Appia Acquires Large Prospective Uranium Mineral Claim Block in Athabasca Basin, NW Saskatchewan
Toronto, January 10, 2022 - Appia Rare Earths & Uranium Corp. (CSE: API) (OTCQB: APAAF) (FSE: A0I.F) (FSE: A0I.MU) (FSE: A0I.BE) (the "Company" or "Appia") is pleased to announce the acquisition of contiguous new mineral claims in the Athabasca Basin area, northwest Saskatchewan. Portions of the newly acquired Otherside claims block were previously held by Appia.
The Otherside claim block is 27,291 contiguous hectares (67,437 acres) located approximately 50 kilometres south of Fond du Lac. The claims were staked on the basis of similar geological and geophysical signatures to the Company's Loranger property as well as other known high-grade, large-tonnage uranium deposits in the Athabasca Basin including Fission Uranium Corp.'s Triple R deposit, NexGen Energy's Arrow deposits and others. Otherside straddles a 40 km long corridor hosting multiple discrete conductors with associated magnetic gradients and gravity lows, within the north central Athabasca Basin.
Appia now holds a total of 69,344 hectares (171,351 acres) of land on four uranium claims (Otherside, Eastside, North Wollaston and Loranger) as shown in Figure 1 below. Appia recently completed 925 line kilometres of airborne radiometric survey over North Wollaston and an additional 379 line kilometres of airborne radiometrics over Loranger to supplement the existing database on these properties. Additional VTEMTM (Versatile Time Domain Electromagnetic) surveys over both the North Wollaston and Loranger properties were commenced late in 2021 but have not yet been completed.
Figure 1 - Athabasca Basin Property Map
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Appia has commenced the permitting process for a winter drilling program on the Loranger property and anticipates commencement of drilling in approximately one month, depending on weather and permits. The Company is fully funded for this program.
ALCES LAKE HIGH-GRADE REE PROJECT
Appia recently provided an update on the 2021 exploration program in which the Company drilled a total of 100 core holes and collected approximately 8,075 metres of diamond drill core. Initial assay results from the Wilson North and Richards drill holes were announced on November 19, 2021 and confirmed some of the highest recorded rare earth grades discovered to date on the Alces Lake property. In addition, high-grade REE mineralization has now been identified throughout an area covering approximately 27 km2 of the Alces Lake block. Initial assay results have been returned from channel and grab samples but the Company is still awaiting further drilling core and channel sample assay results from the 2021 program.
With the largest exploration and diamond drilling program in the Company's history this past year, exploration results will be released as received and analyzed by the Company. Analysis of the summer exploration and drilling program will follow and may lead to the preparation of an NI 43-101 (Technical Report with 3D Geophysical-geological Models) report expected in early 2022. The Alces Lake project encompasses some of the highest-grade total and critical* REEs and gallium mineralization in the world, hosted within a number of surface and near-surface monazite occurrences that remain open at depth and along strike.
The Alces Lake project is located in northern Saskatchewan, the same provincial jurisdiction that is developing a "first-of-its-kind" rare earth processing facility in Canada (currently under construction by the Saskatchewan Research Council, with the Monazite Processing Unit scheduled to become operational in early 2023). The Alces Lake project area is 35,682 hectares (88,173 acres) in size and is 100% owned by Appia.
* Critical rare earth elements are defined here as those that are in short-supply and high-demand for use in permanent magnets and modern electronic applications such as electric vehicles and wind turbines (i.e: neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr), dysprosium (Dy) and terbium (Tb)).
To ensure safe work conditions are met for the workforce, the Company has developed exploration guidelines that comply with the Saskatchewan Public Health Orders and the Public Health Order Respecting the Northern Saskatchewan Administration District in order to maintain social distancing and help prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
The technical content in this news release was reviewed and approved by Dr. Irvine R. Annesley, P.Geo, Advisor to Appia's Board of Directors, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Appia
Appia is a Canadian publicly-listed company in the uranium and rare earth element sectors. The Company is currently focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements, gallium and uranium on the Alces Lake property, as well as exploring for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Otherside, Loranger, North Wollaston, and Eastside properties. The Company holds the surface rights to exploration for 105,026 hectares (259,525 acres) in Saskatchewan. The Company also has a 100% interest in 12,545 hectares (31,000 acres), with rare earth element and uranium deposits over five mineralized zones in the Elliot Lake Camp, Ontario.
Appia has 117.8 million common shares outstanding, 142.4 million shares fully diluted.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward- looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, please contact:
Tom Drivas, CEO and Director: (cell) 416-876-3957, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) appia@appiaenergy.ca
Frederick Kozak, President: (cellular) 403-606-3165 or (email) fkozak@appiaenergy.ca
Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer and Director, (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) fvandewater@rogers.com
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