREO is the sum of the oxides of the heavy rare earth elements (HREO) and the light rare earth elements (LREO).

HREO is the sum of the oxides of the heavy rare earth elements europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu), and yttrium (Y).

CREO is the sum of the oxides of neodymium (Nd), europium (Eu), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), and yttrium (Y) that were classified by the US Department of Energy in 2011 to be in critical short supply in the foreseeable future.

LREO is the sum of the oxides of the light rare earth elements lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), and samarium (Sm).

Metal equivalent calculation Hastings has applied the same metallurgical recoveries to praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy), and europium (Eu) as for neodymium, based on preliminary metallurgical studies of the ore, which indicate a metallurgical recovery in the order of 76.5% of the metal oxide for the four rare earths oxides of economic interest. This recovery has been applied to the geological block model fields for each element and the grade of each metal in the individual blocks multiplied by the assumed metal price, which is based on the 23 October 2014 spot prices for these oxides (Table 1).

The metal equivalent block model was optimised by Snowden in its preliminary economic evaluation.

Metal oxide	Assumed commodity price (US$/kg)	Indicative metallurgical Recovery
Nd2O3	59.50	76.5%
Pr2O3	119.50	76.5%
Dy2O3	340.00	76.5%
Eu2O3	725.00	76.5%

Table 1 - Yangibana Scoping Study - Basis of Neodymium-Equivalents (Nd2O3-Eq)

Since metallurgical recoveries are the same for all targets, the calculation of neodymium equivalent (Nd2O3-Eq) grade is therefore:- Nd2O3-Eq grade = (((Nd2O3 grade +((Pr2O3 grade*(Pr2O3 price/ Nd2O3 price))+ ((Dy2O3grade*(Dy2O3 price/ Nd2O3 price))+ ((Eu2O3 grade*(Eu2O3 price/ Nd2O3 price)))

- Ends -

For further information please contact: 

Rare Earth Minerals plc                                                                   [phone]

David Lenigas

Kiran Morzaria

WH Ireland Limited (NOMAD & Joint Broker)                               [phone]

James Joyce

Mark Leonard

Hume Capital plc (Joint Broker)                                                     [phone]

Guy Peters

Jon Belliss

Square1 Consulting

David Bick, Mark Longson                                                                  [phone]

 

END

 

 

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