Anfield Resources Inc. Expands Its Holdings at the Firefly Mine Complex in Utah to Incorporate Three Historically-Producing Uranium Mines; Firefly Now Anfield's Initial Production Target
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Mar 18, 2014) - Anfield Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ARY)(OTC PINK:EXEQF) ("Anfield" or "the Company") is pleased to announce that it has expanded its holdings at the Firefly Mine Complex, located in the La Sal Area of the Paradox District in Utah. Anfield acquired the original claims in the area from Yellow Rock Resources in January 2014. Favorable historic reports prompted Anfield to expand the claim group from the original eight claims to a total of 55 claims. The additional claims were located on the ground by Anfield pursuant to federal and state laws governing mining locations. The expansion of the claim group is in anticipation of proposed exploration and project development at the site, with an aim of near-term production. Of note, the Firefly Mine Complex is less than 75 miles away from Energy Fuels Inc.'s White Mesa mill.
Following the expansion, the claim group now includes three historically producing mines within the Firefly Mine Complex. These are known as the Firefly, Gray Dawn, and Little Peter mines. Records of production from the Atomic Energy Commission have been located for a period from 1948 to 1958, and are summarized below.
- The Firefly mine is reported to have produced 22,311 tons of material with an average grade of 0.34% U3O8 and 2.18 V2O5.
- The Gray Dawn mine is reported to have produced 7,882 tons of material with an average grade of 0.36% U3O8 and 1.62% V2O5.
- The Little Peter is reported to have produced 974 tons of ore with an average grade of 0.25% U3O8 and 1.21% V2O5.
- The Vanadium Queen mine, located outside of but directly adjacent to Anfield's claim holdings, is reported to have produced 22,195 tons of material with an average grade of 0.33% U3O8 and 2.63% V2O5.
Production totals predating 1948 and postdating 1958 have not been located.
The La Sal Area has had significant past production of uranium and vanadium beginning in the early 1900s. Numerous underground mines extracted vanadium and uranium early on, while deeper deposits were discovered in the 1960s and developed for production in the 1970s through vertical shafts and declines. Production through 1990 amounted to about 6,426,000 lbs U3O8 at an average grade of 0.32% U3O8 and nearly 29,000,000 lbs V2O5 at an average grade of 1.46% V2O5. Of note, thirteen historically-producing Uranium-Vanadium mines have been documented in the La Sal Area.
The La Sal Area is also home to significant recent uranium and vanadium production, as well as projects in the development phase. Energy Fuels Inc.'s (TSX: EFR) Pandora and Beaver Mines together produced approximately 455,000 tons of ore at average grades of 0.22% U3O8 and 1.14% V2O5 from 2007 through 2012. The Energy Queen, an EFR development project, is located at the west end of the La Sal District and has a current NI 43-101-compliant estimated resource of 291,470 tons at 0.30% U3O8 and 1.30% V2O5.
Of note, all historical production figures shown for the La Sal Area are as reported in Utah Geological and Mineral Survey Open File Report 18, Uranium-Vanadium Occurrences of Utah (1974) and Utah Geological Survey, Utah Mining Circular, 2011. All information regarding Energy Fuels Inc. is found on its website. Anfield has been unable to verify the Energy Queen resource estimate and the resource estimate is not necessarily indicative of mineralization on the Anfield properties in the La Sal District.
Anfield is developing plans to conduct an initial exploration program on the Firefly Mine Complex in order to determine the viability of the site as a near-term production target. Initial activities will include performing surveys of the underground workings, geologic mapping, sampling, and performing geophysical surveys on the surface, within old drill holes, and within mine workings. If warranted, further exploration, including drilling, would be pursued to develop a mineral resource. If sufficient mineralization is found to be present within the historic workings, and conditions are satisfactory for mining, mineralized material would be removed and shipped to the White Mesa Mill upon obtaining both the appropriate permits and a contract with the mill.
Corey Dias, CEO of Anfield, stated: "The Company is preparing to enter into a new phase with regard to its uranium properties. Up to this point, we have been focused primarily on acquisition of target properties. We are now beginning the process of moving selected acquisitions forward to exploration and near-term production. Based on both our observations and the historic data, the Firefly Mine Complex has the initial characteristics of a key property to lead us to our goal of near-term production and toll milling at the White Mesa Mill."
About Anfield Resources Inc.
Anfield is a publicly traded corporation listed on the TSX-Venture Exchange (ARY-V) and is engaged in mineral exploration, development and production in the United States and Chile. Its focus is on acquiring and developing an array of strategic mineral projects which are summarized below:
- Anfield's Uranium assets includes mining claims and state leases in southeastern Utah and Arizona totalling 11,000 acres, targeting areas where past uranium mining or prospecting occurred within a potential shipping radius to the White Mesa Mill, the only operating conventional uranium mill in the US.
- The Binghampton Copper Queen (BCQ) project, located 27 km southeast of Prescott, Arizona, and within the Arizona VMS Belt, consists of 2,032 hectares of both patented and State land, with two past-producing mines on the property.
- The North Star Copper Project, located less than 50 miles northwest of Tucson, consisting of 200 mining claims covering approximately 4,000 acres, targets relatively shallow oxide copper at the historic North Star site in the heart of copper country in southern Arizona.
- The Aura Project, 20 miles east of Copiapo, consisting of eight mining concessions totalling over 2,800 acres, is a nascent copper production operation in Atacama, Chile, one of world's foremost copper producing regions.
To find out more about Anfield, visit its website at www.anfieldresources.com.
R. Tim Henneberry, P.Geo., Advisor to Anfield is the Qualified Person as defined in National Instrument 43-101, who has reviewed and approved the technical content of this news release.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
ANFIELD RESOURCES INC.
Corey Dias, Chief Executive Officer
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Contact
Anfield Resources Inc.
Clive Mostert
Corporate Communications
780-920-5044
cmostert@telus.net
www.anfieldresources.com