Avalon Rare Metals Inc. is pleased to provide a progress report on the Company's Feasibility Study and related work on the Nechalacho Rare Earth Elements Project at Thor Lake, NWT (the "Project").

Feasibility Study

The Feasibility Study ("FS") for the Project, including the operations at Thor Lake and Pine Point, NWT and Geismar Louisiana remains on schedule for completion in Q2 2013. The following key elements of the FS have been completed:

Environmental Baseline work at Nechalacho and Pine Point;

Underground Mine plan and development schedule;
Tailings Facility;
Paste Backfill Plant;
Nechalacho Flotation Plant designs; and
Geismar Separation Plant designs.

Capital and Operating cost estimates are largely complete for those components of the Project where engineering design work is finished. Design criteria for the Pine Point Hydrometallurgical plant have been prepared and design work is now advancing on schedule.

Product Marketing

Avalon continues its efforts to secure product off-take agreements and in this regard, the Company is pleased to announce the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with an Asian company for the sale of its Enriched Zircon Concentrate ("EZC") product. The EZC contains most of the zirconium, tantalum, niobium recovered and approximately 15-20% of the rare earths. Samples of the EZC were initially sent to this prospective customer in August 2012 and successful processing tests led to the signing of this MOU in January 2013. The revenue from the EZC is expected to represent a significant percentage of the total revenue from the project. Negotiations for off-take agreements for the sale of separated rare earth oxides and carbonates are progressing.

Metallurgical Testwork

The Hydrometallurgical plant testwork program is virtually complete except for some minor impurity removal and kiln optimisation investigations. Mintek SA in Johannesburg, RSA is in the process of optimising final impurity removal processes ahead of completing a mini pilot plant campaign for the rare earth separation and refining operations. Process optimisation testwork for the flotation plant continues as opportunities to improve flotation performance are investigated. Various alternative reagent combinations will continue to be evaluated in an effort to reduce reagent consumption and enhance recoveries.

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Rare earths processor Great Western Minerals Group provided Wednesday a corporate update on its activities, and said that its preliminary economic assessment (PEA) for its Steenkampskraal project previously scheduled for the end of January has been postponed to sometime before the end of the first quarter.

The delay is due to the company gathering additional metallurgical and capex data in light of the recently expanded resource estimate announced last week.

Great Western last week released an updated NI 43-101 compliant resource estimate at Steenkampskraal, prepared by Snowden Mining Industry Consultants, which showed a mineral resource of 32,000 metric tonnes of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium oxide (TREO) under the indicated category, and another 42,100 metric tonnes under the inferred category. Both categories used a 1% TREO cut-off grade.

Indicated resources rose by more than double from the resource estimate last May, while inferred resources more than tripled.

On Monday, the company also announced a 9,400-metre, 65-hole diamond drilling program at its past-producing Steenkampskraal property in South Africa. With its new drilling program, Great Western said it will also do infill drilling on areas of lower data density in order to upgrade inferred mineral resources to the indicated category, and selected orientated core drilling in support of planned underground developments.

Great Western has announced a series of management additions and changes in recent weeks in preparation for a new stage in the life of the company, as it aims to become a fully integrated rare earth producer.

Currently, Great Western is a rare earth processor, whose specialty alloys are used in the magnet, battery, defence and aerospace industries. Produced at the company’s subsidiaries Less Common Metals (LCM) in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great Western Technologies (GWT) in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain aluminum, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements (REE). 

Its development program at Steenkampskraal is central to ensure a strong flow of feedstock for its downstream processing - the company intends to be one of the first to produce significant quantities of the more valuable heavy rare earth oxides, which are important materials for alloys.

Also in the update today, the relocation of its UK-based LCM facility is now virtually complete, with the new location housing LCM's first strip casting furnace with provision for substantial expansion.

All equipment that had been in operation at the Valley Road site, including the analytical laboratory, has been relocated to Hooton Park and is now fully operational, Great Western said.

Sampling has been undertaken for all key customers, the company added, and LCM is progressing into advanced stages of "commercial supply contract / technical approval" stages.

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Arafura Resources Limited recently announced its success in producing a separated rare earth oxide Lanthanum Oxide product.

The successful separation of Lanthanum completes Arafura's goal of developing five individual separated oxide products for initial commercialization of the Nolans Project.

The Nolans Project will see the annual production of rare earth oxides from the Whyalla Rare Earths Complex reach 20,000 tonnes, which is equivalent to about 10 per cent of the world's supply.

Arafura's separation of Lanthanum follows the production of samples of four other Rare Earth Oxide (REO) products from the Nolans Bore resource last year.

The four REOs included Cerium Oxide, Nd/Pr Oxide Didymium Oxide, SEG Oxide 'Mids' REO and HRE Oxide 'Heavy' REO.

The products were produced at pilot scale and show another stage of development within Nolans Project.
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Arafura chief executive officer Chris Tonkin said the downstream technology program continues to deliver excellent outcomes.

"The production of the fifth and final product at pilot scale, not only proves Arafura's processes and provides valuable engineering data, but will also provide further opportunity to engage potential customer for this high volume product," Mr Tonkin said.

"Our demonstrated ability to produce separated oxide products is a major point of difference between Arafura and other rare earth projects currently being considered for development in Australia and elsewhere around the world."

Rare Earth Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinatungsten.com
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Pele Mountain Resources Inc.  announced additional drill results from the recent 13-hole drill program at its Eco Ridge Mine Rare Earths and Uranium Project at Elliot Lake, Ontario.

Nine of the eleven holes significantly exceeded the average U3O8 grade, and nine of the eleven holes significantly exceeded the total REO grade, of the resource wireframe.

Pele’s President and CEO, Al Shefsky, said:

These results continue to exceed expectations and have the potential to add substantial resources and years of mine-life to the project. The MCB clearly continues to the northwest and the mineralized intersections appear to be increasing in thickness and grade to the northwest, as depth increases.

Rare Earth Manufacturer & Supplier: Chinatungsten Online - http://www.chinatungsten.com
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