Oct 26 2010
Rare Earth Metals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:RA) has reported Rare Earth Element/Niobium/Beryllium results from the first drill hole completed on the Two Tom Mineralized Zone at the Red Wine property located approximately 110 kilometers northeast of Churchill Falls in west central Labrador.
The Two Tom Zone is located 18 km east of the Mann #1 Zone which was the focus of the first six holes in the Red Wine drill program.
Results from the initial Two Tom hole, DDH TT- 01 include 1.68% TREO, 0.30% Nb2O5 and 0.37% BeO over 65.2 meters within a wider zone of 1.35% TREO, 0.31% Nb2O5 and 0.32% BeO over 105.7 meters. The HREO/TREO ratio from the 65.2 meter intersection is 8.33% and the 105.7 meter composite is 9.21%. The 65.2 meter composite had an average of 0.80% cerium oxide, 0.40% lanthanum oxide, 0.27% neodymium oxide, 0.08% praseodymium oxide, 0.05% yttrium oxide, 0.026% gadolinium oxide, and 0.010% dysprosium oxide. The 105.7 meter composite had an average of 0.63% cerium oxide, 0.32% lanthanum oxide, 0.22% neodymium oxide, 0.06% praseodymium oxide, 0.04% yttrium oxide, 0.02% gadolinium oxide, and 0.01% dysprosium oxide.
Prior to the drill program, prospecting and trenching had partially outlined the Two Tom mineralization as a northeast striking zone over a minimum of 1.3 kilometers. Results from prospecting along the zone was previously reported and ranged from 0.05% up to 6.31% TREO, 0.02% to 8.71% Nb2O5, 0.002% up to 2.00% BeO, and 0.14% to 3.08% Zinc. Intermittent trenching and channel sampling was successful in further outlining the mineralization and included a best result from Trench #2 where channel results previously reported on August 31, 2010 averaged 1.70% TREO, 0.34% Nb2O5, and 0.27% BeO over 17.8 meters. (The trench results were not cut off at either end as overburden and topography did not allow for additional sampling outside the 17.8 meters.) Drilling on the Zone commenced in September and a total of eleven holes were completed.
Commented Michael Stares, President and CEO of Rare Earth Metals Inc., "We are very pleased with these initial drill results at Two Tom. The thickness of the REE/niobium/beryllium mineralized structure and the presence of a higher grade core are very encouraging. We are looking forward to getting the results of the remaining ten holes. It should also be noted that the Two Tom Zone is 18 kilometers along strike from the previously reported drill results at the Mann #1 Zone and the area in between has seen little follow-up work to date."
The Company owns or has option agreements covering over 349 square kilometres of mineral rights within the Red Wine Belt. The 2010 exploration program focused on prospecting, sampling, trenching, and drill testing of previously identified mineralization and targets delineated by an airborne magnetic and radiometric survey. To date, ten areas of REE mineralization have been identified. The recently completed drilling was targeted on three of these target areas: six holes on the Mann #1 Deposit, eleven holes on the Two Tom Zone and one hole on the Dory Pond boulder field. The remainder of the drill results will be released as they are received. In addition, results from 30% of the prospect samples collected are pending and will also be reported as they are received.
Core from the drill program was transported by helicopter from the drill site, logged at Rare Earth Metals' camp and split in half using a diamond table saw or a manual core splitter. One half of the core was sent to Activation Laboratories Ltd. ("Actlabs") for analysis and the other half was kept in core boxes at the camp for reference. All samples were delivered by Company personnel to Actlabs' sample preparation facility in Happy Valley-Goose Bay. The samples were processed and representative pulps sent to Actlabs' analytical facility in Ancaster, Ontario. The digestion technique was total digestion that employs a lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion and the analysis is completed using ICP, ICP/MS and XRF techniques. For QA/QC purposes Rare Earth Metals systematically inserts duplicates and blanks into every sample batch. The Company has also established a program of third party check-assays with other labs to confirm the original results. Actlabs is an ISO 17025 (Lab 266) and NELAP (lab E87979) accredited lab for specific registered tests.
The Rare Earth Element assays are reported as Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO), the Niobium assays are given as Niobium Oxide (Nb2O5), and the Beryllium assays are given as Beryllium Oxide (BeO). The TREO includes all the Rare Earth Oxides plus Yttrium Oxide. As per industry standard the TREO are broken down into Light Rare Earth Oxides (LREO) and Heavy Rare Earth Oxides (HREO). The LREO consists of Ce2O3, La2O3, Nd2O3, Pr2O3 and Sm2O3 and the HREO consists of Eu2O3, Gd2O3, Tb2O3, Dy2O3, Ho2O3, Er2O3, Tm2O3, Yb2O3, Lu2O3 and Y2O3. The %HREO is calculated by dividing the HREO by the TREO. The most abundant REEs from the drill hole composites described above are, in decreasing order: Cerium, Lanthanum and Neodymium.
Wayne Reid, PGeo, is a qualified person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information forming the basis for release.