Rare Element Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: RES and AMEX: REE) has announced rare earth element assay results from an additional sixteen drill holes completed during its 2010 core drilling program at the Company's 100% owned Bear Lodge property, located in northeastern Wyoming, USA.
Select REE assay intervals are also reported from two reverse circulation (RC) drill holes completed during the Company's 2010 Sundance gold exploration program. Assays are pending for the final fifteen core holes. The current results are from the Bull Hill Southwest resource area (14 core holes), the Bull Hill NW resource area (two core holes), and a potential new target area that may be the northwestern extension of the Whitetail Ridge target area (2 RC holes). An updated NI 43-101-compliant resource estimate for the Bull Hill SW and Bull Hill NW resource areas was completed in May, 2010. The objectives of the 2010 drilling program were to expand the Bull Hill SW oxide resource and upgrade the resource category, and to explore for additional REE resources at the Bull Hill NW and Whitetail Ridge target areas. Previous assay results from the Bull Hill SW resource area and the Whitetail Ridge REE target area were reported in news releases dated 15 September and 9 November 2010, and 10 January 2011.
Jim Clark, Vice President Exploration states: "The current assay set includes some of the best results to date. The data show that the Bull Hill SW deposit is open to the southeast, with excellent REE grades right up to the limit of drilling. The results from drill hole RES10-33 demonstrate that strong REE mineralization is present west of the West Bull Hill fault and open up a significant area for further resource definition. We are excited about the results from the two SUN reverse circulation holes. The SUN holes were drilled in the Carbon gold target, some 1200 feet (366 m) from Whitetail Ridge, and suggest that the Whitetail Ridge target area may be larger than originally conceived. The current results will be incorporated into our next NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate, planned for completion early in the second quarter of 2011."
Drilling Results
The REE deposits in the Bear Lodge Mountains of northeastern Wyoming occur within a large alkaline igneous complex that domes adjacent Paleozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks. The REE mineralization is hosted in dikes and veins of carbonatitic intrusive bodies and their near-surface oxidized equivalents (FMR). FMR refers to the major constituents of the highly oxidized, former carbonatite dikes that occur in the depth range between the surface and 300-500 feet (91 - 152 meters) beneath the surface- F (FeOx)-M (MnOx)-R (REE minerals). A zone of partly oxidized carbonatite, termed transitional carbonatite has variable thickness and occurs beneath the FMR zone and above the deeper zone of unoxidized carbonatite.
REE assay values are reported by convention as the combined oxide equivalents (REO) of the fifteen elements in the lanthanide series + yttrium. The oxide equivalents are approximately 15.6% higher than the combined metal assay values. The Bear Lodge project contains predominantly the "light" REE (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium), and economically important quantities of several of the "heavy" REE (europium, dysprosium, and terbium).
Bull Hill SW Resource Area
REE mineralization in the Bull Hill SW resource area is contained within intrusive dikes, veins, and stockwork of FMR, transitional carbonatite, and carbonatite that invade heterolithic intrusive breccia of the Bull Hill diatreme. Stockwork refers to a rock cut by a network of small veins or dikes that contain the mineralization. Much of the low-grade mineralization (1-2.5% REO) within the Bull Hill area deposits occurs in stockworks. Most of the REE mineralization in the current set of holes occurs within FMR dikes and veins.
Nine of the holes reported here were drilled along a bearing of N45ºE from a series of sites on a resource evaluation grid established for the Bull Hill SW deposit in conjunction with Ore Reserves Engineering, the Company's resource estimation consultant. Four holes were drilled on the grid along a bearing of S45ºW, and one hole was drilled on a due east bearing.
Drill hole RES10-29 (N45E, -55º; t.d. 1,106 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-31 (N45E, -70º; t.d. 796 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-33 (S45W, -60º; t.d. 806 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-34 (N45E, -45º; t.d. 755 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-36 (S45W, -45º; t.d. 490 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-37 (S45W, -80º; t.d. 431 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-38 (N45E, -60º; t.d. 856 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-39 (S45W, -46.5º; t.d. 490 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-40 (N45E, -70º; t.d. 746 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-41 (N45E, -45º; t.d. 646 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-48 (N45E, -70º; t.d. 561 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-56 (N45E, -45º; t.d. 419 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-58 (N45E, -70º; t.d. 766 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-62 (N90E, -45º; t.d. 393 feet)
The drilling results continue to demonstrate that the target FMR and carbonatite bodies exhibit strong REE mineralization over a strike length of more than 1400 feet (426m). Interpretive correlations of drill intercepts suggest a structural bias toward vertical or near vertical dips and a transitional change in strike from northwesterly to almost due north in the northern part of the resource area. The results from drill holes RES10-56, RES10-58, and RES10-62 indicate that significant widths of strong REE mineralization continue to the southeast to the current limit of drilling, and that the Bull Hill SW resource remains open in that direction.
Bull Hill NW Resource Area
REE mineralization in the Bull Hill NW resource area is contained within intrusive dikes, veins, and stockwork of FMR, transitional carbonatite, and carbonatite that invade trachytic and phonolitic intrusive rocks of the Bear Lodge alkaline complex.
Drill Hole RES10-42 (S45W, -65º; t.d. 777 feet)
Drill Hole RES10-43 (N90W, -45º; t.d. 626 feet)
The results from the two Bull Hill NW drill holes show significant REE mineralization in FMR/carbonatite dikes and stockwork. The structural controls for the mineralized bodies remain incompletely understood in the target area.
Potential New Target Area
Two reverse circulation drill holes completed during the Company's 2010 Sundance gold exploration program cut significant REE mineralization in FMR vein material that intrudes trachytic and syenitic intrusive rocks. The drill holes are located just south of the Carbon gold target and about 1,200 feet (366m) northwest of the Whitetail Ridge REE exploration target. The REE mineralization may portend the northwestern extension of the Whitetail Ridge system or, alternatively, a distinct FMR/carbonatite mineralized system. If this mineralization is a continuation of the Whitetail Ridge dike system and the Bull Hill SW system, its total length may reach up to 5000 feet (1500m) in length
Drill Hole SUN-076 (N45W, -45º; t.d. 615 feet)
Drill Hole SUN-079 (S80W, -45º; t.d. 775 feet)
Assaying and Quality Control
ALS Chemex conducted the assaying for the rare earth elements in their Vancouver, British Columbia assay facility. ALS Chemex Vancouver is accredited to ISO 9001 and operates according to ALS Group standards consistent with ISO 17025 methods at other laboratories. The samples were prepared and subjected to lithium metaborate fusion, followed by ICP analysis and a mass spectroscopy finish.
Analytical quality is monitored through the use of randomly inserted quality control samples, including standards, blanks, and duplicates, which are blinded to the analytical laboratory. Results of the analyses at ALS Chemex are evaluated continuously by the Company's QA/QC consultant, Dr Jeffrey Jaacks, who is a Qualified Person according to National Instrument 43-101, and the results indicate acceptable accuracy and precision. Blank analyses also indicate no issues with carry-over contamination.
Option Grant
The Company has issued stock options to a director and officer and consultants for a total of 403,000 options to purchase common shares of the Company at an exercise price of $15.16 per share for a period of five years, expiring on 11 January 2016, subject to the TSX Venture Exchange's approval.
Source: Rare Element Resources Ltd.