Mar 5 2011
Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:UCU)(OTCQX:UURAF) has announced remaining pre-resource drill results from the 2010 drill program at its Bokan Mountain Project in southeast Alaska.
The 2010 drill program produced a total of 3,770 metres of core from 18 diamond drill holes. Thirteen of these holes were drilled in the Dotson Zone to extend the limits of known information and to provide adequate sampling to support the calculation of a National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource, to be released within the next two weeks. Hole LM10-82 was drilled in the centre of the Dotson Zone to test the mineralization at depth and between drill sections. Holes LM10-83 to LM10-86 were drilled at the west end of the deposit on two section lines. Mineralization intersected in these holes is offset slightly to the north by a local fault and is similar in style and grade with mineralization intersected in trenches along the zone (see Ucore press releases dated November 30, 2010 and December 22, 2010).
Additionally, three holes were drilled at Sunday Lake to test for an extension of the high grade near surface mineralization at depth, and two holes were drilled on the Geoduck Zone to test the extension of that vein system. At Sunday Lake, holes were drilled from west to east across the intrusive contact beneath the Sunday Lake showing, with all drill holes intersecting mineralization at or near the contact between metasediments and the Bokan Granite. This mineralization was similar in style but lower in tenor to that intersected at shallower depths beneath Sunday Lake. At the Geoduck Zone, hole LM10-90 was drilled across the inferred extension of the zone, and Hole LM10-91 was drilled to the northeast of the zone, with the latter hole intersecting multiple mineralized zones which appear to be the northern extension of the Geoduck Zone in this area.
- Holes LM10-87 to LM10-90 located at Sunday Lake and Geoduck returned no significant mineralization above 0.6% TREO.
- LREO = Light rare earth elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm as oxide
- HREO = Heavy rare earth elements: Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y as oxide
- TREO = Total rare earth oxides: LREO + HREO
- % HREO = HREO as percent of TREO (HREO/TREO)
- Totals may not equal due to rounding
- Major contributing rare earth oxides to LREO and TREO: La2O3, Ce2O3, Nd2O3
- Major contributing rare earth oxides to HREO: Dy2O3, Gd2O3, Y2O3
"Ucore is just days away from releasing an NI 43-101 compliant Inferred Resource estimate for the Dotson Zone," said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of Ucore. "Our 2010 results continue to confirm the unusually high skew in the Dotson Zone toward heavy rare earths, including some of the most valuable, essential and sought after metals in the American defense and high technology sectors. What's more, they reinforce the conclusions of recent USGS studies ranking Bokan as one of three significant rare earth deposits in the U.S., and the one with the highest relative content of critically threatened strategic heavy rare earths such as Dysprosium and Terbium. With our compliant resource in hand very shortly, Ucore intends to pursue an aggressive near term mine feasibility and development schedule."
The 2010 exploration program has now established both the continuity and integrity of mineralization in the Dotson Zone. The zone is characterized by a strike length of more than 2,000 m and an average width of 50 m, and remains open both at depth and along strike. The Dotson Zone is comprised of at least 24 high-grade mineralized veins or vein-arrays. The NI 43-101 compliant resource calculation, pending shortly, will consist solely of high-grade veins of mineable width. Significantly, the 2010 exploration results support the historical USBM model for the area (Barker & Warner, USBM OFR 33-89), which infers persistent rare earth mineralization in the zone both along the strike and at depth, in addition to an extraordinarily high ratio of heavy to total rare earth elements.
In tandem with the calculation of a NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate, Hazen Research Inc. of Golden, Colorado, is conducting mineralogical and metallurgical studies on bulk samples taken from the Bokan-Dotson Ridge project. Results from this work are anticipated to be released in the near term.
On Feb 22, 2011, the State of Alaska reinforced its intention to pursue the development of its significant rare earth resources. In a letter from Alaska Governor Sean Parnell to President Barack Obama, the Governor urged the White House to direct the U.S. Geological Survey to undertake a full inventory of prospectively critical rare earth resources located in Alaska as an alternative to America's current heavy dependence on Chinese sources. The Governor additionally called for an expediting of the federal permitting process for rare earth mines, and urged the President to work with Congress to review the merits of amending existing federal statutes to provide the U.S. Department of Energy with authority to provide loan guarantees, grants, and tax credits for the general mining and processing of REE's. A copy of the complete letter is available at the following web link:
NI 43-101 Compliance
Diamond drill core was split on site, with half the core transported by commercial carriers to the Activation Laboratories analytical facility in Stewart, B.C., Canada and check assay samples submitted to ALS Laboratories in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. Sample containers were sealed and chain of custody was maintained throughout transport. The QA/QC program included the insertion of duplicates, blanks and certified standards in the submitted sample shipments; and laboratory insertion and analysis of standards and blanks, duplicates and resplits. Analyses were made by inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry with lithium metaborate fusion, reporting whole rock analyses as an additional quality control measure. Reported values are length-weighted averages from multiple samples. All widths reported are core intercepts; insufficient structural information is available to make a conclusive statement on the relationship between true width and core intercept. Mike Power, P.Geo. (BC), CPG (AIPG), an independent geologist with Aurora Geosciences (Alaska) Ltd. and a qualified person in accordance with NI 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical content of this press.
Source: Ucore Rare Metals Inc.