VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Aug. 30, 2011) - Search Minerals Inc. ("Search" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:SMY) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alterra Resources Inc., are pleased to announce positive results from the second phase of drilling at its Foxtrot Prospect (100% owned) in the Port Hope Simpson REE District, SE Labrador. A 4083m-drill program (20 holes) has been completed on the Foxtrot rare earth element ("REE")-Zr-Y-Nb Prospect. Assay results have been received and interpreted. A third phase, estimated at $3.2 million, NQ drill program of 10,000m is expected to commence in Q4 2011. A NI 43-101 Technical Report is pending for Q4 2011.
Highlights:
- Every drill hole intersected mineralization, ranging in true thickness from 2.0-21.2m, giving weighted average values over 200ppm Dy (230ppm Dy2O3);
- Mineralization ranges up to 1.06% TREE (1.19% TREE+Y) including 257ppm Dy (295 ppm Dy2O3) over 10.2m (true thickness);
- New 10,000m drill program planned to add to upcoming NI 43-101 Technical Report;
- Mineralized zone located 9km from all year deep-water port and 0.5km from all season gravel road.
The first phase drill program at the Foxtrot Prospect consisted of 23 holes, drilled in late 2010 and early 2011 (refer to news release, May 26, 2011). REE-Zr-Y-Nb mineralization was intersected at depths of 50 and 100m along a 2km strike length. Mineralization consists of fergusonite, allanite and zircon in metamorphosed fine-grained felsic volcanic rocks.
The second phase drill program (20 holes) was completed in the early summer of 2011. (Please view the Foxtrot drill hole plan map at this link http://searchminerals.ca/docs/foxtrot_drill.jpeg). It was designed to intersect mineralization at 50, 100, 150, and 200m depth along a 500m strike length. Weighted averages from the best interval (DDH FT-11-06: 196.9-222.4m) assayed 209ppm Dy (240ppm Dy2O3), 1,113ppm Y, 9952ppm Zr, 798ppm Nb, and 0.86% TREE (not including Y) or 0.97% TREE+Y over 17.8m (true thickness). Included within this interval is a section (196.9-211.6m) that gave values of 257ppm Dy (295ppm Dy2O3), 1370ppm Y, 12,250ppm Zr, 915ppm Nb, 1.06% TREE (not including Y) or 1.19% TREE+Y over 10.2m (true thickness). Other mineralized sections range from 2m – 21.2m (true thickness). The assays of the highest-grade intersections are markedly consistent throughout both Phase 1 and Phase 2 holes. All 20 holes in Phase 2 intersected mineralization ranging in true thickness from 2.0-21.2m, giving weighted average values over 200ppm Dy. The mineralization is open along strike to the west and east and down dip (Please view the sample cross section at this link http://searchminerals.ca/docs/phs_schematics.pdf). Analytical techniques and sample preparation procedures are outlined in Search's July 27, 2010 press release.
Jim Clucas, President and CEO of Search Minerals stated, "We are absolutely delighted with the excellent work that our geological team, led by Dr. Randy Miller has done in the Port Hope Simpson REE District; the continuous expansion of REE mineralization at our Foxtrot Prospect is a testament to the work they have done in a very short time frame. The combination of high Dysprosium values, good thicknesses and continuity at depth of mineralization suggest that the Foxtrot Prospect has great REE potential. We are also pleased to announce that we are expecting two NI 43-101 Technical Reports within the next six months: one from the Foxtrot Prospect and the other from our joint venture at Red Wine. We believe that this will be a breakthrough year for the company given the amount of work that we have completed and developments that are unfolding within all sectors of the company including our SALT technology which was recently announced."
| FOXTROT PROSPECT PHASE 2 DRILL RESULTS (Part 1) | ||||||||||||
| Hole No. | FT-11-06 | FT-11-06 | FT-11-08 | FT-11-09 | FT-11-09 | FT-11-13 | ||||||
| Including | Including | |||||||||||
| From (m) | 196.9 | 196.9 | 60.7 | 124.6 | 124.6 | 45.4 | ||||||
| To (m) | 222.4 | 211.6 | 75.6 | 152.8 | 141.1 | 70.5 | ||||||
| Interval Thickness (m) | 25.4 | 14.6 | 15.0 | 28.2 | 16.5 | 25.1 | ||||||
| True Thickness (m) | 17.8 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 19.7 | 11.6 | 17.6 | ||||||
| Y (ppm) | 1113.4 | 1370.3 | 1252.1 | 1075.3 | 1332.4 | 1248.8 | ||||||
| Zr (ppm) | 9951.8 | 12305.9 | 12249.6 | 8656.6 | 10753.5 | 6173.2 | ||||||
| Nb (ppm) | 797.7 | 915.4 | 669.5 | 733.4 | 872.5 | 665.1 | ||||||
| La (ppm) | 1781.5 | 2181.1 | 1854.7 | 1856.5 | 2216.2 | 2114.2 | ||||||
| Ce (ppm) | 3705.3 | 4559.9 | 3790.7 | 3801.6 | 4577.0 | 4189.9 | ||||||
| Pr (ppm) | 429.1 | 522.3 | 446.8 | 408.9 | 494.4 | 454.8 | ||||||
| Nd (ppm) | 1627.3 | 1999.7 | 1645.3 | 1580.1 | 1928.9 | 1654.6 | ||||||
| Sm (ppm) | 294.6 | 361.0 | 304.7 | 280.9 | 346.6 | 292.4 | ||||||
| Eu (ppm) | 14.7 | 18.0 | 15.5 | 14.1 | 17.2 | 15.0 | ||||||
| Gd (ppm) | 224.8 | 276.5 | 258.5 | 209.6 | 259.7 | 225.9 | ||||||
| Tb (ppm) | 36.4 | 44.8 | 41.4 | 34.3 | 42.7 | 36.2 | ||||||
| Dy (ppm) | 209.1 | 257.2 | 233.5 | 200.0 | 240.2 | 211.6 | ||||||
| Ho (ppm) | 40.5 | 49.8 | 46.1 | 37.1 | 46.1 | 40.3 | ||||||
| Er (ppm) | 114.4 | 139.9 | 124.7 | 104.7 | 130.0 | 114.4 | ||||||
| Tm (ppm) | 16.2 | 19.8 | 18.7 | 15.3 | 18.9 | 16.7 | ||||||
| Yb (ppm) | 101.6 | 123.4 | 111.9 | 93.8 | 116.0 | 100.3 | ||||||
| Lu (ppm) | 15.4 | 18.7 | 15.2 | 13.8 | 16.9 | 13.3 | ||||||
| LREE (ppm) | 7837.7 | 9624.1 | 8042.2 | 7928.0 | 9562.9 | 8705.9 | ||||||
| HREE (ppm) | 773.1 | 948.1 | 865.6 | 722.7 | 887.7 | 773.9 | ||||||
| HREE+Y (ppm) | 1886.4 | 2318.4 | 2117.7 | 1798.0 | 2220.2 | 2022.7 | ||||||
| TREE (ppm) | 8610.8 | 10572.2 | 8907.8 | 8650.7 | 10450.7 | 9479.8 | ||||||
| TREE+Y (ppm) | 9724.2 | 11942.5 | 10159.9 | 9726.0 | 11783.1 | 10728.7 | ||||||
| %TREE | 0.86 | % | 1.06 | % | 0.89 | % | 0.87 | % | 1.05 | % | 0.95 | % |
| %TREE+Y | 0.97 | % | 1.19 | % | 1.02 | % | 0.97 | % | 1.18 | % | 1.07 | % |
| %HREE | 8.98 | % | 8.97 | % | 9.72 | % | 8.35 | % | 8.49 | % | 8.16 | % |
| %HREE+Y | 19.40 | % | 19.41 | % | 20.84 | % | 18.49 | % | 18.84 | % | 18.85 | % |
| Note: | All amounts parts per million (ppm). 10,000 ppm = 1% = 10 kg/tonne | |||||||||||
| REE | Rare Earth Elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (Lanthanide Series.) | |||||||||||
| TREE | Total Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. | |||||||||||
| LREE | Light Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm. | |||||||||||
| HREE | Heavy Rare Earth Elements: Add Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. | |||||||||||
| Y | Y not included in HREE due to relatively low value compared to most Lanthanide series HREE. | |||||||||||
| %HREE+Y | %(HREE+Y)/( TREE+Y) | |||||||||||
| %HREE | %( HREE/ TREE) | |||||||||||
| FOXTROT PROSPECT PHASE 2 DRILL RESULTS (Part 2) | ||||||||||||
| Hole No. | FT-11-10 | FT-11-10 | FT-11-11 | FT-11-11 | FT-11-22 | FT-11-25 | ||||||
| Including | Including | |||||||||||
| From (m) | 181.2 | 181.2 | 72.6 | 73.6 | 179.3 | 242.9 | ||||||
| To (m) | 211.3 | 197.6 | 97.3 | 92.3 | 196.3 | 263.6 | ||||||
| Interval Thickness (m) | 30.3 | 16.5 | 25.0 | 19.0 | 17.0 | 21.0 | ||||||
| True Thickness (m) | 21.2 | 11.5 | 17.5 | 13.3 | 11.9 | 14.7 | ||||||
| Y (ppm) | 1063.6 | 1212.6 | 1235.9 | 1346.5 | 1378.3 | 1320.5 | ||||||
| Zr (ppm) | 9466.3 | 10788.8 | 10783.9 | 11841.2 | 11909.7 | 12029.5 | ||||||
| Nb (ppm) | 599.6 | 641.3 | 587.9 | 561.8 | 655.7 | 620.4 | ||||||
| La (ppm) | 1750.8 | 2052.9 | 1972.6 | 2084.7 | 2076.8 | 2011.1 | ||||||
| Ce (ppm) | 3467.5 | 4033.0 | 3975.3 | 4235.5 | 4172.5 | 3896.7 | ||||||
| Pr (ppm) | 409.9 | 475.0 | 460.4 | 491.5 | 479.9 | 436.7 | ||||||
| Nd (ppm) | 1503.9 | 1744.3 | 1676.2 | 1794.1 | 1784.9 | 1692.9 | ||||||
| Sm (ppm) | 270.4 | 314.1 | 294.4 | 316.0 | 316.2 | 295.1 | ||||||
| Eu (ppm) | 13.4 | 15.5 | 15.2 | 16.3 | 15.9 | 15.2 | ||||||
| Gd (ppm) | 216.5 | 250.7 | 228.3 | 246.4 | 256.8 | 248.5 | ||||||
| Tb (ppm) | 35.4 | 40.6 | 36.0 | 39.1 | 41.5 | 39.9 | ||||||
| Dy (ppm) | 200.3 | 228.4 | 209.6 | 229.2 | 234.6 | 225.9 | ||||||
| Ho (ppm) | 35.4 | 40.0 | 40.3 | 44.3 | 44.2 | 45.0 | ||||||
| Er (ppm) | 96.7 | 108.8 | 114.6 | 126.0 | 126.9 | 123.1 | ||||||
| Tm (ppm) | 14.3 | 16.0 | 15.9 | 17.4 | 18.2 | 17.8 | ||||||
| Yb (ppm) | 87.2 | 96.8 | 103.2 | 113.4 | 111.2 | 110.9 | ||||||
| Lu (ppm) | 13.1 | 14.5 | 15.7 | 17.3 | 16.4 | 15.9 | ||||||
| LREE (ppm) | 7402.4 | 8619.2 | 8378.9 | 8921.8 | 8830.3 | 8332.6 | ||||||
| HREE (ppm) | 712.3 | 811.4 | 778.9 | 849.4 | 865.8 | 842.3 | ||||||
| HREE+Y (ppm) | 1775.9 | 2024.0 | 2014.8 | 2196.0 | 2244.1 | 2162.8 | ||||||
| TREE (ppm) | 8114.6 | 9430.6 | 9157.7 | 9771.2 | 9696.0 | 9174.9 | ||||||
| TREE+Y (ppm) | 9178.2 | 10643.2 | 10393.6 | 11117.8 | 11074.4 | 10495.4 | ||||||
| %TREE | 0.81 | % | 0.94 | % | 0.92 | % | 0.98 | % | 0.97 | % | 0.92 | % |
| %TREE+Y | 0.92 | % | 1.06 | % | 1.04 | % | 1.11 | % | 1.11 | % | 1.05 | % |
| %HREE | 8.78 | % | 8.60 | % | 8.50 | % | 8.69 | % | 8.93 | % | 9.18 | % |
| %HREE+Y | 19.35 | % | 19.02 | % | 19.38 | % | 19.75 | % | 20.26 | % | 20.61 | % |
| Note: | All amounts parts per million (ppm). 10,000 ppm = 1% = 10 kg/tonne | |||||||||||
| REE | Rare Earth Elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (Lanthanide Series). | |||||||||||
| TREE | Total Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. | |||||||||||
| LREE | Light Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm. | |||||||||||
| HREE | Heavy Rare Earth Elements: Add Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu. | |||||||||||
| Y | Y not included in HREE due to relatively low value compared to most Lanthanide series HREE. | |||||||||||
| %HREE+Y | %(HREE+Y)/( TREE+Y) | |||||||||||
| %HREE | %( HREE/ TREE) | |||||||||||
Exploration Program Update
Two drill programs totalling 7940m of drilling have confirmed and expanded LREE-Zr-Y-Nb mineralization at the Foxtrot Prospect in the Fox Harbour belt in the Port Hope Simpson REE District. Holes (45°angle to the horizontal) were spotted to intersect steeply dipping (± 90°dip) surface mineralization at depths of 50 to 200m. Surface channel sampling allows the correlation of drillhole data to surficial showings.
Two metallurgical samples have been collected, one 100kg sample from lower grade material than reported here. A second 1-tonne metallurgical sample has been collected from representative higher-grade mineralization and has been delivered to SGS for metallurgical studies.
A field/research program at the Foxtrot Prospect included the following to support the NI 43-101 Technical Report: a detailed ground magnetic survey, detailed channel sampling and logging, data compilation and analysis, and a detailed outcrop geology map. Analyses from the drill core and surface channels will be incorporated into a NI 43-101 Technical Report resource estimate. In addition, results from the metallurgical studies, from the one tonne mineralized sample will also be included into a NI 43-101 report on the Foxtrot Prospect.
The Search ground holdings in the Port Hope Simpson REE District are 135 km long and 4 – 12 km wide, consist of 3704 claims in 66 licenses and occupy 926 square kilometres. There are a total of 8 REE prospects in the District, including: Rock Rolling Hill, Rattling Bog Hill, Piperstock Hill, Southern Shore, Toots Cove, Pesky Hill, HighREE Island and Foxtrot. The Foxtrot Prospect occurs in the Fox Harbour mineralized belt. Piperstock Hill, Southern Shore, Toots Cove and Pesky Hill occur in a 13 km mineralized zone known as the HighREE Hills. Both the Fox Harbour and HighREE Hills mineralized zones are considered very prospective for REEs.
Qualified Person:
Dr. Randy Miller, Ph.D, P.Geo, Vice President Exploration, is the Qualified Person responsible for the technical content of this press release. The company endeavours to meet high standards of integrity, transparency and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological and assay (e.g., REE) data.
About Search Minerals:
Search Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SMY) is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company, headquartered in Vancouver, B.C. Search is the discoverer of the Port Hope Simpson REE District, a highly prospective light and heavy REE belt located in southeast Labrador where the company controls a dominant land position in a belt 135km long and up to 12km wide. In addition, Search has a number of other mineral prospects in its portfolio located in Newfoundland and Labrador, including a number of claims in the Strange Lake Complex, where Quest Rare Minerals has an earn-in agreement with the Company; and at the Red Wine Complex, where Great Western Minerals Group has an earn-in agreement with the
Company.
Furthermore, Search Minerals is the owner of patents relating to the Starved Acid Leaching Technology ("SALT"), a process with the potential to aid in the recovery of certain metals.
Search Minerals is led by a management team and board with a proven track record in the mining industry. The Company has a team with deep geological and metallurgical expertise respectively led by Dr. Randy Miller and Dr. David Dreisinger. The Company is well funded and has an aggressive exploration program planned for the remainder of 2011.
All material information on the Company may be found on its website at www.searchminerals.ca and on SEDAR at sedar.com.
Cautionary Statement:
The following presentation may include certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian Securities Laws. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in the presentation, including without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of Search Minerals, are forward-looking statements. Words such as "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "should", "intend", "believe" and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results and conditions but rather reflect our current views with respect to future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumption and other factors, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. There can be no assurance that such forward- looking statements will prove to be accurate. We base our forward-looking statements on information currently available to us and we do not assume any obligation to update them, except as required by law.
An additional Cautionary Note to Investors: In the event that we use certain terms in this presentation such as "resource", "measured resource", "indicated resource" and "inferred resource". US investors are cautioned that, while such terms are recognized and required by Canadian Securities Laws, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission does not recognize them. Under U.S. standards, mineralization may not be classified as a "reserve" unless the determination has been made that the mineralization could be economically and legally produced or extracted at the time the reserve determination has been made. U.S. investors should not assume that all or any part of measured or indicated resources will ever be converted into reserves. In addition, "inferred resources" have a greater amount of uncertainly as to their existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or economically. Accordingly, information concerning descriptions of mineralization in the presentation may not be comparable to information made public by companies that are subject to the SEC's Industry Guide 7.
All of the scientific and technical information contained herein has been reviewed and/or prepared by Dr. Randy Miller, P.Geo, a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101-Standards of Disclosure for Minerals Projects. For further details of the Company's procedures and policies for data verification, the reader is referred to the Company's news releases and other material information available on the Company's website at www.searchminerals.ca or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility of the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact Information:
Jim Clucas
President & Chief Executive Officer
604-688-6180
jimclucas@searchminerals.ca
Search Minerals Inc.
Joanne Jobin
Investor Relations Manager
647-964-2092
joannejobin@searchminerals.ca