Macarthur Minerals Expands Exploration Acreage

RNS Number : 4369W

Rare Earth Minerals PLC

27 April 2016

 

Rare Earth Minerals Plc

("Rare Earth Minerals", "REM" or "the Company")

Macarthur Minerals Expands Exploration Acreage in Western Australia

Macarthur Minerals Limited ("Macarthur Minerals"), in which REM owns an approximate 15.5% shareholding, has announced that it has applied for five additional exploration licences in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to expand its total tenement area to 1,379 sq km (341,000 acres) for 'hard rock' lithium, now across 19 exploration licences. The expansion of Macarthur Minerals' acreage package is consistent with its focus on exploration of raw materials for the production of lithium batteries. The full text of the Macarthur Minerals announcement is shown below.

·    The five new Pilbara exploration licence applications cover an area of 185 sq km (45,000 acres).

·    Macarthur Minerals continues to expand its acreage and has one of the largest acreages for 'hard rock' lithium of any junior exploration company globally and is one of a few TSX-V listed companies to have potential projects for lithium in Australia.

·    Macarthur Minerals is currently evaluating its acreage and commencing discussions with various third parties concerning potential joint ventures to maximise the exploration effort throughout 2016.

Kiran Morzaria, Chief Executive Officer of REM, commented:

"As a significant shareholder in Macarthur Minerals we very much welcome Macarthur Minerals' expansion of acreage for 'hard rock' lithium exploration and are excited by the potential and growth of the project." 

For further information, please contact:

Rare Earth Minerals plc                                                [phone]

Kiran Morzaria

WH Ireland Limited (Nomad & Broker)                       [phone]

James Joyce

Mark Leonard

Square1 Consulting                                                       [phone]

David Bick

Brian Alexander

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - April 26, 2016) -  Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX VENTURE: MMS) 

THIS NEWS RELEASE IS NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES 

Macarthur Minerals Limited (TSX VENTURE: MMS) (the "Company" or "Macarthur Minerals") is pleased to announce that it has applied for five additional exploration licences in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to expand its total tenement area to 1,379 square kilometres (341,000 acres).

The Company continues to expand its acreage and has one of the largest acreages for 'hard rock' lithium of any junior exploration company globally and is one of a few TSX-V listed companies to have potential projects for lithium in Australia. The expansion of the Company's acreage package is consistent with the Company's focus on exploration of raw materials for the production of lithium batteries.

New Pilbara Tenements 

The location of the five new Pilbara exploration licence applications (E46/1133, E45/4747, E45/4748, E45/4749, and E45/4750), which covers an area of 185 square kilometres (45,000 acres), is shown in Figure 1.

The applications contain similar geological settings to the Pilgangoora Li-Ta pegmatite deposits, which host the lithium projects of Australian Securities Exchange listed companies, Pilbara Minerals Limited (ASX: PLS) and Altura Mining Limited (ASX: AJM).

Geological Setting of New Applications 

Macarthur's new acreage applications in the Pilbara are based on geological relationships that are broadly consistent with the currently accepted exploration/mineral system model for Lithium-Caesium-Tantalum ("LCT" type) rare element pegmatites. The applications comprise areas of greenstone belt (meta-volcanic sequences) as well as earlier granitoids and gneisses likely to contain LCT pegmatites. They are located within 5-10 km of ~2.9 Ga(1) post-tectonic monzogranite (S-type) intrusions, which are considered to be the source of magmatic fluids from which the LCT pegmatites crystallised. The fertile character of the highly fractionated younger monzogranites(2), and their potential link to lithium mineralisation, adjacent to and within the new application is supported by the numerous occurrences of lithium (Li), tantalum (Ta), tin (Sn), and beryl (Be) associated with these monzogranites.

Lithium Strategy 

The Company's strategy is to apply for prospective acreage proximate to known lithium occurrences or where there are either, producing lithium mines or lithium mines under development. Consistent with this strategy, the Company has acquired acreage in the Pilbara region where Pilbara Minerals Limited has its Pilgangoora lithium-tantalum project for which it recently raised A$100 million for further development and in the Ravensthorpe region where Galaxy Resources Limited (ASX: GXY) has commenced production for spodumene and tantalum concentrate at its Mt Cattlin project.

Macarthur is currently undertaking a detailed review of all its acreage and plans to commence a Stage 1 helicopter borne reconnaissance program over the Pilbara acreage, which will be undertaken by our senior technical team.

Macarthur is currently evaluating its acreage and commencing discussions with various third parties concerning potential joint ventures to maximise the exploration effort throughout 2016. 

The Company has undertaken an extensive review of geological datasets for available acreage prospective for lithium in Western Australia based on geological attributes referred to above. That review indicates that available acreage in Western Australia having those geological attributes is becoming scarce.

Acreage Package 

The Company now holds 19 exploration licence applications covering a total area of 1,379 square kilometres (341,000 acres) in the Pilbara Craton, and in the Ravensthorpe and the Edah regions of the Yilgarn Craton.

SHAREHOLDER ENQUIRIES 

Macarthur has received numerous shareholder enquiries over the past 30 days. Macarthur currently has 81,623,799 shares on issue and there have been over 55 million shares traded so far in the month of April. Macarthur currently has 25.6 million warrants on issue with an exercise price of C$0.05, which expire in July and August 2016.

IRON ORE PROJECTS 

The iron ore price has increased significantly over recent months up to today's price of US$66 per tonne(3). As a result, the Company is receiving renewed interest from third parties in its iron ore projects located west of Menzies in the Yilgarn region of Western Australia. As previously announced on August 16, 2012, the Company's Ularring hematite project has an indicated resource of 54.46 mt @ 47.2% Fe and an inferred resource of 25.99mt @ 45.4% Fe for which it has completed a Pre-Feasibility Study(4).

The Company is having continuing discussions with third parties to dispose of its iron ore projects. During 2015, the Company entered into a Share Sale Agreement to dispose of all the shares of the Company's wholly owned subsidiary, Macarthur Iron Ore Pty Ltd for A$6 million. As announced previously on February 1, 2016, the transaction did not complete due to depressed iron ore prices.

ABOUT CSA GLOBAL 

As previously announced on February 15, 2016, the Company appointed CSA Global Pty Ltd ("CSA Global") as independent global lithium and mining exploration experts to assist it in project development.

CSA Global is a leading geological, mining and management consulting company whose staff includes geologists, mining engineers, project managers, data management professionals, and technical personnel. CSA Global has been operating from Perth, Western Australia since 1986. It is an independent company, with origins dating back to 1984 as part of the CSA Group founded in Ireland. CSA Global now has offices in the UK, Indonesia, Johannesburg, Vancouver, Darwin, and Brisbane. CSA has a high level of expertise in most mineral commodities gained from over twenty years' experience within the exploration and mining industry at an international level. It has experience in all stages of the mining cycle from project generation to production. For further information regarding CSA Global, please refer to the company website at www.csaglobal.com.

Dr Andrew Scogings MSc, PhD, MAIG, MAusIMM, has more than 30 years of experience in industrial minerals exploration, geology, mining, product development, and marketing. During his time with CSA, he has undertaken project management and technical advice for a diverse range of industrial minerals exploration and mining projects including lithium, graphite, chromite, potash, mineral sands, silica, and REE in Australia, Africa, Greenland, Indonesia and Norway. Andrew is a regular contributor to Industrial Minerals Magazine (UK), SME Mining Engineering (USA) and Geobulletin (RSA) having published several papers on the requirements of JORC 2012 Clause 49, highlighting the need to report industrial minerals resources according to market specifications. Andrew was lead author for Industrial Minerals Research's recently published 'Natural Graphite Report- Strategic outlook to 2020'. He is a member of the AIG and AusIMM and is a Registered Professional Geoscientist (RP Geo.) specializing in industrial minerals.

Mr Ralph Porter MSc, BSc (Geology), MAIG, MSEG is a geologist with over 35 years' of mineral exploration experience. He is highly experienced in target generation, project evaluation and exploration program implementation for gold, base metals, tantalum, nickel and PGM's. He has a strong understanding of many deposit styles with particular strength in orogenic gold, epithermal gold and porphyry copper-gold systems. He is credited with the discovery of the Pajingo epithermal gold deposits, North Queensland, Australia and was involved in the early exploration and discovery phases of Thunder Bay North PGM-Ni-Cu deposit, Ontario, Canada. Ralph was Special Projects Manager for Sons of Gwalia in Western Australia for nearly 10 years, which included responsibility for tantalum exploration (hosted within pegmatites and other deposit styles) for 5 years.

ABOUT PROFESSOR KEN COLLERSON

Professor Collerson a member of the Company's Lithium Advisory Board, who has more than 40 years' experience as a geoscientist. He will provide a significant depth of knowledge and breadth of lithium experience to the Company that is unsurpassed.

Professor Collerson is a world leading authority on the geology and geochemistry of strategic metal mineralization including lithium. He has significant experience with LCT (lithium-caesium-tantalum) spodumene-bearing pegmatites and has worked extensively in the Pilbara region where the Company's acreage is located in Western Australia. Most recently Ken worked on a hard rock lithium project in the Jarkvissle area of Sweden. Professor Collerson believes that the Company's acreage in the Pilbara region of Western Australia is highly prospective for lithium.

Professor Collerson has a PhD from the University of Adelaide and is an internationally recognized thought leader in the geosciences. He has published extensively and his work is highly cited.

QUALIFIED PERSONS 

Mr Porter, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, is a full-time employee of CSA Global and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Mr Porter has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Dr Scogings, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and Registered Professional Geoscientist (Industrial Minerals), is a full-time employee of CSA Global and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Dr Scogings has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

Professor Kenneth D. Collerson is a Fellow of the AusIMM, is a member of the Lithium Advisory Board of Macarthur and is a Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101. Professor Collerson has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.

ABOUT MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED (TSX VENTURE: MMS)

Macarthur Minerals Limited is an exploration and development company that is focused on identifying and developing high grade lithium and counter cyclical investments that complement Macarthur's capabilities.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,
MACARTHUR MINERALS LIMITED

" Cameron McCall "
Cameron McCall, Chairman

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.

Caution Regarding Forward Looking Statements 

Certain of the statements made and information contained in this press release may constitute forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including whether the Transaction will be completed. The forward-looking statements in this press release reflect the current expectations, assumptions or beliefs of the Company based upon information currently available to the Company. With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this press release, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the timely receipt of required approvals, the reliability of information, including historical mineral resource or mineral reserve estimates, prepared and/or published by third parties that are referenced in this press release or was otherwise relied upon by the Company in preparing this press release. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct as actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include fluctuations in exchange rates and certain commodity prices, uncertainties related to mineral title in the project, unforeseen technology changes that results in a reduction in iron ore demand or substitution by other metals or materials, the discovery of new large low cost deposits of iron ore, uncertainty in successfully returning the project into full operation, and the general level of global economic activity. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements due to the inherent uncertainty thereof. Such statements relate to future events and expectations and, as such, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release and except as may otherwise be required pursuant to applicable laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

(1) Ga is giga anna - 1 Billion years.

(2)S-type monzogranites are biotite-bearing granitoids considered to have formed by crystallisation of melts from metasedimentary protoliths.

(3) Australian Financial Review, April 26, 2016.

(4) NI 43-101 Technical Report filed October 1, 2012, titled "NI 43-101 Technical Report, Macarthur Minerals Limited, Pre-Feasibility Study, Ularring Hematite Project, Western Australia."

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Company Contact: 
David Taplin
Managing Director
[e-mail]
Tel: [phone] 
www.macarthurminerals.com 

 

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