source：Geology for Investors
Halifax, Nova Scotia–(Newsfile Corp. – October 15, 2019) – Ucore Rare Metals Inc. (TSXV: UCU) (OTCQX: UURAF) (“Ucore” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce an upgraded mineral resource (“Resource” or “Mineral Resource”) estimate for the Bokan Dotson-Ridge Rare Earth Project in Southeast Alaska (“Bokan” or the “Bokan Project”). The upgrade to the Resource incorporates six additional critical co-product metals (as defined by the U.S. Federal Government)[1] not previously considered in mineral resource and economic estimates (collectively, the “Critical Co-Products“).
Using a total rare earth oxide (“TREO”) cut-off grade of 0.40 percent, an additional 38.5 thousand tonnes of the critical and strategic metals, including niobium (Nb), zirconium (Zr), beryllium (Be), hafnium (Hf), titanium (Ti), and vanadium (V) have now been added to the Resource at Bokan. This development is a result of an independent metallurgical assessment by Mr. Ed Bentzen; followed by an update to the geologic model by Mr. Jim Robinson of Aurora Geosciences (Alaska) Ltd. (“Aurora”).
“We’re pleased to announce this important Resource upgrade as Ucore continues its development of the Bokan Project towards shovel ready status,” said Jim McKenzie, President & CEO of Ucore. “The completion of these initial studies continues to add momentum towards our ultimate goal of installing Bokan’s unique surface and underground mine facility, and the construction of the planned Alaska Strategic Metals Complex [the “Alaska SMC”] in Ketchikan, Alaska, as defined in our M3 Plan of Action.”
“Not only are these ancillary metals valuable augmenting components of the Bokan Resource, they’re among a select group of metals now earmarked by the U.S. Government as critically required by domestic growth industries,” said Mike Schrider, Ucore’s COO. “This Resource update now permits us to proceed with calculations affecting the value added economics of the Bokan Project. Many thanks to Ucore major shareholder, Orca Holdings LLC, of Alaska for investing its time and finances to underwrite these important Resource upgrade initiatives. These metals, combined with Bokan’s already impressive basket of critical HREE’s, make for an even more compelling strategic asset on U.S. soil.”
Notes:
(i) The mineral resource estimate was completed by Mr. Jim Robinson, a Senior Consulting Geologist at Aurora. Mr. Robinson is an independent qualified person for the purposes of NI 43-101 standards of disclosure for mineral projects of the Canadian Securities Administrators and has verified the data disclosed in this release.
(ii) The resource estimate is based on:
A database of 97 diamond drill holes totaling 20,000 m and 56 surface channels totaling 200 m. This diamond drilling and channel sampling was completed by Ucore in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2014 on the Dotson Ridge zone.
All geochemical analyses were performed by ALS Chemex, Eco-tech Laboratories Ltd., Bureau Veritas (ACME Analytical), and Activation Laboratories.
The specific gravity (SG) used is the overall mean of 2.77, determined from 141 SG readings.
Block model was estimated by the Inverse Distance Squared interpolation method on blocks of maximum 4 m x 4 m and minimum 1 m x 1 m dimensions.
All REE assays exceeding the 95% confidence level (CL) were cut to the 95% CL for each element.
All intercepts with a true width of less than 1.5 m were diluted to a potential mining width of 1.5 m.
The upgraded Resource has been prepared by Aurora Geosciences (Alaska) Ltd. of Juneau, Alaska. As a third-party consultant, Aurora was additionally responsible for the data collection, quality control, modeling, and reporting associated with the Resource estimate upgrade.
The REE Mineral Resources were modeled via ten alternative TREO cut-off grades, with a baseline case (“Base Case”) employing a TREO cut-off of 0.4%. The Base Case renders an Indicated Mineral Resource of 4.84 million tonnes grading 0.601% TREO, an Inferred Mineral Resource of 1.04 million tonnes grading .604% TREO, and a skew of approximately 40% HREO over TREO.
The drill-defined Mineral Resource at Bokan Dotson-Ridge commences at surface and is open both at depth and along strike. Additional information regarding significant drill results from the Company’s prior exploration programs and maps and sections detailing the drill-hole locations and individual REE values are available at: https://ucore.com/projects/bokan-mountain-alaska/exploration-program.
NI 43-101 Compliance
James Robinson, P.Geo., an independent geologist with Aurora Geosciences (Alaska) Ltd. of Juneau, Alaska, has prepared the technical data provided in this news release and is the qualified person responsible for its accuracy.
Disclosure of the nature of a PEA in compliance with NI 43-101 Guidelines: A PEA is preliminary in nature; it includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized.
About Ucore
Ucore Rare Metals is a development-phase company focused on rare and critical metals resources, extraction and beneficiation technologies with near term potential for production, growth and scalability. The Company has a 100% ownership stake in the Bokan-Dotson Ridge Rare Earth Project. On March 31, 2014, Ucore announced the unanimous support of the Alaska State Legislature for Senate Bill 99 (2014), which authorized the AIDEA to issue up to USD$145 million in bonds for the infrastructure and construction costs of the Bokan-Dotson Ridge Rare Earth Project.
Ucore’s vision and plan is to transition to become a leading advanced technology company that provides metal separation products and services to the mining and mineral extraction industry. This vision includes the development of the Alaska SMC in Southeast Alaska and the development of the Company’s rare earth minerals property located at Bokan Mountain in Alaska (an NI-43-101 technical report was filed on SEDAR on March 14, 2013).