Rare Element's Bear Lodge exploration advances rapidly
- 42 drill holes totaling 9,445
meters targeting rare earths completed.
- 13 reverse circulation drill
holes totaling 1,899 meters targeting gold completed.
- Assays will be announced
starting in October, 2011.
- 610
meters of trenching completed.
- CSAMT
geophysical survey completed.
Lakewood, Colorado - Rare Element
Resources Ltd. (TSX: RES and NYSE-AMEX: REE) (the "Company") is pleased to provide a progress
update on exploration activities at the Bear Lodge Rare Earth project and the
Sundance Gold Project, both located in the Bear Lodge Mountains near Sundance,
Wyoming. Exploration activities at the Bear Lodge rare earth element (REE) and
Sundance gold projects include core and reverse circulation drilling,
trenching, geological mapping and surface sampling, and a detailed geophysical
survey. Exploration work at the project site is expected to continue through
November 2011.
Rare Element's recent discoveries of rare earth mineralization in new areas
peripheral to, and west of, the Bull Hill deposit show some overlap with areas
of known gold mineralization. A fourth core drill rig was added to accelerate
exploration in the outlying areas. Currently three core rigs are conducting
dedicated REE exploration and resource definition, while the fourth will
conduct gold, REE, and geotechnical drilling. A reverse circulation (RC) drill
rig continues to drill gold targets and may be transferred to the REE
exploration program to collect bulk samples for metallurgical testing.
Jim Clark, Vice President of Exploration states, "We are extremely pleased
at the progress made to date on the exploration program. We are adding to the
Bull Hill resource, expanding and defining the Whitetail Ridge resource, and
defining the nature and extent of heavy REE-enriched mineralization at
Whitetail Ridge and the East Taylor target. We are tremendously appreciative of
the hard work and dedication of our outstanding and dedicated professional and
technical staff." Progress on the 2011 exploration programs for REE and
gold is summarized below.
DRILLING SUMMARY
Bear Lodge rare earth drilling
As of 19 September the Company has drilled 42 core
holes for a total of 30,980.5 feet (9,445m). The
drilling was distributed as follows:
Bull Hill Resource Area/Bull Hill West target area
|
23
drill holes/18,339 feet (5,591m)
|
Whitetail Ridge
|
12
drill holes/10,032 feet (3,059m)
|
East
Taylor
|
7 drill holes/2,607.5 feet
(795m)
|
The focus of the drilling in the Bull Hill Resource Area and Bull Hill West
target area is the upgrade and expansion of the greater Bull Hill REE resource.
The objective of the drilling at the Whitetail Ridge Resource Area is the
definition and expansion of the current resource. Geological mapping and
complementary geophysical and geochemical surveys all indicate that the
Whitetail Ridge Resource Area has excellent potential for significant
expansion.
Drilling at the East Taylor target area was undertaken to follow up on
intercepts of high-grade REE mineralization identified in one of the Company's
2010 gold exploration holes (SUN-090; see news release dated 4 August 2011). RC
holes drilled in 2010 at East Taylor (SUN-090) and Carbon (SUN-076 and SUN-079)
and the Whitetail Ridge REE resource are notable in that they contain elevated
abundances of heavy REE that are enriched significantly over the Bull Hill
deposit REE distribution.
Bear Lodge Rare Earth drilling -- Areas with significant HREE enrichment
and receipt of additional assay data
Three areas in the western half of the Bear Lodge REE district contain elevated
abundances of heavy REE (Figure 2; Table 1), as announced on August 4, 2011.
These areas are the Whitetail Ridge Resource Area and the Carbon and East
Taylor targets. Seven additional drill holes were completed at the East Taylor
target since August 4 for a total of 2,609.5 feet (796m) in order to confirm
REE grade and distribution reported from reverse circulation drill hole
SUN-090. Drill hole SUN-090 was drilled during the Company's 2010 gold
exploration program, and the included mineralized FMR (FeOx-MnOx-REE) vein material was recognized during detailed
logging of the drill chips. Two other historical drill holes with FMR
mineralization and surface geology help to demonstrate mineralization
continuity along an approximate east-west trend. Assays are pending. Drill
testing of the Carbon REE target is planned for late October.
The quantitative REE assay results reported for drill hole SUN-090 in the 4
August news release were for depth intervals from 45-100 feet (55 feet @ 3.38%
TREO) and 105-160 feet (55 feet @ 7.84% TREO). The assay from the depth
interval 100-105 feet had not been received at that time. The assay results are
now complete, and the entire interval from 45 -- 160 feet assays 5.94% TREO.
The recalculated assay interval with the new data for individual REO is
reported in Table 1.
Table 1.
Comparison of REO grades at Bull Hill, Whitetail Ridge, East Taylor, and Carbon
AREA
|
Bull Hill
|
Whitetail
Ridge
|
East Taylor
|
Carbon
|
Resource Category
Rare Earth Oxide
|
Indicated
|
Inferred
|
Exploration/SUN090,
45 -160' (115 feet)
|
Exploration/SUN079,
15-45' (30 feet)
|
La2O3
|
1.08
|
0.81
|
1.30
|
0.96
|
Ce2O3
|
1.64
|
1.19
|
2.46
|
1.89
|
Pr2O3
|
0.186
|
0.158
|
0.28
|
0.23
|
Nd2O3
|
0.65
|
0.64
|
0.95
|
0.91
|
Sm2O3
|
0.099
|
0.142
|
0.20
|
0.165
|
Eu2O3
|
0.021
|
0.042
|
0.060
|
0.040
|
Gd2O3
|
0.048
|
0.103
|
0.185
|
0.097
|
Tb2O3
|
0.0037
|
0.0115
|
0.027
|
0.013
|
Dy2O3
|
0.0104
|
0.0361
|
0.096
|
0.062
|
Y2O3
|
0.032
|
0.087
|
0.329
|
0.283
|
? Eu+Tb+Dy
|
0.0351
|
0.090
|
0.183
|
0.115
|
? Nd+Pr+Eu+Tb+Dy
|
0.871
|
0.888
|
1.413
|
1.255
|
Grade (%REO)
|
3.77
|
3.24
|
5.94
|
4.69
|
Metric Tonnes
|
4.45
|
1.5
|
------
|
------
|
Dr. Anthony N. Mariano is currently conducting mineralogical studies on
mineralized FMR material from the East Taylor and Carbon target areas.
Figure 1. 2011 REE drill hole locations
Figure 2. Bear Lodge REE district. The Whitetail Ridge resource area and the
East Taylor and
Carbon target areas are characterized by enrichments in HREE relative to REE
abundances at the
Bull Hill resource area.
Reverse circulation drilling -- State lease section (Section 16)
Rare Element completed eleven reverse circulation drill holes for a total of
6,165 feet in its Wyoming State lease section (Section 16) since drilling began
on June 25. The drilling tested several structural, geophysical, and low-level
gold geochemical anomalies. Assays are pending. The area is under consideration
for a potential storage facilities for the proposed Bull Hill rare earth mine.
The drilling, along with a series of geotechnical test pits, represents initial
efforts to determine the potential for economic concentrations of gold and REE.
Thus far, geological mapping and surface sampling present little evidence for
underlying economic gold and REE deposits in Section 16.
Sundance Gold Project drilling
Thirteen reverse circulation drill holes totaling 6,230 feet (1,899m) were
completed on the Sundance project gold drilling program as of 19 September
2011. Eleven holes (4,910 feet/1,497m) were drilled on the Taylor Resource
Area, and two holes(1,320 feet/402m) were drilled at the Smith Resource area.
Drilling is continuing at the Smith Resource Area. Geological mapping and
sampling of gold-anomalous areas are being carried out in support of the
drilling and in order to identify new drill target areas.
Expected assay results
Rare Element anticipates release of the first batches of REE and gold assay
results in October 2011.
TRENCHING SUMMARY
Two sets of trenches, totaling approximately 2,000 feet (610m) were developed
across the Bull Hill REE deposit (Figure 1). The trenches were constructed in
order to expose bedrock and obtain detailed structural information that will
aid in understanding the structural controls of the REE-mineralized bodies. Dr.
William Rehrig, a well-known consulting structural
geologist, was retained to map the trenches and interpret both detailed and
district structural data. These data and interpretations will be incorporated
into a predictive model of REE mineralization for the deposit and district, and
will help guide district exploration and drilling.
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
A CSAMT (Controlled Source Audio Magneto Tellurics)
survey was conducted along seven easterly-trending lines (13.6km; Figure 3).
The survey covered the area from south of the Bull Hill diatreme
to the northern margin of the Carbon diatreme. The
objective of the survey is to identify structures that may control REE and/or
gold mineralization. The data are in the process of interpretation and
incorporation into the REE and gold exploration models.
Figure 3. Location of CSAMT survey lines.
Rare Element Resources Ltd (TSX: RES & NYSE-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