New Rare Earths Report!
Click on the News &
Reports tab above
Bobjo
November 20th, 2007 – The joint-venture partners were pleased to report in a news release that Hole #16 was very successful in intersecting more Rare Metals and Rare Earth Elements at depth. This Hole #16 intersected the zone at a depth of 258 metres right below Hole #14, which intersected the zone at a depth of 153 metres. This zone is situated along a fault structure with an approximate ten-kilometre strike length.
Highlights of Hole #16
True widths are not known
• 1.2 metre intersection grading 4.59 g/t Au at a depth of 0.50 metres to 1.7 metres
• 1.0 metre intersection grading 2.55 g/t Au at a depth of 7.0 metres to 8.0 metres, and
• 43.6 ft intersection with a grade of 11.01 g/t Gallium (Ga), 16.53 g/t Scandium (Sc), 25.85 g/t Rubidium (Rb), 15.36 g/t Cerium (Ce), 6.53 g/t Lanthanum (La), 9.30 g/t Yttrium (Y), 3.77 g/t Selenium (Se), 11.44g/t Lithium (Li), 1.00 g/t Cadmium (Cd), 1.35 g/t Thorium (Th), 2.94 g/t Niobium (Nb), 1.40 g/t Hafnium (Hf), 48.57 g/t Cobalt (Co), 86.55 g/t Vanadium (V), 70.51 g/t Strontium (Sr), and 52.15 g/t Zirconium (Zr) at a depth of 258 metres.
All of the above samples were analyzed by SGS Canada Inc.’s laboratory in Red Lake, Ontario. The November 20th, 2007 news release noted that this new rare metals and rare earth element discovery that has just brought a new dimension to this exploration project. The partners did not assay the entire mineralized zone, which was actually more than double in size than the section that was analyzed and reported in the news release. The remainder of the zone will be sent for assay a little later and will test for all the rare earth elements. Hole #15 had no significant values and was drilled in a different area. More assay results will be released when received and verified.
Of special interest is the fact that the United States Congress last month authorized the release to the public of a report of the conclusions reached by a special committee of the National Academies on “Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the U.S. Economy”. It was comprised of information on the present state, as well as the future, of demand for critical and strategic metals for industry by the U.S. government. It outlined minerals like Rhodium, Manganese, Indium, Niobium, Gallium, Rare Earth Elements, Copper Tantalum, Palladium, Platinum, Vanadium, Titanium, and Lithium as critical and strategic minerals. It discussed the kind of negative impact that their shortage would have on industry and the U.S. economy. The partners also believe that it will soon become critical to produce these resources outside of China.
November 13th, 2007 – The partners were pleased to report in a news release that Hole #14 was very successful in intersecting a new high-grade gold zone at very shallow depths and a new Rare Metals and Rare Earth Elements discovery at a depth of 153 metres situated along a fault structure with an approximate ten-kilometre strike length.
Highlights from Hole #14 include:
* New 8 ft intersection with a grade of 1.56 opt gold (53.61 g/t Au over 2.45 metres) as reported in a news release dated October 23rd, 2007.
Demand for rare metals and rare earth elements is soaring because of consumer demand for more fuel-efficient cars, alternative energy technologies such as fuel cells, the nuclear power industry for both practical and experimental utilization, rechargeable batteries, lasers, hydrogen storage, superalloys as used in the aerospace industry, televisions, computer screens, permanent magnets as used in electric-hybrid vehicles and in the conductor industry for many of the new "Green" technologies, etc. Currently, 97% of the world supply of the Rare Earth Materials (REM) comes from China. China recently announced a reduction in the exports of REMs coming out of their mines. This decision will considerably reduce the supply for buyers outside of China while world demand is in full growth.
The main consumers of rare earth materials are in South-East Asia (Japan, Korea, Thailand, China) and in the USA. The United States used to be the largest consumer of rare earth materials, about 27% of the world's total. However, in recent years, China became the number one global consumer, exceeding the American consumption. The United States currently imports nearly 100% of their needs in REM, and the American market for rare earth materials is valued at more than 1 billion US dollars per year. It will soon become critical to produce these resources outside of China.
It is reported that 77% of world production is currently coming from one mine in China. The United States used to produce approximately 6% of the world's supply from one of the only in-situ rare earth mines in the world, at Mountain Pass, California. However, Mountain Pass — the only producing mine in North America — ceased operations several years ago, creating a situation where there is no Rare Earth Elements production taking place in North America, or anywhere significant outside of China. Therefore prices and demand are expected to continue to rise drastically.
All these metals have significant economic and strategic value and depending on purity and lot size, may range in price from $15.00 US per kilogram for lanthanum metal, to $30,000 US per kilogram ($30.00 US per gram) for scandium metal. Some of these metals like Rubidium, which is not actively traded, have sold for as much as $58.20 US per gram. The data herein was collected from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) minerals information site.
