Rare Element Appoints Jaye Pickarts
as Chief Operating Officer to Advance the Bear Lodge Rare-Earths Project
Vancouver
B.C. - Rare Element Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: RES and AMEX: REE) (the
"Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Jaye T. Pickarts, P.E. as Chief
Operating Officer (COO) of the Company. His principal focus will be to lead the
technical team in advancing the Company's Bear Lodge Rare-Earths Project,
located in Wyoming, through the development phase and into production. Mr. Pickarts has provided metallurgical consulting advice to
the Company for the past eight months and has been instrumental in coordinating
the Company's Scoping Study (Preliminary Economic Assessment), which was
completed in November 2010. The Study provides an initial engineering
development model and a preliminary economic analysis that will form the basis
of a Preliminary Feasibility Study to be completed by year-end 2011.
The COO's primary responsibilities will be to coordinate all of the following
activities: mine planning, mineral processing and hydrometallurgical studies,
environmental baseline assessment and permitting studies, other engineering
studies, and completion of the Pre-feasibility Study. Successful completion of
these studies with positive results will allow the project to advance to
Feasibility Study stage and further the project's development.
Mr. Pickarts is a metallurgical engineer with more
than 25 years of project evaluation and operations experience in the metal
mining industry. Prior to his appointment as COO of Rare Element, he was the
Senior Vice President and Director of Knight Pi�sold
and Company in Denver, Colorado for 12 years, where he was responsible for
successfully coordinating the completion of many feasibility studies and
environmental permitting programs in the western United States and
Internationally. Mr. Pickarts also has extensive
experience in the planning, engineering and managing of diverse mining
operations at major companies including Pegasus Gold Corporation, Brewer Gold
Company, Texasgulf Minerals and Metals, Freeport McMoran Gold Company, and Kennecott Copper Corporation. He
holds a B.S. in mineral processing engineering from Montana College of Mineral
Science and Technology, and completed the Business Administration Graduate
Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He is also a registered Professional
Engineer in Colorado and Nevada and is a Qualified Professional (QP).
Commenting on today's announcement, Don Ranta,
President and CEO of Rare Element, said, "The addition of a seasoned
executive of Mr. Pickarts' caliber represents another
step in the advancement of our Bear Lodge project, and represents the Company's
commitment to maximizing shareholder value by striving to become one of the
western hemisphere's only rare-earths producers. Because of the critical
importance of mineral processing and hydrometallurgy to the success of the Bear
Lodge mine, an executive with expertise in these fields was sought after and
chosen. Mr. Pickarts brings a great deal of
experience and leadership to the Company in terms of mine evaluation, mine
management, and project management. We look forward to having Jaye join Rare Element and assemble our development
team."
The Company is moving forward rapidly to evaluate the potential economic
viability of recovering rare-earth elements ("REE") in concentrate or
in individual rare-earth oxides ("REO") from the Bear Lodge
rare-earth resources. Shortages of REE outside of China are occurring at the
same time as demand is growing at nearly 10% per year for these elements in
clean energy technology, high technology, and other applications where the REE
are vital to these new technologies developed for more fuel efficient
("hybrid") automobiles as well as plug-in electric vehicles. Many
hybrid cars use rechargeable nickel-metal-hydride (Ni-M-H) batteries that
contain lanthanum along with electric motors and generators that require
high-strength permanent magnets containing neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium,
and terbium. Europium is used in compact fluorescent and other fluorescent
lighting as phosphors. Substantial quantities of all six of these REE would be
produced by a mine at Bear Lodge, and the six would represent approximately 80%
of the potentially saleable products' value.
Rare Element Resources Ltd (TSX-V: RES & AMEX: REE) is a publicly
traded mineral resource company focused on exploration and development of
rare-earth elements and gold on the Bear Lodge property.
Rare-earth elements are key components of the green energy technologies and
other high-technology applications. Some of the major applications include
hybrid automobiles, plug-in electric automobiles, advanced wind turbines,
computer hard drives, compact fluorescent lights, metal alloys, additives in
ceramics and glass, petroleum cracking catalysts, and a number of critical
military applications. China currently produces more than 95% of the 130,000
metric tonnes of rare-earths consumed annually
worldwide, and China has been reducing its exports of rare earths each year.
The rare-earth market is growing rapidly, and is projected to accelerate if the
green technologies continue to be implemented on a broad scale.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo, President & CEO
For information, refer to the Company's website at www.rareelementresources.com or contact:
Mark T Brown, CFO, (604) 681-4236 mbrown@rareelementresources.com .
Donald E Ranta, (604) 681-4326 don@rareelementresources.com
Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo, serves the
Board of Directors of the Company as an internal, technically Qualified Person.
Technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Dr. Ranta and has been prepared in accordance with Canadian
regulatory requirements that are set out in National Instrument 43-101. This
news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility
for content. Neither 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.