Search Minerals Expands the SILVER FOX High Grade Zirconium-Hafnium (REE) Mineralized Zone, SE Labrador

 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 22, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Search Minerals Inc. (TSXV: SMY) (“Search” or the “Company”) is pleased to report 2020 channel assay results from SILVER FOX, a fourth major mineralized zone in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis Critical Rare Earth Element (CREE) District. Trenching/channelling (seven new channels in 2020), and mapping/prospecting indicate that the surface expression of this mineralized zone is up to 8.8m wide and 1120m long. This surface expression is significantly longer, but thinner, than the surface expressions of the nearby and related FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Resources. The mineralization is similarly hosted by peralkaline volcanic rocks and contains lower grades of the REE magnet materials (Nd, Pr, Tb and Dy) but significantly higher grades of Zr and Hf.

HIGHLIGHTS - SILVER FOX MINERALIZED ZONE

• SILVER FOX (all true widths) exhibits high grade Zr (Hf, Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) mineralization ranging from 3.00 to 8.83m wide over two zones: East Zone 550m long and West Zone 180m long;
• Channel assay highlights (all true widths):
  • FSC-20-01: 23,229 ppm Zr, 99.3 ppm Dy, 1222 ppm Nd, 570 ppm Hf, over 6.51m;
  • FSC-20-02: 24,308 ppm Zr, 87.4 ppm Dy, 1212 ppm Nd, 582 ppm Hf over 7.64m;
  • FSC-20-04: 22,949 ppm Zr, 106 ppm Dy, 1337 ppm Nd, 596 ppm Hf over 6.38m;
• SILVER FOX contains Zr (Hf) values much higher than any other CREE resource (FOXTROT and DEEP FOX) or mineralized zone (FOX MEADOW and AWESOME FOX) in SE Labrador.

Greg Andrews, President/CEO states; “These results are very encouraging and support the vision of multiple deposits in our Critical Rare Earth Element district. The company is exploring the potential/possibility of producing and marketing a zircon concentrate, in addition to a mixed REE concentrate, from the mineralized peralkaline rocks in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis CREE District. Currently, we are doing some metallurgical test work on the SILVER FOX material, and those results will be published when available.”

The 2020 channelling program at SILVER FOX (seven channels totalling 83.44m and 120 samples) consisted of two new infill channels through the mineralized zone, an extension to a previously cut channel, and the addition of two channels to the eastly and two channels to the westly ends of the mineralized zone. Four of the new channels occur in areas with significant overburden; a mini-excavator was used to expose bedrock in these channels.

Table 1 outlines assay highlights from the 2020 channelling program at SILVER FOX. All channels assayed to date outline a mineralized zone with a surface expression of at least 1120m strike length and up to 8.83m wide. (Figure 1).

To view Figure 1 - SILVER FOX – CHANNELS ASSAYED, visit https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/94fecc10-9110-48de-a515-eb83151f7c8d

A westerly mineralized zone is up to 8.83m wide and at least 550m strike length; this zone is open to the west. The easterly zone is 4.60-6.49m wide and 180m long. Prospecting to the east has traced the mineralized horizon 2.0 km to the FOXTROT DEPOSIT, where high Zr (Hf) mineralization occurs just south of the deposit. Prospecting to the west indicates similar volcanic stratigraphy but poor outcrop exposure revealed no high Zr (Hf) mineralization.

TABLE 1 - WEIGHTED AVERAGE OF SOME ZR-CREE MINERALIZED INTERVALS AT SILVER FOX PROJECT

	FSC20-01		FSC20-01		FSC20-02		FSC20-02		FSC20-03		FSC20-04
From (m)	0.89		0.89		1.52		2.69		0.50		9.19
To (m)	7.40		5.05		9.16		8.32		3.50		15.57
Length (m)	6.51		4.16		7.64		5.63		3.00		6.38
Y (ppm)	503		594		428		433		540		514
Zr (ppm)	23,229		27,364		24,308		26,815		25,522		22,949
Nb (ppm)	259		319		219		214		211		224
Hf (ppm)	570		673		582		642		603		596
La (ppm)	1,709		1,866		1,670		1,841		1,962		1,874
Ce (ppm)	3,006		3,340		3,042		3,360		3,432		3,279
Pr (ppm)	336		372		331		363		386		371
Nd (ppm)	1,222		1,353		1,212		1,330		1,399		1,337
Sm (ppm)	204		230		195		212		233		221
Eu (ppm)	6.2		6.8		5.6		6.0		6.9		6.8
Gd (ppm)	151		173		139		149		167		168
Tb (ppm)	19.1		22.4		17.0		17.8		20.0		20.6
Dy (ppm)	99		119		87		90		102		106
Ho (ppm)	17.6		21.4		15.1		15.3		17.6		18.4
Er (ppm)	50		61		42		43		49		51
Tm (ppm)	6.7		8.2		5.7		5.8		6.5		6.9
Yb (ppm)	43.6		53.2		37		38.0		41		44
Lu (ppm)	6.6		8.0		5.9		6.0		6.3		6.7
LREE	6,477		7,161		6,450		7,106		7,412		7,082
HREE	400		472		355		370		417		427
HREE + Y	903		1,066		783		804		957		941
TREE	6,877		7,633		6,805		7,477		7,828		7,509
TREE + Y	7,380		8,227		7,233		7,910		8,369		8,023
% TREE	0.69	%	0.76	%	0.68	%	0.75	%	0.78	%	0.75	%
% TREE + Y	0.74	%	0.82	%	0.72	%	0.79	%	0.84	%	0.80	%
% HREE	5.82	%	6.18	%	5.22	%	4.95	%	5.32	%	5.69	%
% HREE + Y	12.2	%	13.0	%	10.8	%	10.2	%	11.4	%	11.7	%
Mag REE	1,677		1,866		1,647		1,801		1,907		1,834
Note:	All amounts parts per million (ppm). 10,000 ppm = 1% = 10 kg/tonne
	Lengths are true lengths
REE	Rare Earth Elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (Lanthanide Series).
TREE	Total Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu.
LREE	Light Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm.
HREE	Heavy Rare Earth Elements: Add Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu.
Y	Y not included in HREE due to relatively low value compared to most Lanthanide series HREE.
%HREE+Y	%(HREE+Y)/( TREE+Y)
%HREE	%( HREE/ TREE)
Mag REE	Sum of Pr, Nd, Tb and Dy (used in REE magnets)

SILVER FOX contains very high values of zirconium and hafnium (Table 1), being amongst the highest found in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis Critical CREE District (see Search Minerals new releases: May 26, 2011, April 27, 2012, October 30, 2013, October 15, 2015, April 8, 2020). The recent results from FOX MEADOW (see Search Minerals new release: April 6, 2020) reflect the range of Zr values, 9,733 – 17,807 ppm Zr, observed throughout most of the CREE district, with the exception of SILVER FOX (22,949 – 29,058 ppm Zr; Table 1 and previous new releases). Preliminary mineral identifications indicate that most of the Zr occurs in the mineral zircon in these rocks.

The SILVER FOX mineralized zone is much thinner than both the DEEP FOX and FOXTROT mineralized resources, which are up to 40m thick; however, it is much longer (at least 1120m long) than these zones (about 350-450m long). The surface expression of the FOX MEADOW mineralized zone is greater than that of DEEP FOX and FOXTROT combined.

Exploration plans for 2021 at SILVER FOX include additional channels to test the limits of the mineralized zone to the west and several infill channels to make the project drill ready.

The SILVER FOX prospect occurs about 12 km west of St. Lewis and about 2 km west of FOXTROT; access is from an all-season gravelled highway.

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 pulp and coarse reject duplicates every 20 samples and two Search reproducibility standards every 40 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 Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District of South East Labrador. The Company controls a belt 63 km long and 2 km wide including its 100% interest in the FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Projects, which are road accessible and at tidewater. Exploration efforts have advanced FOX MEADOW, AWESOME FOX and SILVER FOX as new CREE prospects very similar to and in close proximity to FOXTROT and DEEP FOX.

Search has continued to optimize our patented Direct Extraction Process technology with the generous support from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Industry and Innovation, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, and from the Atlantic Canada Opportunity Agency. We have completed two pilot plant operations and produced highly purified mixed rare earth carbonate concentrate and mixed REO concentrate for separation and refining.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Andrews
President and CEO
Tel: 604-998-3432
E-mail: info@searchminerals.ca

Neither the 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.

Cautionary Statement Regarding “Forward-Looking” Statements:

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.

Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “potential”, “possible”, and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results “will”, “may”, “could”, or “should” occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things, the interpretation of technical results from the Company’s channelling program and future exploration plans. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release concerning these times. Except as required by law, the Company does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs, opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change.