CHARTS: The coming critical minerals trade war is BRICS short of a load
"While a large number of countries around the world continue to talk about securing raw material supply, China is actually doing something about it."
NEC11-004 Returns 68.18m of 3.32% TREO, within 236.19m of 2.10% TREO
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwire – Sept. 20, 2011) – Quantum Rare Earth Developments Corp. (TSX VENTURE:QRE)(OTCQX:QREDF)(FRANKFURT:BR3) (“Quantum”, the “Company”) is pleased to announce Rare Earth Element (“REE”) results for the remaining two holes of the spring/summer exploration program at the Elk Creek Niobium – REE Project, located in southeastern Nebraska, USA.
REE results have been finalized for drill holes NEC11-004, located approximately 2.5 kilometres east of the Niobium Deposit; and NEC11-005, located approximately 1 kilometre ENE of the Niobium Deposit. Highlights from the current exploration include:
| NEC11-004: 236.19 m of 2.10% TREO* | ||
| Including 68.18 m of 3.32% TREO* | ||
| NEC11-005: 433.97 m of 0.92% TREO* | ||
| Including 164.85 m of 1.21% TREO* | ||
Drill hole NEC11-004 was drilled at a -55° inclination at a direction of 080° to a depth of 465.73 metres in the area of the Eastern REE Anomaly. The Eastern REE Anomaly is located approximately 2.5 kilometres to the east of the Elk Creek Niobium Deposit. The hole was collared 160 metres to the south-east and drilled in the direction of historic hole EC-93 which contains 155.5 metres of 2.70% TREO, including 54.9 m of 3.30% TREO (previously announced, March 7, 2011).
The drill hole encountered REE mineralization within strongly altered carbonatite and associated alkaline rocks. The step-out from historic hole EC-93 confirms the potential for a sizeable deposit. As well, the potential for the discovery of a high-grade core is also highlighted with 10 individual assays greater than 4.0% TREO (average sample width of 1.37 metres) within the 68.18 metre high-grade REE zone.
Drill Hole NEC11-005 was drilled at a -55 inclination at a direction of 096° to a depth of 636.42 metres. The drill hole was designed to test a unique aeromagnetic anomaly, and was collared 470 metres to the west of, and drilled in the direction of historic hole EC-17 which contains 64.0 metres of 1.19% TREO, (previously announced, March 23, 2011). The results herein indicate a large interval of moderate REE enrichment.
Complete results of the rare earth elements and their ratios for these two holes are as follows:
| NEC11-004 | NEC11-005 | |||||
| Total | including | Total | including | |||
| FROM | (m) | 188.37 | 247.00 | 202.45 | 450.24 | |
| TO | (m) | 424.56 | 315.18 | 636.42 | 615.09 | |
| INTERVAL | (m) | 236.19 | 68.18 | 433.97 | 164.85 | |
| TREO | (%) | 2.10 | 3.32 | 0.92 | 1.21 | |
| LREO | (%) | 2.03 | 3.26 | 0.86 | 1.16 | |
| MREO | (%) | 0.036 | 0.033 | 0.030 | 0.028 | |
| HREO | (%) | 0.030 | 0.022 | 0.026 | 0.019 | |
| MHREO | (%) | 0.065 | 0.055 | 0.055 | 0.048 | |
| LREO/TREO | ratio | 95.2 | 98.2 | 92.8 | 95.6 | |
| MHREO/TREO | ratio | 4.8 | 1.8 | 7.4 | 4.9 | |
| La2O3 | (ppm) | 7856 | 13612 | 2695 | 3980 | |
| Ce2O3 | (ppm) | 9673 | 15224 | 4248 | 5653 | |
| Pr2O3 | (ppm) | 758 | 1100 | 398 | 489 | |
| Nd2O3 | (ppm) | 2062 | 2673 | 1305 | 1507 | |
| Sm2O3 | (ppm) | 193 | 187 | 167 | 162 | |
| Eu2O3 | (ppm) | 44 | 36 | 39 | 36 | |
| Gd2O3 | (ppm) | 119 | 107 | 92 | 83 | |
| Tb2O3 | (ppm) | 11.0 | 7.8 | 9.3 | 7.8 | |
| Dy2O3 | (ppm) | 45.8 | 32.6 | 39.0 | 31.4 | |
| Ho2O3 | (ppm) | 7.0 | 5.2 | 5.9 | 4.5 | |
| Er2O3 | (ppm) | 15.4 | 12.9 | 13.1 | 9.7 | |
| Tm2O3 | (ppm) | 1.74 | 1.57 | 1.49 | 1.05 | |
| Yb2O3 | (ppm) | 9.5 | 8.7 | 8.0 | 5.5 | |
| Lu2O3 | (ppm) | 1.30 | 1.26 | 1.08 | 0.71 | |
| Y2O3 | (ppm) | 205 | 150 | 179 | 134 | |
| *A rigorous quality assurance and quality control protocol was established for the sampling program; and included the routine insertion of field duplicates, laboratory pulp duplicates, blanks and certified reference standards. All samples were shipped to, and analyzed by Activation Laboratories of Ancaster, ON using its method eight – major oxide, rare earths and trace element package by fusion ICP and ICP/MS in addition to niobium by XRF, and fluorine by method 4F-F. |
| *Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) include: La2O3, Ce2O3, Pr2O3, Nd2O3, Sm2O3, Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3 and Y2O3. |
| Light Rare Earth Oxides (LREO) include: La2O3, Ce2O3, Pr2O3 and Nd2O3. |
| Middle Rare Earth Oxides (MREO) include: Sm2O3, Eu2O3 and Gd2O3. |
| Heavy Rare Earth Oxides (HREO) include: Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3 and Y2O3. |
| Middle to Heavy Rare Earth Oxides (MHREO) is the sum of MHREO and HREO. |
Qualified Persons: Mr. Neil McCallum, P.Geol. is the qualified persons responsible for the Elk Creek Carbonatite Project and has read and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release.
On Behalf of the Board,
Peter Dickie, President, CEO
Cautionary note: This report may contain forward looking statements, particularly those regarding cash flow, capital expenditures and investment plans. Resource estimates, unless specifically noted, are considered speculative. The company has filed a National Instrument 43-101 report on the Archie Lake property, on the Elk Creek Carbonatite property, and intends to file additional NI 43-101 reports on additional properties as soon as the information is available. Any and all other resource or reserve estimates are historical in nature, and should not be relied upon. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on factors that will or may occur in the future. Actual results may vary depending upon exploration activities, industry production, commodity demand and pricing, currency exchange rates, and, but not limited to, general economic factors. Cautionary Note to US investors: The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission specifically prohibits the use of certain terms, such as “reserves” unless such figures are based upon actual production or formation tests and can be shown to be economically and legally producible under existing economic and operating conditions.
“Neither 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.”
