Rio Tinto signs JV exploration deal with China’s Minmetals

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - International Montoro Resources Inc. ("Montoro") (TSX VENTURE:IMT)(PINK SHEETS:IMTFF)(FRANKFURT:O4T) has retained Aeroquest International Limited to conduct multiple large scale geophysical and radiometric airborne surveys over the highly prospective "Tacheeda NW" and "Chuchinka NW" Rare Earth Element prospects located in 'The Rocky Mountain Rare Metal Belt' of northern British Columbia. Both of Montoro's newly acquired properties are on trend with properties held by Spectrum Mining Corp. (the "Wicheeda" discovery), who announced a 48.64 metre interval which averaged 3.55% REE, a 72.0 metre interval that averaged 2.92% REE, and a 144 metre interval which averaged 2.20% REE in three separate drill holes.

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Great Western Minerals Group (TSX VENTURE:GWG) (OTCQX:GWMGF) ("GWMG") is pleased to announce the selection of Drillcorp Africa (Pty) Ltd. ("Drillcorp") as the drill contractor for the upcoming exploration and resource evaluation program at the Company's Steenkampskraal Rare Earth Element ("REE") project in South Africa.

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 8, 2011) - Rare Earth Metals Inc. ("Rare Earth Metals", "RA" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RA)(PINK SHEETS:RAREF)(OTCQX:RAREF) is pleased to report preliminary Rare Earth Element results from three additional holes on the Two Tom Mineralized Zone at the Red Wine Property, located approximately 110 kilometers northeast of Churchill Falls in west central Labrador. The results include best intersections of 1.86% TREO over 121.5 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.46% TREO over 195.15 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-13, 1.82% TREO over 89 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-14, and 2.15% TREO over 120 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.68% TREO over 176.5 meters in drill hole DDH-TT-15b. The HREO/TREO ratios from these intersections range from 5.2% to 6.0%.

THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Sept. 6, 2011) - Rare Earth Metals Inc. ("Rare Earth Metals", "RA" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:RA)(OTCQX:RAREF)(PINK SHEETS:RAREF) is pleased to report preliminary Rare Earth Element results from drilling on the Dory Pond project area of the Red Wine property. The second hole of this drill program (DDH-B3N-03) was successful in testing an area defined by a number of Heavy Rare Earth anomalous prospect samples and resulted in an intersection of 1.55% TREO (HREO/TREO of 42.1%) over 21.0 meters within a wider intersection of 1.11% TREO (HREO/TREO of 41%) over 42.9 meters. Of particular importance are the high values in Dysprosium, Yttrium and Neodymium which compare favourably with other more advanced Heavy Rare Earth Deposits.

Commodity markets were hit this week by shock news that the United States created no jobs in August, sparking speculation that the world's biggest economy could be heading for a double-dip recession. Analysts said the data bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve could soon decide to implement another round of quantitative easing -- dubbed QE3 by traders -- to help breathe new life into the struggling economy.

Crossland Uranium Mines (ASX:CUX) plans to issue a report next month on an illuvial heavy mineral rare earth element resource at its 50% owned Charley Creek project in Northern Territory. A 16.7 tonne quantity of alluvial material has been obtained from the Cockroach prospect for testwork to investigate a heavy mineral process flowsheet and to generate samples of heavy mineral product for initial marketing and additional process development tests. Crossland says that the Charley Creek alluvials should be low cost sources of heavy mineral concentrates with high concentrations of REE and/or zircon.

A government panel is working on a strategy to encourage discovery of rare earth elements in India, Economic Times has revealed: "The committee will look into the current availability of rare earth and energy critical elements and decide the strategy for production to ensure long-term raw material security. It will also encourage the recovery of ECEs which can be found as byproducts in the production of other minerals."

Sinocast reports China's market for rare earths has begun to see negative effects of its crazy growth this year with an increasing number of downstream players finding it difficult to make deals despite price cuts. Prices of certain elements such as cerium used to polish TV screens and lenses are down 10% over the summer after months of break-neck price hikes. Reuters reports China is in the midst of a crackdown on illegal miners and processors and the busy black market trade that have sprung up, but has struggled to impose a REE production cap, with actual annual output exceeding official quotas by 40% to 50% since 2007.

Isolated North Korea is desperate to earn some hard currency and look for rare earths in its borders with China.