Matamec's Zeus Property Shows REE Potential Outside the Kipawa Deposit

MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - March 1, 2012) - Matamec Explorations Inc. ("Matamec") (TSX VENTURE:MAT) is pleased to announce the discovery of new rare-earth (REE) bearing mineral occurrences as well as Surprise-type REE-Niobium-Tantalum mineralization extending over a 1 kilometre strike length in numerous outcrops between the Surprise and Surprise Nord showings. In addition, a new showing was defined 1.5 kilometres to the west of Surprise and named the Certitude REE-Y-Nb-Ta showing. An average of 3.2% TREO @ 27% HREO+Y₂O₃ is shown for the 2011 Surprise area samples (16 samples) and 5.1% TREO @ 36% HREO+Y₂O₃ for the new Certitude showing (13 samples) (in samples with > 0.5% TREO). Up to 3.6% Nb₂O₅ and 360 ppm Ta₂O₅ is found in some of the samples (see Figure 1 and Table 1 for details).

The grab samples were collected during Matamec's 2011 exploration campaigns on its Zeus HREE-Y-Zr property, located in southern Temiscaming, Quebec. The program was aimed at expanding the Kipawa deposit (which remains open laterally and at depth), better define existing showings (Surprise, Falaises and PB/PS) and explore soil anomalies defined in the 2010 regional soil survey around Surprise.

Tony Mariano and Tony Mariano Jr, renowned REE exploration consultants, will carry out mineralogical characterisation tests on the Certitude Showing during Matamec's next field campaign and additional exploration will establish the extent and interconnection of the mineral occurrences. Follow-up ground exploration to define potential drill targets in the area will also be carried out in early spring 2012 and will include ground traverses, mechanical trenching, line cutting, ground geophysics and geochemical surveys.

André Gauthier, Matamec's President, comments that: "The summer 2011 campaign in the Surprise area is a great success story: we had some anomalies, we went, we saw, and we discovered! While our main focus will remain on fully developing the Kipawa deposit, the Surprise area, now including the Certitude showing, looks better and better every time we visit."

PDAC

Matamec invites everyone to its booth (#3242) at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference taking place in Toronto from March 4-7, 2012, to see samples and speak with Dr Tony Mariano and the field geologists, Frédéric Fleury and Emmanuelle Giguère, who made the Surprise and Certitude discoveries.

Table 1. Summary of significant samples for 2011, Surprise and Certitude Showings

Sample	Nature	LREO*	MREO*	HREO*	Y2O3	TREO*	HREO + Y2O3 over TREO %	ZrO2	Nb2O5	Ta2O5
		% Light rare earths	% Medium rare earths	% Heavy rare earths	% Yttrium	% Total rare earths		% Zirco- nium	% Nio- bium	% Tanta- lum
Surprise area
212JR	Outcrop	4.747	0.751	>1.85	5.474	12.819	>57.1	0.067
110JR	Outcrop	11.664	0.225	0.170	0.428	12.487	4.8	0.170
115JR	Boulder	8.949	0.290	0.322	0.673	10.234	9.7	0.014
217JR	Outcrop	3.070	0.167	0.414	0.833	4.484	27.8	1.293	1.071	0.014
002JR	Outcrop	1.461	0.115	0.124	0.277	1.976	20.3	0.411
086SSD	Outcrop	0.964	0.073	0.077	0.181	1.295	19.9	2.229
207JR	Outcrop	0.521	0.059	0.185	0.512	1.278	54.5	0.028
210JR	Outcrop	1.070	0.042	0.034	0.115	1.261	11.8	0.111
112JR	Outcrop	0.911	0.049	0.055	0.116	1.131	15.1	1.132
215JR	Outcrop	0.305	0.056	0.179	0.382	0.922	60.8	1.267	0.293	0.012
094SSD	Outcrop	0.691	0.041	0.040	0.119	0.890	17.8	0.484
200JR	Outcrop	0.695	0.042	0.033	0.083	0.853	13.7	1.163
109JR	Outcrop	0.462	0.041	0.086	0.201	0.790	36.4	0.226
201JR	Outcrop	0.509	0.036	0.032	0.099	0.675	19.3	0.426
114JR	Outcrop	0.395	0.038	0.061	0.133	0.627	31.0	0.413
108JR	Outcrop	0.350	0.028	0.044	0.096	0.518	27.0	0.362
Certitude
104JR	Outcrop	>13.84	1.076	1.556	3.264	19.734	<24.4	0.021
006SSD	Boulder	6.096	0.623	0.762	1.492	8.973	25.1	0.129
SSD006	Outcrop	3.322	0.564	1.017	1.664	6.567	40.8	0.083
BM04	Outcrop	4.355	0.409	0.446	1.163	6.373	25.2	3.485
JR020	Outcrop	1.622	0.354	1.974	1.217	5.167	61.7	4.822	2.371	0.032
BM02	Outcrop	0.698	0.407	1.555	1.943	4.603	76.0	8.672	3.571	0.036
BM01	Outcrop	3.497	0.185	0.112	0.167	3.961	7.0	6.713
105JR	Outcrop	2.022	0.186	0.249	0.540	2.997	26.3	0.016
100JR	Outcrop	0.713	0.241	0.762	0.779	2.495	61.8	2.783	1.729	0.020
103JR	Outcrop	1.194	0.151	0.295	0.766	2.406	44.1	0.011
101JR	Outcrop	0.807	0.092	0.113	0.224	1.236	27.3	1.932
JR019	Outcrop	0.717	0.045	0.038	0.068	0.868	12.2	0.866
002SSD	Outcrop	0.416	0.059	0.088	0.194	0.756	37.2	0.036
* LREO: Light rare earths in oxides = La2O3 to Nd2O3. MREO: Medium rare earths in oxides = Sm2O3 to Gd2O3 HREO: Heavy rare earths in oxides = Tb2O3 to Lu2O3. TREO: Total Rare Earth Oxides = LREO + MREO + HREO + Y2O3 ">": Indicates the presence of over limits in the analysis method used.

Analytical procedures

All samples have been delivered to the ALS Chemex ("ALS") preparation facility in Val d'Or where the samples are reduced to pulps and couriered to ALS in Vancouver (B.C.) for analysis. The samples are dissolved using a lithium metaborate fusion before being analysed by ICP-MS methods on a 2 gram sample size, with overlimits handled either by ICP-MS on a dilute solution, in the case of rare earths, or by XRF, in the case of zirconium and Niobium. ALS maintains ISO 17025 certification, the highest accreditation available for QA/QC.

Aline Leclerc, V-P Exploration (Geo.), is Matamec's Qualified Person for this press release.

About Matamec

Matamec Explorations Inc. is a junior mining exploration company whose main focus is in developing the heavy rare earths Kipawa deposit and exploring more than 35 km of strike length in the Kipawa Alkalic Complex for rare earths-yttrium-zirconium-niobium-tantalum mineralization on its Zeus property.

The Company is also exploring for gold, base metals and platinum group metals. Its gold portfolio includes the Matheson JV property located along strike and in close proximity to the Hoyle Pond Mine in the prolific mining camp of Timmins, Ontario.

In Quebec, the Company is exploring for lithium and tantalum on its Tansim property and for precious and base metals on its Sakami, Valmont and Vulcain properties. As well, it is exploring for gold together with Northern Superior Resources Inc. on the Lesperance/Wachigabau property.

Fig 1. Zeus Summer 2011 campaign, Surprise area: http://file.marketwire.com/release/fig1_en.pdf