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THUNDER BAY, ONTARIO–(Marketwire – Oct. 24, 2011) – Rare Earth Metals Inc. (“Rare Earth Metals“, “RA” or the “Company“) (TSX VENTURE:RA)(PINK SHEETS:RAREF)(OTCQX:RAREF) is pleased to report the completion of the initial drill program on the Lavergne REE Prospect. A total of seven holes were completed as an initial test to confirm and expand on historic results which had indications of wide zones of Rare Earth mineralization. This recent drilling is the first exploration program carried out on the property since 1969. The preliminary results, as outlined in the Results Table below, includes previously released results from the initial three holes, (SL-01 to SL-03) plus the four remaining holes (SL-11-04 to SL-07). The drilling tested two areas of REE mineralization: East Lavergne Zone and West Lavergne Zone, both of which are within the Lavergne Option Property in Springer Township. RA is earning a 100% interest in the Mineral Rights to the Patented Lavergne Property and is in the process of completing the purchase of the Surface Rights to the eastern half of the Patent (64 hectares) which covers the Lavergne Zones. The claims are located 8 km north of the Trans-Canada Highway, immediately north of the Town of Sturgeon Falls and 80 km east of Sudbury, Ontario.
The initial five holes tested the Lavergne West Zone over a strike length of 300 meters and produced drill widths varying from 79 meters to 360 meters with higher grade intersections up to 1.65 TREO over 90.2 meters in the most northerly hole. This zone is completely open. The final two holes tested a separate area, the Lavergne East Zone, over a possible 300 m strike length. The southern hole, SL-11-06, intersected the mineralization with results including 1.60% TREO over 28.8 meters within a larger zone of mineralization which assayed 1.10% TREO over 57 meters. Hole SL-11-07 was drilled 300 m to the northeast of SL-11-06 and intersected lower grade values.
The Company is very excited about these initial results which have defined a strong REE system with extremely low Th and U values. The mineralization appears to be amenable to open pit mining and initial mineralogy reports indicate that the host mineral, synchysite, is relatively simple to concentrate. The property location on patented mining and surface claims close to one of Canada’s premier mining camps in Sudbury are also huge positives for any future developments. Additional drill testing is planned to be completed during the winter, 2012 when freezing conditions will allow easier access. This next phase of drilling will establish the geometry and continuity of the zones and will help to establish if the East and West Zones are connected and are a part of a much larger mineralized system.
The Company has also recently completed a 960 line kilometer helicopter-borne airborne radiometric and magnetic survey over the 16 kilometer long Springer property (approximately 1350 hectares). Flight-line spacing was generally at 100 meters, with closer 50 meter spacing over the Springer-Lavergne sector of the property. A follow–up exploration program to evaluate a number of airborne magnetic and radiometric anomalies delineated by this survey is in progress.
Commented Michael Stares, President of Rare Earth Metals, “We are very pleased with the results from this first phase of drilling and the recently completed airborne geophysical survey. We have confirmed that there are rare earth enriched mineralized zones that host simple mineralogy with the identification of synchysite as the predominate REE bearing mineral on the Springer–Lavergne prospect. Our next milestone is to complete a resource calculation sometime in 2012.”
Results from the first phase of drilling on the Springer property are tabulated below. A location map of the drill holes can be viewed on the Company’s website at www.rareearthmetals.ca.
| HREO* | Nd2O3 | |||||||||
| Drill Hole | Hole Depth (m) |
From (m) |
To (m) |
Interval (m) |
TREO* % |
TREO* (%) |
Ce2O3 (%) |
La2O3 (%) |
Nd2O3 (%) |
TREO (%) |
| SL-01 | 413.3 | 25.6 | 385.4 | 359.8 | 0.94 | 6.7 | 0.42 | 0.21 | 0.17 | 18.4 |
| Inc 124.9 | 219.1 | 94.2 | 1.50 | 6.1 | 0.69 | 0.40 | 0.23 | 15.2 | ||
| SL-02 | 499 | 123.8 | 425.4 | 301.6 | 0.97 | 7.0 | 0.45 | 0.24 | 0.16 | 15.9 |
| Inc 132.8 | 268 | 135.2 | 1.24 | 8.1 | 0.56 | 0.32 | 0.18 | 14.3 | ||
| Inc 213.8 | 254.5 | 40.7 | 1.57 | 5.4 | 0.74 | 0.41 | 0.23 | 14.8 | ||
| SL-03 | 419.3 | 48.4 | 51.4 | 3 | 3.08 | 2.6 | 1.48 | 0.91 | 0.42 | 13.8 |
| 78 | 81.0 | 3 | 1.26 | 1.8 | 0.61 | 0.39 | 0.16 | 13.1 | ||
| 86.6 | 95.6 | 9 | 1.22 | 2.0 | 0.60 | 0.37 | 0.16 | 13.4 | ||
| 101.4 | 258.9 | 157.5 | 1.43 | 3.1 | 0.67 | 0.41 | 0.21 | 14.4 | ||
| incl 101.4 | 226.1 | 124.7 | 1.51 | 3.0 | 0.71 | 0.44 | 0.22 | 14.4 | ||
| incl 102.9 | 113.4 | 10.5 | 2.00 | 2.8 | 0.96 | 0.58 | 0.29 | 14.3 | ||
| and 135.9 | 226.1 | 90.2 | 1.65 | 3.0 | 0.78 | 0.48 | 0.24 | 14.3 | ||
| 282.9 | 330.5 | 47.6 | 0.85 | 4.2 | 0.39 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 15.0 | ||
| incl 315.4 | 323.5 | 8.1 | 1.33 | 3.6 | 0.63 | 0.38 | 0.19 | 14.2 | ||
| SL-04 | 442.6 | 69.2 | 414.5 | 345.3 | 0.81 | 7.7 | 0.35 | 0.16 | 0.17 | 20.7 |
| inc 238.1 | 299 | 60.9 | 1.07 | 7.7 | 0.46 | 0.19 | 0.31 | 22.2 | ||
| and 284 | 297.8 | 13.8 | 1.54 | 6.2 | 0.69 | 0.31 | 0.32 | 21.0 | ||
| SL-05 | 388.9 | 41.6 | 120.8 | 79.2 | 0.60 | 5.9 | 0.26 | 0.11 | 0.14 | 22.6 |
| 348.3 | 372.0 | 23.7 | 0.62 | 2.9 | 0.30 | 0.18 | 0.09 | 14.2 | ||
| SL-06 | 242.6 | 84.4 | 213.4 | 129 | 0.78 | 3.3 | 0.37 | 0.18 | 0.15 | 18.8 |
| Inc 126.2 | 183.2 | 57 | 1.10 | 3.1 | 0.52 | 0.26 | 0.20 | 18.5 | ||
| Inc 133.7 | 162.5 | 28.8 | 1.60 | 2.8 | 0.75 | 0.38 | 0.29 | 18.3 | ||
| SL-07 | 184.7 | 50.5 | 77.6 | 27.1 | 0.60 | 7.9 | 0.27 | 0.15 | 0.09 | 15.7 |
| 96.6 | 133.1 | 36.5 | 0.52 | 5.6 | 0.24 | 0.13 | 0.09 | 16.7 | ||
| 156.4 | 171.1 | 14.7 | 0.68 | 2.9 | 0.33 | 0.18 | 0.11 | 16.5 | ||
Core from the drill program was logged at Rare Earth Metals’ core shack on site and split in half using a hydraulic core splitter. One half of the core was sent to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (“Actlabs”) for analysis and the other half was kept in core boxes at the camp for reference. All samples were delivered by Company personnel to Manitoulin Transport and shipped to Actlabs’ sample preparation facility in Thunder Bay, Ontario. Prepared samples were forwarded to Actlabs’ analytical facility in Ancaster, Ontario for analysis. The digestion technique utilized was total digestion that employs a lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion and the analysis is completed using ICP, ICP/MS and XRF techniques. For QA/QC purposes Rare Earth Metals systematically inserts standards and blanks into every sample batch. Actlabs is an ISO 17025 (Lab 266) and NELAP (Lab E87979) accredited lab for specific registered tests.
The Rare Earth Element assays are reported as Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO). The TREO includes all the Rare Earth Oxides plus Yttrium Oxide. As per industry standard the TREO are broken down into Light Rare Earth Oxides (LREO) and Heavy Rare Earth Oxides (HREO). The LREO consists of Ce2O3, La2O3, Nd2O3, Pr2O3 and Sm2O3 and the HREO consists of Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3 and Y2O3. The %HREO is calculated by dividing the HREO by the TREO. The most abundant REEs from the drill-hole composites described above are in decreasing order: Cerium, Lanthanum and Neodymium. A breakdown of the most abundant REE’s from the drill holes can be found on the Company’s website atwww.RareEarthMetals.ca.
Wayne Reid, PGeo, is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information forming the basis for release.
About Rare Earth Metals Inc.
Rare Earth Metals is a well-funded company with a focus on exploring for Rare Earth Element deposits. The Company’s shares are listed on the TSX-V exchange under the symbol RA and the OTCQX exchange under the symbol RAREF. The Company presently has two advanced projects in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador, both exhibiting multi element potential (REEs, Niobium, Beryllium, Zirconium and Iron Ore) and proximity to available infrastructure. Its flagship properties are the Clay-Howells Prospect and the Red Wine Project. The Company has recently acquired additional properties in the Coldwell Complex near Marathon, Ontario and the Lavergne-Springer REE Prospect near Sturgeon Falls, Ontario. Additional information concerning the Company is contained in documents filed by the Company with securities regulators, available under the Company’s profile atwww.sedar.com. For more information please visit the Rare Earth Metals website at www.rareearthmetals.ca.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RARE EARTH METALS INC.:
Michael Stares, President and CEO
