Belmont Resources Announces Plans for 2023 Rare Earth Elements (REE) Exploration on Saskatchewan Uranium/Thorium Project
· Issued by Belmont Resources Inc. via TheNewswire
(TheNewswire)
Vancouver, B.C. Canada –
TheNewswire -
January 23, 2023; Belmont Resources
Inc
. (“Belmont”), (or the “Company”),
(TSXV:BEA
)
;
(
FSE:L3L2) is pleased to announce plans
for a 2023 Rare Earths Elements (REE) exploration program on its 100%
owned Crackingstone Uranium-Thorium property situated in northern
Saskatchewan, 6 kilometers west of Uranium City.
George Sookochoff, CEO of Belmont Resources commented,
“I am excited to be going back to our Crackingstone project after
some 15 years and prepare for our Rare Earth Elements (REE’s)
exploration program. It appears that in 2008 we may have already
drilled into REE’s but at that time we, nor the rest of the world
were not interested in REE’s, only uranium. Today however, countries
are scrambling for REE’s and apparently, we cannot find enough to
sustain our fast growing high tech world we live in today.
And today we only have to return to Uranium City, which
is only 7 kilometers from our Crackingstone property, where we still
have over 3,000 meters of our 2008 drill core stored and re-assay the
core for rare earth elements such as lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce),
praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), promethium (Pm), samarium (Sm),
europium (Eu), and gadolinium (Gd) to name only eight of a total of 17
elements (metals). That will save the Company hundreds of thousands of
dollars in drilling costs alone.
So why do we think we have REE’s on the
Crackingstone? Well REE’s are often associated with the rock
“pegmatite” and the element “Thorium”. We already see
pegmatite in 17 of the 20 drill holes from 2008 as well as pegmatite
outcrops on the property. As well, there are large Thorium anomalies
shown in our 2006 radiometric survey over the Crackingstone property.
So we are already off to a great start towards a potential “Rare
Earth Metals” discovery.”
Rare Earth Elements (REE)
Click Image To View Full Size
Rare Earth Elements (often referred to Rare Earth
Minerals or Metals) have become essential to the future economy and
security. They make possible the high tech world we live in today –
everything from the miniaturization of electronics, to the enabling of
green energy and medical technologies, to supporting a myriad of
essential telecommunications and defense systems. These materials,
many of which were of little economic interest until recently, are
required to fuel a proliferation of technologies and industries that
have become vital for social and economic well-being the world
over.
The Rare Earth Metal supply chain has been a worry for
U.S.-based high-tech companies and defense contractors for years
mainly because China controls 80% of rare earths supply and 90% of the
complex
processing required to transform rare
earths into the magnets and powders in which they ultimately end
up.
Canada has some of the largest known reserves and
resources rare earths in the world, estimated at over 14 million
tonnes of rare earth oxides in 2021. As such the United States is
looking north to Canada to become a major supplier of rare earth
metals to counter China’s dominant position.
Rare earth minerals are processed primarily from ores
and minerals that naturally contain uranium and thorium. Processing
rare earth minerals involves the separation and removal of uranium and
thorium.
Rare earth minerals are most often associated with
pegmatite which is the host rock for many rare mineral
deposits.
Appia Rare Earths and Uranium Corp’s Alces lake
property, 34 kilometers east of Uranium City, has recently reported
some of the highest REE grades in the world; average zone high-grades
range from 4.2 to 32.2 weighted percent total rare earth oxide or
better known as TREO.
Appia’s rare earths exploration has focused on
pegmatites within thorium anomalous areas.
Belmont’s Crackingstone property
contains in addition to Uranium, Thorium and Pegmatites.
Belmont 2008 drilling intercepted 170 meters
collectively of pegmatite, associated with a Thorium radiometric
survey anomaly, in 17 of the 20 holes drilled. Also there are large
pegmatite outcrops on the property.
Pegmatite occurrences on Crackingstone were not
reported extensively or assayed in the past because of their lower
concentration of uranium values which was the main focus of
exploration. Also as there was little global interest in rare earths
at the time, rare earth potential of these pegmatites were never
evaluated.
2023 Exploration Program
After an extensive review of previous exploration data
from the Crackingstone Uranium/Thorium property along with learning
from nearby REE discoveries and what important exploration vectors
were used to make these discoveries ie. pegmatites within thorium
anomalies, and the fact that the Crackingstone property has similar
vectors for potential REE discoveries, Belmont resources is planning a
rare earths focused exploration program for 2023.
The program will consist of the following:
Re-log 2008 drill core and re-assay for rare earth
metals intervals containing pegmatite.
Belmont has over 3,000 meters of 2008 drill core stored at nearby
Uranium City.
Sample known pegmatite outcrops on the property.
Geological mapping of a large thorium radiometric
anomaly in northwest area of the property.
Click Image To View Full Size
Delineate and sample new pegmatite showings in
the thorium anomaly for Rare Earth Metals.
Belmont Resources has assembled a portfolio of highly
prospective copper-gold-lithium & uranium projects located in
British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Washington and Nevada States. Its
holdings include:
The
Come By
Chance (CBC), Athelstan-Jackpot (AJ) and Pathfinder
situated in the prolific Greenwood mining camp in southern
British Columbia.
The
Crackingstone
Uranium
project in the uranium rich
Beaverlodge uranium district of northern Saskatchewan.
The
Lone
Star
copper-gold
mine in the mineral rich Republic mining camp of north
central Washington State.
The
Kibby Basin
Lithium
project located 60 kilometers north of
the lithium rich Clayton Valley Basin.
The Belmont project portfolio:
Come By Chance
,
B.C. – * Copper-Gold mine
Athelstan-Jackpot
, B.C. – * Gold-Silver mines
Crackingstone,
Sask. – Uranium-Thorium
Lone Star
,
Washington – * Copper-Gold mine
Kibby Basin,
Nevada – Lithium
Pathfinder
,
B.C. – * Gold–Silver mines
Pride of the West
, B.C.- Gold
* past producing mine
Click Image To View Full Size
NI 43-101 Disclosure:
The technical information in this
news release has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory
requirements as set out in National Instrument 43-101 and has been
reviewed
and approved by
Laurence Sookochoff, P.Eng.
We seek safe harbor. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor
its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the
policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release. The TSX Venture Exchange has not
approved nor disapproved of the information contained
herein
.
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