Matamec Announces 63,850 Tonnes of Indicated and 17,780 Tonnes of Inferred TREO at Kipawa
MONTREAL, QUEBEC -- (Marketwire) -- 06/30/11 -- Matamec Explorations Inc. ('Matamec' or the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: MAT) is pleased to announce an updated resource for the Kipawa Deposit. The indicated resources represent 76% of the total resources in the rare earths-enriched zones. The Kipawa Deposit's resources of total rare earth oxide (TREO) in the rare earths-enriched zones now stand at 63,850 tonnes in the indicated category and 17,780 tonnes in the inferred category with a cut-off of 0.3% TREOs (see the resource update sections). The heavy rare earth oxides and yttrium combine for an average of 36% of TREOs totaling 22,940 tonnes of indicated and 6,300 tonnes of inferred HREO Y2O3.
Recent studies have shown the importance of rare earths in the world economy, especially for heavy rare earths. In December 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy ('DOE') identified in its report 'Critical Materials Strategy' (p. 97) which chemical elements will be critical to the U.S. economy over the next 15 years. The five most critical elements are five rare earth elements, of which four are heavy rare earths (dysprosium, terbium, yttrium and europium), and the other is a light rare earth, neodymium. In the following table, the Kipawa deposit's resources of the 5 most critical elements indentified by the DOE are presented:
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Kipawa deposit's resources of the 5 critical elements identified by the
DOE
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Chemical Elements (in
oxides) Indicated Category (kg) Inferred Category (kg)
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Dysprosium (Dy2O3) 2,300,000 600,000
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Terbium (Tb2O3) 400,000 100,000
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Yttrium (Y2O3) 14,300,000 3,900,000
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Europium (Eu2O3) 200,000 100,000
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Neodymium (Nd2O3) 8,500, 000 2,400,000
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Milestones
The Kipawa Deposit is on track in demonstrating that it has the essential characteristics to be a significant potential producer of rare earths. Dudley Kingsnorth, world-renowned rare earths expert, outlines 10 steps needed to bring a rare earth deposit into production in an article in the Industrial Minerals Magazine ('10 steps to a rare earths supply', March 2011, pp.50-52). The first three steps deal with the establishment of the mineral resource, the understanding of the mineralogy and the scoping study. These first three steps of the 10-step model will be completed for the Kipawa Deposit by early fall 2011.
The first step, or the establishment of mineral resources in the rare earths-enriched zones, indicated that the TREO grades can be up to 0.7% and the of heavy rare earths and yttrium content is 36%. This makes the Kipawa deposit comparable to other rare earths deposits being explored globally. With hole spacing of 50 meters or less, the defined resources are considerable: there are 63,850 tonnes of indicated and 17,780 tonnes of inferred TREO. The resources are also well defined with 76% in the indicated category. The rare earth resource occurs at surface and extends to a depth of 110 meters, and 1600 meters laterally, which could possibly allow for a low cost open-pit production. Another drilling campaign is scheduled soon to increase the quality of the resources and to verify the lateral and depth extensions of the Kipawa deposit. In addition, this deposit is conveniently located, 60 kilometres east of the town of Temiscaming in Temiscamingue between the cities of Rouyn-Noranda and Ottawa, near many infrastructure: road, railroad and air transport, energy, water, labour, etc..
Mr. Kingsnorth's second step, the understanding of the mineralogy, is also well under way. The Kipawa deposit shows simple mineralogy in the Eudialyte, Mosandrite and Britholite Zones. In the Kipawa deposit, the three rare earth minerals are eudialyte, mosandrite and britholite and are distinctively well crystallized, coarse-grained and not intergrown. Like most other heavy rare earths deposits in the world, an ore processing route must be developed. Since August 2010, Matamec has developed a treatment adapted to the Kipawa deposit's simple mineralogy. Currently, the bench metallurgical test work is at the optimization stage before continuing on to a mini pilot plant.
The third step, the scoping study, is already in progress. Different objectives must be achieved to justify proceeding unto the next step, a feasibility study. The first objective achieved is that the Kipawa deposit's resources are at the indicated and inferred levels. Second, the ore processing tests and the metallurgy are heading in the right direction to demonstrate a proven method in the laboratory. Third, environmental baseline studies started in the Fall of 2010 have been completed. Fourth, in January 2010 Matamec started discussions with the communities surrounding the Kipawa deposit, which has led to the creation of harmonization roundtables and a follow-up system. Finally, site selection of different facilities is underway.
Kingsnorth's model is used by Matamec to illustrate the Kipawa deposit's development. The Company has been using this model in corporate presentations at the Metal-Pages' 'Metals for Energy and the Environment' conference on June 3rd in Las Vegas and at the IQPC's 'Rare Earths and Strategic Metals 2011' conference on June 21st in Sydney. These presentations are available on Matamec's website: http://www.matamec.com/investors/presentations/
As well as rare earths resources, the Kipawa deposit also has significant resources of zirconium, an chemical element increasingly used in various applications. For the rare earths-enriched zones, there are 170,500 tonnes indicated and 61,900 tonnes inferred zirconium resources.
Andre Gauthier, president of Matamec, said that 'the magnitude and quality of the new resource estimate in TREO combined with the optimization of the metallurgical process flow sheet in progress shows that the Kipawa deposit's scoping study is promising.'
NI 43-101 Mineral Resources Update by SGS Geostat
These data come from the new updated NI 43-101 resource estimate of the Kipawa deposit received from the independent firm SGS Canada Inc. - Geological group Geostat ('SGS Geostat'). For reference, the original estimate as of May 20, 2010 filed on SEDAR September 17, 2010 and the first update as of November 29, 2010 was issued January 20, 2011.
The mineralization is located within a syenite body. It plunges to 20 degrees to the south and its width varies between 40 and 65 meters. Within this unit, there are three layers of enriched TREO whose thickness varies between 2 and 28 meters. These three layers form the 'Geological TREO-Enriched Zone.' The non-enriched portion of the syenite forms the 'Geological ZrO2 Zone.'
For the Geological Rare Earths-Bearing Zones, the summary of mineral resources is presented in the following table in three different cut-off grades. Then, the TREO-enriched resources are detailed in the following three tables in three different cut-off grades.
Mineral Resources in the Geological TREO-Enriched Zone (June 2011)
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Cut-off (H Y)/TR
Grade Category Tonnage ZrO2 Y2O3 HREO(ii) TREO(i) EO(iii)
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0.3% TREO Indicated 12,472,000 0.913 0.114 0.070 0.512 36%
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inferred 3,842,000 0.912 0.101 0.063 0.463 35%
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0.4% TREO Indicated 8,249,000 0.912 0.134 0.081 0.596 36%
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inferred 2,011,000 0.949 0.127 0.079 0.572 36%
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0.5% TREO Indicated 4,988,000 0.912 0.155 0.093 0.693 36%
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inferred 985,000 0.944 0.158 0.098 0.706 36%
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(i) : TREO sum of all rare earths in oxides plus yttrium in oxide.
(ii) : HREO sum of all heavy rare earths in oxides (Terbium to Lutetium).
(iii) : H Y : HREO plus Y2O3.
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Cut-off (0.3% TREO)
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Category Indicated Inferred
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Tonnage 12,472,000 3,842,000
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Grade % Tonnes Ox Grade % Tonnes Ox
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Y2O3 0.114 14,300 0.101 3,900
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LREO(i) 0.327 40,800 0.299 11,500
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HREO(i) 0.070 8,700 0.063 2,400
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TREO(i) 0.512 63,900 0.463 17,800
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La2O3 0.074 9,300 0.068 2,600
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Ce2O3 0.151 18,800 0.138 5,300
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Pr2O3 0.018 2,300 0.017 600
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Nd2O3 0.068 8,500 0.063 2,400
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Sm2O3 0.015 1,900 0.014 500
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Eu2O3 0.0020 200 0.0018 100
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Gd2O3 0.015 1,900 0.014 500
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Tb2O3 0.0028 400 0.0026 100
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Dy2O3 0.018 2,300 0.017 600
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Ho2O3 0.0041 500 0.0037 100
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Er2O3 0.013 1,600 0.011 400
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Tm2O3 0.0019 200 0.0017 100
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Yb2O3 0.012 1,400 0.011 400
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Lu2O3 0.0015 200 0.0014 100
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ZrO2 0.913 113,800 0.912 35,000
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(i) Light rare earths (LREO) = La2O3 to Sm2O3, Heavy rare earths (HREO) =
Eu2O3 to Lu2O3, TREO = LREO HREO Y2O3.
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Cut-off (0.4% TREO)
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Category Indicated Inferred
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Tonnage 8,249,000 2,011,000
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Grade % Tonnes Ox Grade % Tonnes Ox
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Y2O3 0.134 11,000 0.127 2,500
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LREO(i) 0.381 31,400 0.367 7,400
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HREO(i) 0.081 6,700 0.079 1,600
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TREO(i) 0.596 49,200 0.572 11,500
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La2O3 0.087 7,100 0.082 1,600
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Ce2O3 0.176 14,500 0.170 3,400
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Pr2O3 0.021 1,800 0.021 400
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Nd2O3 0.080 6,600 0.077 1,600
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Sm2O3 0.018 1,500 0.017 300
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Eu2O3 0.0023 200 0.0022 40
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Gd2O3 0.018 1,500 0.017 300
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Tb2O3 0.0033 300 0.0032 100
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Dy2O3 0.022 1,800 0.021 400
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Ho2O3 0.0047 400 0.0046 100
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Er2O3 0.015 1,200 0.014 300
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Tm2O3 0.0022 200 0.0022 40
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Yb2O3 0.013 1,100 0.013 300
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Lu2O3 0.0017 100 0.0017 30
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ZrO2 0.912 75,300 0.949 19,100
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(i) Light rare earths (LREO) = La2O3 to Sm2O3, Heavy rare earths (HREO) =
Eu2O3 to Lu2O3, TREO = LREO HREO Y2O3.
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Cut-off (0.5% TREO)
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Category Indicated Inferred
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Tonnage 4,988,000 985,000
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Grade % Tonnes Ox Grade % Tonnes Ox
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Y2O3 0.155 7,700 0.158 1,600
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LREO(i) 0.445 22,200 0.450 4,400
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HREO(i) 0.093 4,700 0.098 1,000
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TREO(i) 0.693 34,600 0.706 7,000
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La2O3 0.101 5,000 0.098 1,000
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Ce2O3 0.206 10,300 0.209 2,100
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Pr2O3 0.025 1,200 0.026 300
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Nd2O3 0.092 4,600 0.096 900
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Sm2O3 0.021 1,000 0.021 200
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Eu2O3 0.0027 100 0.0027 30
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Gd2O3 0.020 1,000 0.021 200
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Tb2O3 0.0038 200 0.0040 40
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Dy2O3 0.025 1,200 0.026 300
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Ho2O3 0.0055 300 0.0057 100
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Er2O3 0.017 800 0.018 200
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Tm2O3 0.0025 100 0.0027 30
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Yb2O3 0.015 700 0.016 200
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Lu2O3 0.0019 100 0.0020 20
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ZrO2 0.912 45,500 0.944 9,300
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(i) Light rare earths (LREO) = La2O3 to Sm2O3, Heavy rare earths (HREO) =
Eu2O3 to Lu2O3, TREO = LREO HREO Y2O3.
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Mineral Resources in the Geological Zirconium-Enriched Zone (June 2011)
For the Geological Zirconium-Enriched Zone, the summary of the mineralized resources is shown in the table below:
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Cut-off (H Y)/TR
Grade Category Tonnage ZrO2 Y2O3 HREO(ii) TREO(i) EO(iii)
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0.5% ZrO2 Indicated 17,630,000 1.058 0.020 0.013 0.081 40%
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inferred 13,370,000 1.021 0.019 0.012 0.080 39%
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(i) : TREO sum of all rare earths in oxides plus yttrium in oxide.
(ii) : HREO sum of all heavy rare earths in oxides (Europium to
Lutetium).
(iii) : H Y : HREO plus Y2O3.
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Technical details of the NI 43-101 mineral resources estimation by SGS Geostat
For the mineral resource update, SGS Geostat used the data from April 2011 which includes Unocal Canada's historic drill holes (30 drilled in 1988-1990), Matamec's drill holes from 2009 to 2011 totaling 10,278 meters drilled, as well as 631 meters of channel samples (Unocal Canada). A total of 6733 mineralized and analyzed intervals for the different elements were used for this update.
The estimation was performed using a block model (10m x 10m x 5m) using the inverse distance squared for the grade interpolation levels. The blocks are classified according to their distance to drill holes. Blocks located in area drill of 50m x 50m or less are classified as indicated, while those drilled on larger spacing are classified as inferred. The estimation parameters are similar to those used for the update of mineral resources issued in January 2011.
Yann Camus (Eng.) engineer for the independent firm SGS Canada Inc. - geological group Geostat ('SGS Geostat ') is the qualified person under NI 43-101 standards, which supervised the preparation of the resource estimate.
Robert Crepeau (Eng.) and Aline Leclerc (Geo.), Vice-President Exploration of Matamec, qualified person under NI 43-101 standards for the project Zeus, oversaw the preparation of the scientific and technical information. Together, they have verified the information in this press release.
About Matamec
Matamec Explorations Inc is a junior mining exploration company whose main focus is in developing the Kipawa deposit and exploring more than 35km of strike length in the Kipawa Alkalic Complex for rare earths-yttrium-zirconium-niobium-tantalum mineralization on its Zeus property.
The company is also exploring for gold, base metals and platinum group metals. Its gold portfolio includes the Matheson JV property located along strike and in close proximity to the Hoyle Pond Mine in the prolific mining camp of Timmins, Ontario.
In Quebec, the Company is exploring for lithium and tantalum on its Tansim property and for precious and base metals on its Sakami, Valmont and Vulcain properties. As well, it is exploring for gold together with Northern Superior Resources Inc. on the Lesperance/Wachigabau property.
'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.'
Contacts:
Andre Gauthier
President
(514) 844-5252
(514) 844-0550 (FAX)
info@matamec.com
www.matamec.com