HALIFAX, Aug. 3, 2011 /CNW/ - Namibia Rare Earths Inc. ("Namibia Rare Earths" or the "Company") (TSX:NRE) is pleased to report on results from the first 24 diamond drill holes on the Lofdal Rare Earth Project in Namibia, which are confirming zones of exceptional heavy rare earth ("HREE") enrichment1 in all targets tested to date (Figure 1). Significant results are reported from the first 2,300 meters of drilling of an ongoing 7,500 meter exploration drill program. Results have been received from 10 holes testing two targets in Area 4 (Figure 2) and from 14 holes testing four targets in Area 5 (Figure 3). Detailed mineralogical studies will be initiated on the HREE enriched mineralization as a first step towards developing a metallurgical studies program.
Summary of Drill Results to Date
Significant rare earth ("REE") mineralization was intersected in all 10 holes from Area 4 with the best intercepts (expressed as % total rare earth oxides "TREO") reporting:
- 0.49% TREO over 9.00 meters with 75.5% HREE enrichment (including 1.05% TREO over 2.89 meters with 88.6% HREE enrichment)
- 0.40% TREO over 4.28 meters with 85.8% HREE enrichment (including 0.98% TREO over 0.49 meters with 97.8% HREE enrichment)
- 0.34% TREO over 12.85 meters with 81.0% HREE enrichment (including 1.30% TREO over 0.96 meters with 96.9% HREE enrichment)
- 0.34% TREO over 11.00 meters with 81.7% HREE enrichment (including 1.38% TREO over 1.00 meters with 97.0% HREE enrichment)
Significant REE mineralization was intersected in 10 of the 14 holes from Area 5 with the best intercepts reporting:
- 0.64% TREO over 5.12 meters with 92.4% HREE enrichment (including 1.29% TREO over 0.90 meters with 93.8% HREE enrichment)
- 0.35% TREO over 5.15 meters with 62.8% HREE enrichment (including 0.70% TREO over 1.20 meters with 91.6% HREE enrichment)
- 0.34% TREO over 7.82 meters with 80.8% HREE enrichment (including 0.60% TREO over 2.11 meters with 91.9% HREE enrichment)
- 0.30% TREO over 15.00 meters with 80.0% HREE enrichment (including 1.28% TREO over 1.00 meter with 94.5% HREE enrichment)
Intercept widths are reported as down the hole widths and are not necessarily true widths. Interpreted dips of the mineralized zones vary from 45 to 80 degrees and all holes were drilled at -55 degrees. A summary listing of analytical results is provided in Table 1 and a complete listing of analytical results is provided in Table 2.
Don Burton, President stated, "Confirmation of this exceptional enrichment is the underpinning to the success of our exploration program at Lofdal which has been designed to identify areas with the highest potential for the discovery of heavy rare earth enriched deposits. To have hit mineralization as targeted in so many holes on our first pass is an excellent start and there are still more than eight other targets that remain to be tested in this initial 7,500 meter drill program. At the same time, more detailed drilling will now be undertaken on these first targets to determine their potential to develop a first mineral resource on the project.
The Lofdal Carbonatite Complex is a district scale opportunity covering some 200 km2 which is unique in having these heavy enriched fluid phases. At current REE prices, grades in the range of 0.3 - 1.3% TREO with the indicated heavy enrichment could be of economic significance. The objective with continued drilling is to vector in on the richest portions of these systems."
Significant Developments from Drilling
In addition to the confirmation of HREE enrichment, drilling has provided a number of significant geological insights into the nature of the REE mineralization at Lofdal, all of which impact positively upon the potential for a significant discovery.
- Project geologists are now of an opinion that mineralization is more broadly associated with large scale hydrothermal systems rather than being restricted to discrete dykes.
- These hydrothermal systems can be characterized by either HREE or LREE enrichment, and zones can be traced laterally on surface in some instances for several kilometers.
- Many of the larger, lower grade "dykes" previously mapped on surface are in fact alteration zones associated with these systems which in some areas significantly increases the strike and width potential of the HREE exploration target.
- In Area 5, the host lithologies are variable and comprise not only carbonatite and white/pink albitites (as observed in Area 2 and Area 4), but also brecciated and fractured grey gneiss, biotite/amphibole rich gneiss and calcite-rich brecciated gneiss indicating that fluids have channeled through pre-existing structures that have created favourable (permeable) host rocks.
- In Area 5 an association of REE mineralization with 1-5% sulphides and biotite/phlogopite is emerging and may provide a means of vectoring in on higher grade zones. This potential will be tested by an induced polarization survey to be carried out in August.
These observations re-enforce the view that Lofdal has the potential to host both LREE and HREE deposit types. It is believed that the Emanya intrusive plug (which will be drill tested) may represent a potential source for LREE rich fluids, however, a source for the HREE rich fluids has not been determined and is therefore a continuing important exploration target.
Significance of HREE Enrichment
Heavy rare earths generally have significantly higher value than light rare earths. Prices for all rare earths have made substantial gains over the past 18 months with average price increases for the higher demand oxides on the order of 1,000-3,000% over this period (Table 3). The U.S. Department of Energy has identified five rare earth elements, 4 of which are heavies, as being critical for the development of 'clean-tech' applications but which have a serious supply risk over the next 15 years unless new sources can be found (Figure 4). Those four HREE (europium, terbium, dysprosium, and yttrium) are the principal target elements at Lofdal in the HREE enriched fluids.
Most REE explorers and developers report the degree of HREE enrichment in their projects and industry norms would consider any project having greater than 10% HREE enrichment to be "enriched in heavies". Using this criteria and reference to Table 4 there are seven advanced REE projects that would be considered to be enriched in heavies with the strongest enrichment at the Norra Kaar deposit in Sweden (Tasman Metals Ltd.) with an average grade of 0.54% TREO and 52.7% HREE enrichment.
REE projects cannot be assessed in terms of either percentage TREO or percentage HREE enrichment in isolation without a complete breakdown of the individual elemental concentrations which can be provided by either disclosure of individual elemental analyses or a breakdown of the grade distribution of the rare earth elements. There can also be other metals of economic significance - Norra Kaar for example has reported significant concentrations of zirconium and hafmium. Significant HREE enrichment is therefore one factor that may contribute to the economic viability of a relatively lower grade project. The other two major considerations with respect to determination of potential economic viability are tonnage and recovery. Significant quantities of HREE can therefore be derived from large tonnage REE deposits containing less than 10% HREE enrichment and a deposit may be HREE enriched but if recoveries are too low the economics become challenged.
Conceptual targeted grades at Lofdal are in the range of 0.5-3.0% TREO with HREE enrichment of 75-90%. There has been insufficient exploration to date to define a mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the discovery of a mineral resource. The objective of the first exploration drilling phase (7,500 meters) is to identify those areas with grade characteristics that warrant additional drilling as potential resource areas. The second phase of drilling (15,000 meters) will focus on those areas to provide sufficient data to develop a mineral resource estimate together with sufficient mineralogical and preliminary metallurgical work to provide an indication of the potential recoveries.
Mineralogical Studies to Be Initiated
Drill results have provided sufficient information to warrant the initiation of detailed mineralogical studies of the HREE enriched zones from drill core intersected in both Area 4 and Area 5. Qualified experts with REE deposit experience will be assigned the task of identifying the REE minerals and their characteristics with the objective of developing an initial metallurgical review to determine the potential for extraction of the rare earths. Studies undertaken to date on surface samples have indicated that the heavy rare earths are predominantly hosted in xenotime and aeschynite and the light rare earths in bastnaesite, parisite, synchysite, monazite, and allanite. As typically occurs in many carbonatite complexes, thorium is present in the REE zones at Lofdal and must be characterized for purposes of extraction options. REE zones in Area 4 average from 125-1,500 ppm thorium and in Area 5 averages are from 600-7,000 ppm thorium.
Overview of Drilling Program
The Lofdal Carbonatite Complex is an untested district scale opportunity with the potential for the discovery of several rare earth deposits, some of which may have exceptional HREE enrichment. Rare earth mineralization at Lofdal is hosted in carbonatite dykes and plugs, with the dykes typically grading between 0.5 - 3% TREO. Dyke thicknesses and associated alteration are variable from less than one meter to 15 meters at surface and can be traced in some cases, up to three kilometers in strike length. The near term objective for the Company with this initial 7,500 meter drilling program is to identify areas with the potential to host rare earth mineral deposits of economic significance. This program was initiated in late May with two diamond drills and will continue to the end of September 2011. An additional 15,000 meters of drilling is allocated to develop a 43-101 compliant resource within the next 12 months. The Company has the financial capacity to accelerate the program with additional drill rigs.
These first drill results are from areas of significant heavy rare earth (HREE) enrichment based on surface sampling of outcrops in Area 4 and in Area 5 (Figures 2 and 3). Four targets occur along an 800 meter long east-west trending structure in Area 4 where HREE enrichment of 96% carrying up to 4,400 ppm dysprosium has been sampled at surface. Best individual drill results to date from the first two targets in Area 4 have returned up to 1,148 ppm dysprosium ("Dy") with 97% HREE enrichment. The second rig, in Area 5 has tested four targets on a 1.6 kilometer long northeast trending structure where HREE enrichment of 72% carrying up to 3,540 ppm Dy has been sampled at surface. Best individual drill results to date from Area 5 have returned up to 1,401 ppm Dy with 95% HREE enrichment. More detailed drilling will be required in both areas to determine if higher concentrations of REE in surface samples are related to surface enrichment (oxidation) or to inadequate sample density in the subsurface. HREE enrichment percentages from drilling are as high or greater than samples from surface.
Next Exploration Drill Targets
The initial 7,500 meter drill program will also test three additional dyke-related targets that have been identified elsewhere in Area 5 and two targets in Area 1. Deeper drilling is also planned in Area 2 where drilling last year intersected narrow, HREE enriched structures over a strike length of 600 meters in the 2B Zone. The large, lower grade light rare earth target at the Emanya intrusion in Area 8 will also be tested. Emanya forms a prominent hill of carbonatite and is exposed over a surface area of approximately 300 meters in diameter with 218 grab samples from surface averaging 0.6% TREE. Interpretation of airborne geophysical data (versatile time domain electromagnetic "VTEM") over Emanya suggest that intrusion may be more than twice that size. Rare earth mineralization has also been documented in gneissic rocks in Area 6 associated with a radiometric anomaly which measures 400 meters long by 175 meters wide. A single rock sampling traverse across this feature returned TREE values in the range of 0.3 - 4.9% with HREE enrichment of 10-30%. Additional soil and rock sampling results from Area 6 have returned anomalous concentrations of predominantly LREE and the area is currently viewed as a low grade LREE target.
Program Management
Geological management of the Lofdal drilling program is being undertaken by Remote Exploration Services Namibia (Pty) Ltd. (corporate offices South Africa) which has established a complete field camp at Lofdal including full core logging and sampling facilities with a dedicated geological team on each drill. Drilling is being carried out by JGM Drilling and Exploration of Windhoek, Namibia which is operating two diamond drill rigs.
Sample preparation and analytical work for the drilling program is being provided by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Windhoek, Namibia and Ancaster, Ontario) employing ICP-MS techniques suitable for rare earth element analyses and following strict internal QAQC procedures inserting blanks, standards and duplicates.
Dr. Scott Swinden of Swinden Geoscience Consultants Ltd. is an independent geological advisor to Namibia Rare Earths. Dr. Swinden was the principal author of the 43-101 Technical Report dated April 4, 2011 titled "Amended 43-101 Technical Report on the Rare Earth Element Occurrences in the Lofdal Carbonatite Complex, Kunene Region, Khorixas District, Namibia" (available on SEDAR). Donald M. Burton, P.Geo. and President of Namibia Rare Earths is the Company's Qualified Person responsible for exploration in Namibia and he has reviewed and approved this press release.
About Namibia Rare Earths Inc.
Namibia Rare Earths Inc. is developing a portfolio of mineral exploration projects in Namibia and is currently focused on the accelerated development of the Lofdal Rare Earths Project. The Company completed a CDN$28.75 million initial public offering and Toronto Stock Exchange listing in April, 2011 and is well funded to carry out its development program. The common shares of Namibia Rare Earths Inc. trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "NRE".
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1 As per industry norms heavy rare earths ("HREE") and their oxide equivalents ("HREO") comprise europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu) and yttrium (Y). Light rare earths ("LREE") and their oxide equivalents ("LREO") comprise lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd) and samarium (Sm). Total rare earths ("TREE") and their oxide equivalent ("TREO") comprise HREE+LREE (HREO+LREO). "Heavy rare earth enrichment" is the ratio of HREE:TREE or HREO:TREO expressed as a percentage.