Business
MBAC exercises option to buy rare earth oxide/niobium/phosphate project in south east Brazil
TORONTO, Sept. 15, 2011 /CNW/ - MBAC Fertilizer Corp. ("MBAC" or the "Company") (TSX:MBC and...
About this update from Itafos Inc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\n\n\nSymbol: MBC:TSX\nShares Outstanding: 86,374,336\nFully Diluted:94,388,643\n\n\nTORONTO, Sept. 15, 2011 /CNW/ - MBAC Fertilizer Corp. (\"MBAC\" or the \"Company\") (TSX:MBC and\n OTCQX:MBCFF) is pleased to announce that it has exercised its option to purchase 100%\n of the rare earth oxide/niobium/phosphate project (the \"Araxá Project\"\n or the \"Project\") located in the southern part of Minas Gerais State,\n Brazil, which was previously announced by the Company on June 29, 2011.\n The option had been acquired from a private vendor and the decision to\n exercise the option to acquire the Project was made after the\n completion of satisfactory due diligence by MBAC.  No additional funds\n were required to be paid upon exercising the option.\n\n\nAntenor Silva, President and CEO, stated \"The Araxá Project is unique in\n the fact that it holds what we believe to be very high grade rare earth\n elements, niobium and phosphate deposits within the same site. These\n deposits are aligned such that value can be extracted by targeting the\n rare earths and niobium deposit initially which should allow for easy\n mining of the phosphate deposit subsequently.  We continue to see great\n interest from potential partners on the rare earth elements and niobium\n deposits.\"\n\n\nThe Company is currently performing metallurgical tests with the ore in\n order to confirm the historical work as well as the ability to produce\n REOs.   MBAC will initiate drilling immediately with the intent of\n twinning the holes in order to validate historical drilling results.\n\n\nThe Araxá Project\n\n\nThe Project consists of four tenements covering 214 hectares of Barreiro\n carbonatite.  The Barreiro carbonatite is the well known host rock to\n the Brazilian Company Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração's\n (\"CBMM\") massive niobium mine which currently supplies approximately\n 85% of the world's niobium consumption each year. Historical\n exploration from the Araxá Project has led to the discovery of\n significant phosphate, rare earth oxides (\"REO\") and niobium\n mineralization. Phosphate occurrences in the carbonatite were first\n discovered in the early 1950s and the tenement areas optioned to MBAC\n have been explored in the past by companies such as CBMM and\n Rhône-Poule...