Oct 8 2012
Search Minerals Inc. ("Search" or the "Company") (TSXV: SMY) and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alterra Resources Inc., are pleased to announce the start of a $250,000 Phase I program which includes a 1200 m NQ drilling program (the "Drilling Program") on the Pesky Hill prospect, located 25 km southeast of Port Hope Simpson, Labrador, in the Port Hope Simpson REE District, as announced on September 5, 2012.
Location of Pesky Hill Prospect and all Prospects Port Hope Simpson REE Belt, SE Labrador. (CNW Group/Search Minerals Inc.)
OBJECTIVE OF THE DRILLING PROGRAM
- Identify a high grade, Dysprosium resource that can be put into production much quicker and at a substantially lower capital cost than the Company's Foxtrot Project resource.
- Test the earlier prospecting and surface sampling, which yielded Dysprosium values of 621 - 2,741 ppm (Dy203 from 713 - 3,157 ppm), (News Release, March 1, 2012).
- Demonstrate to all stakeholders the potential of the Port Hope Simpson REE District for multiple REE deposits.
Springdale Forest Resources (Diamond Drilling Division) has been contracted to carry out the drilling program targeting HREE-Zr-Y-Nb mineralization at the Pesky Hill prospect. Approximately 25 holes (25 to 50 m depth) will be spotted to trace and sample high grade mafic-rich, amphibole-pyroxene-quartz-titanite, and related granitic pegmatites (see Search's news releases, March 1, 2012).
The Pesky Hill prospect is located near St. Lewis Inlet on the southeast Labrador coast. An all season, maintained gravel highway (Highway 510) is located about 5 km from the prospect, allowing access to the local port facilities, airstrips, and infrastructure at Port Hope Simpson, St. Lewis, and Mary's Harbour. Access to the Pesky Hill prospect is via a newly constructed 8 km long forest road.
Logging, sampling and assaying of drill core will be on-going with the Drilling Program; assay results are expected in the near future. Core is transported from the drill site to the nearby road and transported by truck to Search's Port Hope Simpson base. The core is split in half using a diamond table saw. One half of the core is kept in core boxes in the core storage facility for reference, and the other half is packaged and transported to ActLabs Sample Preparation Lab at Goose Bay. Search representatives maintain custody of the core and samples at all times until they have been delivered to the lab. See Search's July 27, 2010 news release for details of the preparation and assay methods.
Jim Clucas, President and CEO of Search Minerals notes "This drill program is designed to outline HREE mineralization that will complement the REE deposit outlined at the Foxtrot Project. The Company has discovered 11 REE prospects in the Port Hope Simpson REE District and hopes to develop multiple REE mines in the District."