Search Minerals Announces New Higher Grade Cree Mineralized Zone at Fox Meadow
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 14, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Search Minerals Inc. (“Search” or the “Company”) (TSXV: SMY) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alterra Resources Inc. (“Alterra”) are pleased to announce channel sample results from its FOX MEADOW Critical Rare Earth Element (CREE) property in SE Labrador. Assays from 2 channels (FMC-18-01 & FMC-18-02) show significant CREE mineralization in a newly discovered mineralized zone. This CREE mineralization is similar to that at the DEEP FOX and FOXTROT properties.
HIGHLIGHTS OF FOX MEADOW 2018 CHANNEL PROGRAM
- FOX MEADOW exhibits higher mineralization of at least 11m to 32m true width over 100m strike length;
- Channel assay highlights (all true widths):
- FMC-18-01: 314 ppm Dy, 1397 ppm Nd, 340 ppm Pr, 1088 ppm La over 4.43m;
- FMC-18-01/FMC-16-03: 225 ppm Dy, 1129 ppm Nd, 281 ppm Pr, 899 ppm La over 7.30m;
- FMC-18-02: 261 ppm Dy, 1164 ppm Nd, 283 ppm Pr, 883 ppm La over 10.14m;
- FOX MEADOW CREE mineralization similar to DEEP FOX and FOXTROT; third potential CREE deposit in the Port Hope Simpson CREE District of SE Labrador.
Greg Andrews, President/CEO states: “These results are very encouraging and support the vision of multiple deposits of High Grade CREE’s in the Port Hope Simpson District. FOX MEADOW will be advanced through further exploration work. Dr. Randy Miller and his team, will continue their thorough channel sampling program on this prospect, which will help define the surface expression for future drilling opportunities. In addition, we are currently preparing the data from our successful 5000m drill program at the DEEP FOX deposit which will allow preparation of a mineral resource estimate on the DEEP FOX property and a new Preliminary Economic Assessment for the mining and processing of DEEP FOX and FOXTROT as a source feed.”
The 2018 channelling program at FOX MEADOW consisted of extending previous channels, with mineralization, to the north and south into treed areas with significant overburden; a mini-excavator with a backhoe-like bucket was used to expose bedrock. Near surface bedrock and outcrop channelled in FMC-16-03 and FMC-16-04 showed medium grade CREE mineralization, similar to FOXTROT mineralization, at the southern ends of both channels (See Search Minerals news release, Nov. 3rd, 2016). The 2016 channels sampled the northern band of mineralization that is separated from the southern band of mineralization by about 100m of treed area. The 2018 channelling program was designed to mostly sample the overburden-covered area between the two mineralized bands.
Assay results for high-grade mineralized zones at the southern end of both 2018 channels are listed in Table 1 and Table 2. Channel FMC-18-01 contains two high-grade zones at 46.72-51.15m and 52.88-64.63m. Including the medium-grade and high-grade zones and averaging in several intervening small non-mineralized areas gives a 31.93m mineralized zone; assay listed in Table 1. Mineralization ends at 64.63m in FMC-18-01; it is unknown if mineralization occurs in the treed overburden-covered area south of the end of FMC-18-01.
Channel FMC-18-02 contains a medium-grade zone and high-grade zone at 38.65-49.60 (end of channel). Table 2 lists the assay for a 18.24m contiguous zone from 31.36 to 49.60 that gives a medium-high average; this zone is open to the south under overburden.
Channel FMC-18-01 and FMC-18-02 are about 100m apart. The channelling program for 2019 is planned to expose bedrock for channelling between the high-grade zones of FMC-18-01/FMC/18-02 and to expand this zone to the east and west with additional channels. Both FMC-18-01 and FMC-18-01 also need to be further extended into the treed overburden cover area to the south to explore for additional medium- and high-grade mineralized zones; this will eventually provide channel samples from both the northerly and southerly mineralized zones in a single channel.
In contrast to both DEEP FOX and FOXTROT, the higher-grade mineralization at FOX MEADOW is buried under treed overburden covered areas. The strike length and width of the higher-grade mineralized zone is currently unknown. Additional mini-excavator trenching will be required to expose bedrock for channel sampling.
The FOX MEADOW prospect occurs about 11 km west of Port Hope Simpson and 1 km from a gravel-covered, three season forest access road. Port Hope Simpson is about 40 km northwest of FOXTROT and 50 km from DEEP FOX on paved and all-season gravelled roads.
TABLE 1 HIGHLIGHTS OF REE & OTHER SELECTED ELEMENTS FROM FOX MEADOW CHANNELS (FMC-18-01/16-03)
| FOX MEADOW – CHANNEL FMC 18-01 (16-03) | |||||||||
| 18-01/16-03 | FMC-18-01 | FMC-18-01 | 18-01/16-03 | ||||||
| From (m) To (m) True Width (m) | 32.70 45.49 12.79 | 46.72 51.15 4.43 | 52.88 64.63 11.75 | 32.70 64.63 31.93 | |||||
| Y (ppm) | 932 | 1,399 | 1,064 | 977 | |||||
| Zr (ppm) | 12,949 | 18,187 | 14,666 | 13,338 | |||||
| Nb (ppm) | 266 | 638 | 313 | 280 | |||||
| La (ppm) | 1,004 | 1,088 | 902 | 899 | |||||
| Ce (ppm) | 2,460 | 2,661 | 2,188 | 2,194 | |||||
| Pr (ppm) | 316 | 340 | 279 | 281 | |||||
| Nd (ppm) | 1,245 | 1,397 | 1,136 | 1,129 | |||||
| Sm (ppm) | 259 | 315 | 252 | 245 | |||||
| Eu (ppm) | 13.2 | 16.5 | 13.2 | 12.8 | |||||
| Gd (ppm) | 209 | 270 | 212 | 203 | |||||
| Tb (ppm) | 36.0 | 50.0 | 39.0 | 36.4 | |||||
| Dy (ppm) | 218 | 314 | 245 | 225 | |||||
| Ho (ppm) | 41.1 | 63.4 | 48.6 | 44.0 | |||||
| Er (ppm) | 117 | 187 | 143 | 128 | |||||
| Tm (ppm) | 16.3 | 27.2 | 20.9 | 18.4 | |||||
| Yb (ppm) | 102 | 172 | 133 | 116 | |||||
| Lu (ppm) | 15.1 | 25.7 | 20.2 | 17.4 | |||||
| LREE (ppm) | 5,283 | 5,800 | 4,756 | 4,746 | |||||
| HREE (ppm) | 767 | 1,125 | 874 | 800 | |||||
| HREE+Y (ppm) | 1,699 | 2,524 | 1,938 | 1,777 | |||||
| TREE (ppm) | 6,050 | 6,925 | 5,630 | 5,546 | |||||
| TREE +Y (ppm) | 6,982 | 8,324 | 6,694 | 6,523 | |||||
| %TREE | 0.60 | % | 0.69 | % | 0.56 | % | 0.55 | % | |
| %TREE+Y | 0.70 | % | 0.83 | % | 0.67 | % | 0.65 | % | |
| %HREE | 12.68 | % | 16.24 | % | 15.53 | % | 14.42 | % | |
| %HREE +Y | 24.34 | % | 30.32 | % | 28.96 | % | 27.24 | % | |
| Note; REE TREE LREE HREE Y %HREE+Y %HREE | All elements parts per million (ppm), 10,000 ppm = 1% = 10kg/tonne Rare Earth Elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (Lanthanide Series). Total Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu Light Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm. Heavy Rare Earth Elements: Add Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. Y not included in HREE due to relatively low value compared to most Lanthanide series HREE. %(HREE+Y)/(TREE+Y) %( HREE/ TREE) | ||||||||
TABLE 2 HIGHLIGHTS OF REE & OTHER SELECTED ELEMENTS FROM FOX MEADOW CHANNELS (FMC-18-02/16-04)
| FOX MEADOW PROPERTY | |||||||||
| 18-02/16-04 | 18-02/16-04 | FMC-18-02 | 18-02/16-04 | ||||||
| From (m) To (m) True Width (m) | 31.36 38.41 7.05 | 38.65 49.60 10.95 | 42.81 49.60 6.79 | 31.36 49.60 18.24 | |||||
| Y (ppm) | 742 | 1,056 | 1,130 | 917 | |||||
| Zr (ppm) | 11,918 | 15,956 | 14,991 | 14,022 | |||||
| Nb (ppm) | 322 | 279 | 284 | 288 | |||||
| La (ppm) | 932 | 883 | 883 | 882 | |||||
| Ce (ppm) | 2,186 | 2,158 | 2,207 | 2,124 | |||||
| Pr (ppm) | 294 | 283 | 283 | 281 | |||||
| Nd (ppm) | 1,101 | 1,143 | 1,164 | 1,104 | |||||
| Sm (ppm) | 219 | 250 | 262 | 234 | |||||
| Eu (ppm) | 11.5 | 13.0 | 13.6 | 12.2 | |||||
| Gd (ppm) | 179 | 219 | 227 | 199 | |||||
| Tb (ppm) | 29.3 | 39.4 | 41.4 | 34.8 | |||||
| Dy (ppm) | 174 | 247 | 261 | 214 | |||||
| Ho (ppm) | 33.4 | 49.8 | 52.3 | 42.5 | |||||
| Er (ppm) | 93.8 | 145 | 153 | 123 | |||||
| Tm (ppm) | 13.1 | 21.0 | 22.1 | 17.5 | |||||
| Yb (ppm) | 85.1 | 133.8 | 139 | 112 | |||||
| Lu (ppm) | 12.7 | 19.9 | 20.6 | 16.7 | |||||
| LREE (ppm) | 4,731 | 4,717 | 4,798 | 4,624 | |||||
| HREE (ppm) | 631 | 888 | 930 | 772 | |||||
| HREE+Y (ppm) | 1,374 | 1,944 | 2,059 | 1,689 | |||||
| TREE (ppm) | 5,363 | 5,605 | 5,728 | 5,396 | |||||
| TREE +Y (ppm) | 6,105 | 6,661 | 6,858 | 6,313 | |||||
| %TREE | 0.54 | % | 0.56 | % | 0.57 | % | 0.54 | % | |
| %TREE+Y | 0.61 | % | 0.67 | % | 0.69 | % | 0.63 | % | |
| %HREE | 11.77 | % | 15.84 | % | 16.24 | % | 14.31 | % | |
| %HREE +Y | 22.50 | % | 29.18 | % | 30.03 | % | 26.75 | % | |
| Note; REE TREE LREE HREE Y %HREE+Y %HREE | All elements parts per million (ppm), 10,000 ppm = 1% = 10kg/tonne Rare Earth Elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (Lanthanide Series). Total Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu Light Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm. Heavy Rare Earth Elements: Add Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. Y not included in HREE due to relatively low value compared to most Lanthanide series HREE. %(HREE+Y)/(TREE+Y) %( HREE/ TREE) | ||||||||
Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC):
Channel samples, 10cm deep and 8cm wide, are cut by gas-powered diamond saw from cleaned outcrops to provide samples for assay and logging/reference. Each channel is cut into two vertical sections, similar to drill core, with a 6 cm thick section (weathering removed) being sent out for assay to Activation Laboratories Ltd. A 2 cm thick section is stored in channel boxes for reference and to provide due diligence/verification samples. The channels are cut perpendicular to strike, pieced together, logged and photographed to produce geological and geochemical sections. These channel samples, or horizontal drill holes, produce the same data as vertical diamond drill holes, except the data is from horizontal geological sections and the collected sample is 6 to 8 times bigger than NQ drill core. Additional 8 cm wide cuts from a channel interval make excellent preliminary metallurgical samples (1m of channel yields about 30kg of sample).
Lithogeochemistry samples, all from bedrock, are collected by Company personnel, bagged and described. Reference samples are also collected for each grab, lithogeochemistry and channel sample. The samples are shipped to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (ActLabs) sample prep facility in Ancaster, Ontario, where they are crushed to 80% -10 mesh and riffled to produce a representative sample. This sample is then pulverized to 95% -200 mesh with the pulverizing mills being cleaned between each sample with cleaning sand. A representative sample is treated by a lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion and then analyzed by ICP and ICP/MS techniques. Mass balance is required as an additional quality control technique and elemental totals of the oxides should be between 98% and 101%. For QA/QC purposes Search requires duplicates every 25 samples and two Search reproducibility standards every 50 samples. ActLabs analyzes duplicates and splits approximately every 15 samples and also analyses 29 measured standards for QA/QC. To further enhance our QA/QC procedures Search has a program of checking analytical results with other labs to confirm the ActLabs results. ActLabs is a ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory.
Qualified Person:
Dr. Randy Miller, Ph.D., P.Geo, is the Company's Vice President, Exploration, and Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) who has supervised the preparation of and approved the technical information reported herein. The company will endeavour to meet high standards of integrity, transparency, and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological and assay (e.g., REE) data.
About Search Minerals Inc.
Led by a proven management team and board of directors, Search is focused on finding and developing resources within the emerging Port Hope Simpson Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District of South East Labrador (the “District”). The Company controls a belt 70 km long and 8 km wide including its 100% interest in the FOXTROT Project, which is road accessible and at tidewater. Exploration efforts have advanced “Deep Fox” and “Fox Meadow” as significant new CREE prospects very similar to and in close proximity to the original FOXTROT discovery. While the Company has identified more than 20 other prospects in the District, its primary objective remains development of FOXTROT. The delineation of additional resources will ensure competitive-low cost production beyond the 14-year mine life outlined in the FOXTROT PEA (April 2016.) The FOXTROT Project has a low capital cost to bring the initial project into production ($152 M), a short payback period and is scalable due to Search’s proprietary processing technology.
The preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized. The preliminary economic assessment includes the results of an economic analysis of mineral resources. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
All material information on the Company may be found on its website at www.searchminerals.ca and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com
About neo-CREOs (Adamas Intelligence – November 2017)
We consider neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium to be neo-CREOs and they are vital to NdFeB magnets used widely in renewable power generation, electric mobility, and energy-efficient technologies. We consider terbium to be a neo-CREO because upon experiencing shortages of dysprosium, consumers in the magnet industry will rapidly consume available terbium supplies in its place for applications involving renewable power generation, electric mobility and energy efficient technologies. Lanthanum is considered a neo-CREO because it is widely used in catalytic converters and rechargeable batteries, and will be increasingly used as a thermal stabilizer by producers of poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) to minimize lead consumption and improve the energy efficiency of PVC and other processing equipment.
For further information, please contact:
Greg Andrews
President and CEO
Tel: 604-998-3432
E-mail: info@searchminerals.ca
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Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward-Looking” Information.
This news release includes certain “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward-looking statements.
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