Rare Element Resources Ltd. (NYSE: REE and TSX: RES), a mineral resources company advancing development of the Bear Lodge Critical Rare Earth Project is pleased to announce commencement of the 2013 development drilling program at the heavy rare earth oxide (HREO)-enriched Whitetail Ridge resource area.
June 13, 2013 - Lakewood, Colorado - Rare Element Resources Ltd. (NYSE: REE and TSX: RES), a mineral resources company advancing development of the Bear Lodge Critical Rare Earth Project is pleased to announce commencement of the 2013 development drilling program at the heavy rare earth oxide (HREO)-enriched Whitetail Ridge resource area.
"This year's drilling program is smaller and more focused than in previous years," stated Dr. James Clark, Vice President of Exploration. "Our understanding of the geology at Bear Lodge has grown significantly over the last two years, driving the growth we have seen in the resource. To maximize the return on our drilling investment, we will focus on Whitetail Ridge, where we have the potential to add more than one million tons of HREO-enriched material to the Bear Lodge resource with 10,000 feet of drilling. By adding resource with higher HREO content, including key critical rare earths, there is an opportunity to have a positive impact on the economics of the Project. Several of the HREOs are higher-valued elements that we expect to experience better demand growth and price support over the longer term."
Two drill rigs have commenced drilling at Whitetail Ridge with the goal of:
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Upgrading a significant block of the current Inferred resource to the Measured and Indicated (M&I) classification in order to define a mineable pit for inclusion in the Feasibility Study, scheduled to commence later this year; and
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Expanding the block of high-grade resource identified within the Whitetail Ridge deposit, currently 0.51 million tons (0.46 million tonnes) grading 4.1% of total rare earth oxides (TREO) at a 3.0% TREO cutoff grade.
The Whitetail Ridge resource area currently contains an Indicated resource of 2.25 million tons (2.0 million tonnes) at a grade of 2.61% TREO and an Inferred resource of 8.0 million tons (7.3 million tonnes) grading 2.82% TREO, both at a cutoff grade of 1.5% TREO. The Indicated resource has a distribution that contains 7.6% HREO, compared with 3.6% HREO in the M&I resource at the adjacent Bull Hill deposit. HREO include Europium (Eu), Terbium (Tb), Dysprosium (Dy), and Yttrium (Y), which are also considered critical rare earths as defined by the US Department of Energy, as well as Gadolinium (Gd), Holmium (Ho), Erbium (Er), Thulium (Tm), Ytterbium (Yb) and Lutetium (Lu).
Geological activities, in addition to the 10,000 feet (3,050 meters) drilling program, will include geological mapping and soil and rock chip geochemical surveys.
Rare Element Resources Ltd. is a publicly traded mineral resource company focused on exploration and development of rare-earth element deposits, specifically those with significant distribution of critical rare earths. The Company is advancing development of the Bear Lodge Project, located in northeast Wyoming. Bear Lodge is a significant mineralized district containing many of the less common, more valuable critical rare earths that are essential for electronics, fiber optics, laser systems for health and defense, as well as many evolving green technologies, like hybrid cars, solar panels and wind turbines. Permitting and feasibility work on the Project is currently underway.
For additional information, please contact Robbin Lee at 720-278-2462 or rlee@rareelementresources.com.
John T. Ray, M.S., Registered SME Member, acts on behalf of the Board of Directors of the Company as an internal, technically Qualified Person. Technical information in this news release was reviewed by Mr. Ray and 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.
Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of securities legislation in the United States and Canada. Except for statements of historical fact, certain information contained herein constitutes forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are usually identified by our use of certain terminology, including "will", "believes", "may", "expects", "should", "seeks", "anticipates", "plans", "has potential to", or "intends" or by discussions of strategy or intentions. Such forward looking statements include statements regarding the drilling program anticipated results, permitting process and progress and project development plans for the future. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our actual results or achievements to be materially different from any future results or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, but are not limited to, the progress of our Bear Lodge Project, fluctuations in demand for, and price of, rare earth products; success of process technology under testing; results from geological evaluations and programs, timing of and unexpected events at the Bear Lodge property; delay or failure to receive government approvals and permits; changes in U.S. and Canadian securities markets; and general economic conditions. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting the Company will be those anticipated by management. Please refer to the discussion of these and other factors in our Transition Report on Form 10-K for the six months ended December 31, 2012. We expect that the above estimates as to development plans, technology and other processes, time frames and financial needs will change as new information is received and that actual results will vary from these estimates, possibly by material amounts. While we may elect to update these estimates at any time, we do not undertake to update any estimate at any particular time or in response to any particular event. Investors and others should not assume that any forecasts in this press release represent management's estimate as of any date other than the date of this press release.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors: The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms in this press release, such as "measured," "indicated," "inferred", and "resources" that are recognized by Canadian regulations, but that SEC guidelines generally prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our most recent Transition Report on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q which may be obtained from us, or from the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.