Resource World Magazine

O C T O B E R / N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 9 www.resourceworld.com 23 IV-19-003 was collared 11.5 metres south- east of the Ivan surface zone outcrop and intersected 16.10 wt% Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) over 11.65 metres core length (true thickness has not been deter- mined) starting at 10.25 metres down hole, which includes a 2.7-metre core length section that returned 31.04 wt% TREO starting at 13.3 metres down hole. The monazite-bearing mineralization system was intersected in 40 of the holes in all target areas except AL. High con- centrations of locally banded to massive monazite were observed in 20 of the holes in target areas CH, DT, IV and RI. Based on previous outcrop and drill core sample studies, the rare earth elements are hosted within the mineral monazite. James Sykes, Vice-President, Exploration and Development, said, "We defined monazite mineralization in three new areas (Dante, Mikaela and Richard) and also intersected new sub-surface zones exhib- iting high concentrations of monazite within Dante, Ivan and Richard. The min- eralization system continues to prove to be extensive, with multiple new discoveries, as well as over a 90% drill hole intersec- tion success rate. The widespread nature of monazite indicates the mineralization system is far more extensive beneath the surface than what we've observed thus far." Recent drilling results from Alces Lake included 16.06% wt% TREO over 15.55 metres, including 49.17% wt% TREO over 3.7 metres in hole IV-19-012. Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. [AVL-TSX; AVLNF-OTCQX; OU5-FSE] has been advancing the Nechalacho Rare Earth Elements property at Thor Lake, Northwest Territories. Based on a posi- tive 2013 Feasibility Study, the property has potential for economic recovery of neodymium, praseodymium, lithium, zir- conium, beryllium, niobium and tantalum. Avalon initially focused on the heavy REE- rich Basal Zone deposit (2008-2013), the subject of the 2013 Feasibility Study. The presence of high-grade, near sur- face neodymium-praseodymium and dysprosium resources in the T-Zone and Tardiff zones provide the potential for near term, small scale development to pro- duce Nd-Pr-rich concentrates for export. In January 2019, Avalon and Cheetah Resources Pty Ltd. signed a binding terms sheet under which Cheetah would acquire ownership of the T-Zone and Tardiff Zone resources for $5 million, with the defini- tive agreement completed in June. Avalon retains its ownership of resources below 150 metres (including the Basal Zone deposit) and will continue to have access to the property for explora- tion, development and mining. Avalon will also continue to manage Nechalacho work programs and retain its 3% NSR royalty. "We looked at one specific zone as a resource because of its unusual enrichment in the heavy Rare Earths," said Bubar, "but there are other resources on the property that we did not do much work on that have good potential for near term production of the more in-demand, light Rare Earths – neodymium and praseodymium – and we announced a partnership arrangement we've entered into with an Australian group [Cheetah] who are going to finance getting something started there, in the near term, at a small scale, to initiate some production there." He added, "We're focused on one par- ticular resource in our new partnership with Cheetah called the T-Zone that had some work done on it historically in the 1980s by a predecessor company called Highwood Resources." Bubar explained that it is basically a polymetallic rare metals deposit. "They looked at it primarily for beryllium, but there is another zone that is primarily enriched in rare earth elements that's right at the surface, and because it has got very simple course grade minerology, looks ide- ally suited for applying new sensor-based ore-sorting technology, a dry-processing technology that is relatively inexpensive to make a concentrate that can then be shipped elsewhere for the next stage in processing to concentrate the rare earth elements." Summarizing, Bubar said, "It offers a relatively, simple, quick path to getting something started there that we think we can build on together with Cheetah and to build a larger operation down the road as we get established in the market and mar- ket demand grows." Commerce Resources Corp. [CCE- TSXV; CMRZF-OTC; D7H-FSE] has been steadily advancing the 100%-owned Ashram Rare Earth Element deposit 130 km south of Kuujjuaq, northern Québec, a major high-grade, large tonnage rare earth deposit, with middle and heavy rare earth enrichment confirmed. A positive May 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment indicated a 4,000 tonne-per-day open pit operation with a 25-year mine life. Pilot plant studies have been undertaken. Simple mineralogy is amenable to reproducible high-grade min- eral concentrates (fundamental to low-cost processing) with a 42% TREO at 76% recovery, 46% TREO at 71% recovery, and 49% TREO at 63% recovery. Monazite, bastnaesite, and xenotime rare earth min- eralogy all share conventional processing characteristics. Fluorspar is a potential by-product. Ashram has one of the highest grades of the large tonnage, advanced-stage REE deposits with Measured Resources of 1.6 million tonnes (Mt) at 1.77% TREO, Indicated resources of 28 Mt at 1.90% TREO, and an Inferred resource of 220 Mt at 1.88% TREO. In early August, Commerce received a final report from Université Laval for recently completed mineral processing work. This work was part of a larger met- allurgical program using an alternative flowsheet approach to validate a software model to simulate the solvent extraction separation of REEs processing developed by Laval. Several laboratory bench-scale tests confirmed the viability of the process through the production of several grams of mixed light (La-Nd) rare earth oxide. A Pre-feasibility Study is underway at the Ashram Project. Defense Metals Inc. [DEFN-TSXV; DFMTF-OTCQB; 35D-FSE] is conduct- ing the 2019 diamond drill program at its 1,780-hectare Wicheeda Rare Earth Element (REE) Project northeast of Prince RARE EARTHS

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