Appia Announces the Extraction and Shipment of Alces Lake Bulk Sample to CanmetMINING from Alces Lake Rare Earth Property, Northern Saskatchewan
Toronto, May 12, 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 that as part of a metallurgical collaboration with CanmetMINING focused on beneficiation testwork for the Alces Lake Rare Earth Project, the Company has extracted a bulk sample from the Alces Lake discovery and will ship it to CanmetMINING in the next few days. The primary focus for the test program will be to optimize and enhance the development of an Alces Lake Project flowsheet and to confirm other material testwork that has been previously conducted by other parties on the Alces Lake monazite.
Federal R&D assistance is provided through a collaboration agreement with CanmetMINING, under their Critical Minerals Research, Development and Demonstration program. This program targets research and development for upstream critical minerals processing and aims to stimulate the development of battery and permanent magnet value chains in Canada.
The test work is anticipated to include grinding, flotation, magnetic separation, ore sorting, and dense medium separation (DMS). CanmetMINING scientists will work closely with the Company and its consultants for mineral processing. The objective is to design and execute a comprehensive and optimal testing approach that will produce a high-grade rare earth mineral concentrate from the Alces Lake mineralized material.
A total of 0.9 tonnes of mineralized material was extracted from the Alces Lake Deposit and 0.6 tonnes will be shipped to SGS Canada's Lakefield facility in Ontario for crushing and sizing ahead of test work. The remainder of the sample will be shipped at a later date. Upon completion of the preparatory work, the sample will be shipped to CanmetMINING and the test programs will begin.
About CanmetMINING
CanmetMINING, a science and technology branch of the Lands and Metals sector of Natural Resources Canada, is a world-class leader in the development and deployment of green mining innovation technologies. Much of its research is undertaken in partnership with industry, provincial governments, other federal departments, universities and international agencies.
CanmetMINING's $47.7M Critical Minerals RD&D Program was funded through the Federal Budget 2021 to develop domestic critical raw materials value chains, and position Canada as a global supplier of choice for critical mineral products. R&D is focused on 3 key priority research areas: battery minerals, the Mining Value from Waste Program (MVfW), and rare earth elements and other critical minerals. This collaboration with Appia under the REE and other critical minerals area seeks to advance the production of permanent magnet raw materials in Canada.
2021 Drilling Results Received
The Company is now in receipt of all assay results from 2021 and is currently analyzing and evaluating the information. A summary of the results is expected to be released in the near future
Appia commenced drilling at Alces Lake in mid-March 2022 and plans to drill significantly deeper holes compared to the 100 holes (approximately 8,075 metres) drilled in 2021. This is designed to allow Appia to determine continuity at depth and along the identified REE mineralization trends as the company works towards the publication of a maiden resource estimate in accordance with NI 43-101 for the area. With high-grade REE mineralization now having been identified in many locations within an area covering approximately 27 km2 of the Alces Lake block, the Company believes the project has the potential to be a world-class source of high-grade critical rare earth bearing monazite.
About the Alces Lake Project
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.
* 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)).
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 and 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.
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 metallurgical content in this news release was reviewed and approved by Mr. John Goode, P.Eng, Metallurgical Consultant to Appia's Board of Directors, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. The geologic 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. SRC Geoanalytical Laboratories' management system operates in accordance with ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (CAN-P-4E), General Requirements for the Competence of Mineral Testing and Calibration Laboratories.
About Appia
Appia is a Canadian publicly-listed company in the rare earth element and uranium sectors. The Company is currently focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements and gallium 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 123.1 million common shares outstanding, 142.1 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@appiareu.com
Frederick Kozak, President: (cellular) 403-606-3165 or (email) fkozak@appiareu.com
Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer and Director, (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) fvandewater@rogers.com
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/123785