Texas Rare Earth Resources Reports Potential for Economic Recovery of Industrial Minerals

Texas Rare Earth Resources Corp. (TRER), an exploration company targeting the heavy rare earths, reports that recent metallurgical analyses indicate there is the potential to economically recover significant amounts of industrial minerals.

These minerals are contained in the primary leach solution (PLS) that we expect to produce from the rhyolite we mine from the Company's Round Top deposit in southwestern Texas.

Initial column leach tests of the Round Top ore, which formed the basis for the Company's 2013 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA), were conducted by RDI Inc. in Denver. This work successfully demonstrated the efficient recovery of the rare earth elements by leaching crushed rhyolite ore with dilute sulfuric acid. In addition to the rare earth elements, a variety of other elements were leached from the source rock. Our primary objective had been to develop an economically feasible method of recovering the rare earth elements from the primary leach solution in order to produce a feedstock acceptable for a separation plant.

We have pursued rare earth separation by assessing the viability of K-Technologies' continuous ion exchange/ continuous ion chromatography (CIX/CIC) technology. We are now addressing the potential of the other elements that are present in the primary leach solution. Sulfates of aluminum are widely marketed as a water treatment agent and sulfates of iron, magnesium and potassium are commonly used fertilizer products. Internal analysis of data from the 2013 column leach tests indicates that if these four elements were recovered, they would potentially produce the following tonnages per year in the envisioned 20,000 tonnes per day operation at Round Top:

*Open source pricing for commercial quantities- December 2015

In addition to the industrial minerals mentioned above, TRER has reported, in prior press releases, the following potentially recoverable quantities of other byproducts:

** UxC December 2015 Spot Price. In April 2015, TRER signed a uranium offtake agreement with UG USA Inc., a subsidiary of AREVA
*** Confidential discussions with large industrial users
**** September 2015 price. FMC recently announced a 15% price increase beginning January 2016

"While the production of heavy rare earths continues to be the primary objective at Round Top, the deposit is truly multi-metallic," said Dan Gorski, CEO. "As we complete our assessment of the total potential of the deposit, the numerous other elements potentially recovered in the leaching of this rock, rather than being a troublesome waste product stream to be neutralized and disposed, are proving to make a significant contribution to the potential revenue stream and serve to diversify and de-risk the sources of future revenue. Both the industrial minerals and byproducts which are potentially recoverable are typically readily marketable within the United States and around the world."

Source: http://www.trer.com/