A 114% increase in the Indicated resource and a 218% increase in the Inferred resource

Great Western Minerals Group Monday announced an updated National Instrument 43-101 resource estimate and technical report for its Steenkampskraal rare earth property in South Africa, this according to a company news release.

The new resource estimate shows 32,000 metric tonnes of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium oxide (TREO) under the Indicated category and 42,100 metric tonnes of TREO under the Inferred category, each using a 1% TREO cut-off grade. This represents a 114% increase in the Indicated resource and a 218% increase in the Inferred resource from the last estimate in May of 2012.

"The substantial increase in TREO tonnage from this Resource Estimate update significantly improves the economic potential of the Steenkampskraal Monazite Project. The resource update reported today will be incorporated into the Preliminary Economic Assessment that is being prepared concurrently. We expect the Steenkampskraal analysis will be bolstered further with the upcoming addition of a minimum of 55 drill holes for which assay work is currently in progress," said Great Western Minerals President and CEO Marc LeVier.

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Liberty Star Uranium & Metals Corp. ("Liberty Star" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that new geochemical field work will be conducted on a portion of its Hay Mountain claim block, part of the larger Tombstone Super Project (TSP). Also, preliminary archaeology surveys of the new sample locations are nearing completion.

As the worldwide demand for rare earth elements exploration heats up, the Hay Mountain rare earth anomaly covering at least 7 to 9 square miles gains importance. Until the Liberty Star discovery Arizona had no important REE occurrences ("Rethinking Rare Earth Element Potential in Arizona," Lee Allison 11/15/2012). We have samples of one heavy rare earth (yttrium) plus three light rare earths and are now planning to define the potential of this area by running assays for the 13 REEs that haven't been run yet as well as taking additional samples for better definition of the anomalies.

Rock, soil and vegetation samples will be collected on recently acquired claims (NR 143) and in between existing samples to identify and refine additional targets for porphyry copper and associated minerals including gold, silver, moly, zinc and a number of rare earth elements. According to Arizona State Land Department regulations an additional archeology study will be required before work can begin. The field work for this study is within a few days' completion. Only two very small archaeological sites which are insignificant have been located to date.

As samples from this new geochemical study reach our certified assay lab, ALS Geochemistry in Vancouver, they will undergo analysis for all 17 rare earth elements. Previous assay work on TSP samples included review for only four rare earth elements (scandium, yttrium, lanthanum and cerium), which were present in soil samples (NR 122) and vegetation samples (NR 123). Also, Liberty Star will request that assay work for additional REEs be completed on samples submitted to the ALS facility in 2012 (NR 127).

States Liberty Star's CEO and Chief Geologist Jim Briscoe: "This round of geochemical studies is part of our methodical approach to exploration we must undertake so that a ZTEM survey can be flown over the larger Tombstone Super Project area this spring. It is important that we have these geochemical studies plotted to better understand where to map targets at Hay Mountain. While time-consuming, these studies can make for a highly efficient drilling program."

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I have just returned from the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference where I presented on the critical need for many different strategic metals.  The rare earth sector is beginning to attract interest as the U.S., Chinese and Japanese markets hit new 52 week highs after the changes in leadership in both countries.  The rare earth/strategic metals ETF (REMX) has crossed the 200 day for the first time since 2011 and I am monitoring for a bullish golden crossover.

A rebound in high tech and the automobile industries could spark further interest for heavy rare earth supplies outside China which are critical to today’s latest cutting edge technologies. We are bullish on the monetary metals such as gold, silver and platinum but also believe investors should diversify into the strategic rare earths, tungsten, antimony and uranium which will grow increasingly important as society requires high tech and clean energy solutions.

The growth in the use of smart phones, tablets and clean energy will put more demand on heavy rare earth production which China currently dominates. Japan, Europe and the U.S. must develop their domestic assets and may need to accelerate investment as the economy rebounds.

Rare earth prices have been pulling back and consumers have been reluctant to buy due to fears of an economic slowdown.  However, that trend may be ending as investors realize that global stimulus by Central Banks may be sparking an inflationary rally.  Many world markets are hitting multi year highs including the U.S., China and Japan.  Sentiment is growing bullish for the rare earths as the ETF reverses above the 200 day moving average.

This may put pressure on industrial end users especially car manufacturers who are seeing increasing sales especially in Asia.  For instance, General Motors sells more cars in China now than in the United States.  New fuel efficient cars require dysprosium and there are no substitutes without major costs.

I expect increasing amount of end users to partner with junior rare earth miners who may be trading at significant undervaluations.  The rebound in this sector may be phenomenal as the heavy rare earths have the greatest short term supply risk of any metal.
Over 14 months ago, we commented on Molycorp’s CEO Mark Smith’s testimony in front of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  At that time we needed a true visionary to promote U.S. rare earth independence.

Instead, in my humble opinion, we got a little leaguer.  Molycorp should’ve differentiated between the heavy and light rare earths.  At that time we believed that Mark Smith’s testimony omitted some important facts.  We asked the following question at that time.

“Where does Molycorp get its heavy rare earths? Smith claimed Molycorp possesses a complete suite of rare earths at their Mountain Pass property. Assays have shown that this mountain possesses predominately light rare earths with little or no heavies.”

Not once were the members of the committee informed of the importance of the highly critical dysprosium, yttrium and terbium minerals, or the serious consequences China’s supply monopoly poses for American industry or U.S. national security.  It was an opportunity lost to educate the public.

 By Jeb Handwerger

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Chinatungsten Online January 23 news, promoting by the Ministry of Industry, Development and Reform Commission, and other State ministries, the nine industry mergers and acquisitions was held yesterday (22 start of day). 

The nine major industries, including iron and steel, cement, automobile, machinery manufacturing, electronic information, shipbuilding, rare earth, electrolytic aluminum and agriculture. According to statistics, the nine industries involving a total of 900 listed companies, accounting for half of the current A-share listed companies, with a total market capitalization of more than 4 trillion Yuan.

In the case of this year's overall economic slowdown, the nine industries including rare earth industry are needed to transfer into effectiveness and quality. Now the enterprises from of rare earth industry insist that the enterprises are the mainstay, and adhere to market-oriented operation. State-owned rare earth industry hope to achieve the degree of concentration by mergers restructuring, and also to consolidate the basic system of socialism, enhance configuration elements of fair competition. The state-owned rare earth industry can advance and retreat in this process; the public sector of rare earth industry can implement the strategic restructuring; the non-public rare earth industry could create a good atmosphere to participate the competition. 

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Miao Changxing, deputy director of the Ministry of Industrial Policy, said recently that the current development of China's economic situation is grim. In order to accelerate the nine industries such as rare earth, and tungsten, we should promote the mergers and reorganizations of industry, especially to speed up mergers and acquisitions of overcapacity industries, for example, the rare earth industry. The rare earth industry is expected to speed up positive for the relevant leading enterprises.

Chinatungsten Online reported, on December 8, the China Research Center of corporate mergers and acquisitions held its sixteenth year in Beijing Jiaotong University, Miao Changxing emphasized during the meeting, that China will accelerate the mergers and acquisitions of automobile, steel, cement, ship medicine, electrolytic aluminum, rare earth, electronic information, agriculture, industry and other industries and fields like tungsten industry.

At the same time, it is necessary to eliminate institutional barriers, strengthening policy coordination, strengthen service guidance, coordinate and solve problems encountered in corporate mergers and acquisitions of rare earth and other industries.

Fig. The statistics of rare earth concept stock increase 

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Mines and Geosciences Bureau Director Leo Jasareno  yesterday said he will again seek the assistance of China Geological Survey in looking for rare earth elements.

“We will try to reach out to CGS to find out what their plans are for this year,” he said.

CGS representatives were expected to arrive in the country last year, however, communication with the agency stopped at the height of the Philippines-China standoff over the Scarborough shoal.

Jasareno emphasized that the standoff is unlikely to derail the Philippines’ economic relations with China.

“We already followed it up, but, we haven’t received any reply from the Chinese experts, but of course this is speculative,” he said in an earlier interview.

The Philippines is pushing exploration projects aimed at developing its rare earth deposits following China’s decision to cap exports to the global market.

The Philippines is already conducting its own exploration surveys in Nueva Vizcaya and Palawan, where rare earth deposits were found to be close to copper-gold mines.

“Notably, Palawan and Nueva Vizcaya are the best places to start. What’s important is to find out if these (rare earth elements) really exist since there are indications of mineralization in these two areas,” he said.

He revealed that the government has earmarked P20 million  for rare earth elements development.

“The P20 million is for the entire reconnaissance phase for the two-year preliminary survey,” he explained.

However, once the three stages of exploration go well, the program may take five years, according to Jasareno.

Jasareno added that the MGB will also seek the assistance of the Department of Budget and Management for the said exploration.

Rare earth metals are a group of elements that are used in a wide range of products we use every day, including hard drives and hybrid cars. Their properties, notably as lightweight magnets, make them key to the ongoing miniaturization of electronics and the growth of green technologies.

China recognized the importance of these elements decades ago and now supplies almost all the rare earth materials in the world.

At present, China produces nearly 97 percent of the world’s rare earth materials.

“China will still process our (rare earth elements) once we are able to get hold of it after this exploration,” he said.

Further limits on Chinese exports of rare-earth elements also threaten to raise costs for companies in an array of industries, including cellphone makers, oil refiners and high-technology batteries.

In December 2011, the Chinese Commerce Ministry announced an initial cut of 27 percent in its rare earth elements exports quota for 2012 as part of the crackdown on illegal mining of the rare earth oxides.

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China exported 16,265 tons of rare-earth ore, metals and compounds last year, falling below the annual export quota of 30,966 tons, according to official data.

The exports last year also marked a 3.5 percent decline from the export volume in 2011, according to data released by the China Customs Statistics Information Center. In December, China exported 3,252 tons of rare-earth ore, metals and compounds.

China has imposed a quota system to curb production and exports to conserve resources and protect the environment after decades of excessive exploitation.

Last month, the Ministry of Commerce set the first batch of rare earth export quotas for 2013 at 15,501 tons, which will be shared by 24 companies. The ministry said that will account for about half of the full-year quota.

The value of China's exports of the rare earths tumbled 66.1 percent to US$906 million last year, Customs data showed.

The prices of rare earths, which had surged for years because of supply concerns, have fallen sharply since late 2011 due to waning demand and increased supply. China is the world's dominant supplier of rare earths, a group of 17 chemical elements used in high-tech products, although the country holds less than a quarter of the world's reserves.

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The Metals Report: Your last interview with us took place in July. Have there been any real significant industry developments in the last six months that investors should be aware of?

Alex Knox: There are, actually. The tenor of the rare earth element (REE) space has changed quite dramatically in the last six or seven months.

TMR: What are the biggest factors that have influenced the business?

AK: The general lack of ability to raise financing has severely affected the junior companies, especially those that didn’t have a deposit or had a deposit at a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) stage. Investors have seemed to have lost interest, and certainly there is far less news about exploration for new deposits or developing deposits that hadn’t reached a PEA stage by last summer.

The focus has shifted from exploration to development. Because of the drop in prices for the commodities themselves since that time, costs have become extremely important, and that includes the costs of doing a feasibility or a prefeasibility study as well as production costs.

TMR: What has been the cause in the drop in prices for the elements during this time period?

AK: I’m no economist, but the lack of projected world growth plays a part. It was expected that these commodities were going to be needed in significant additional quantities, and the lack of growth has slowed demand. China, though it’s not in recession by any stretch, has slowed down its development.

TMR: China is now talking about tightening up its environmental regulations. Is that going to have a significant effect on either REE supply or prices?

AK: I think it’s going to. China is still in the driver’s seat, especially on the heavy rare earth element (HREE) side, it has said for years that it was going to try to reduce its output in order to conserve its low-cost sources of production of HREEs. Certainly, any spark that’s been left in the REE market is on the HREE side. We’ve all heard of the impending production of Lynas Corp. and Molycorp Inc., which, along with a few others, are probably going to satiate the light rare earth (LREE) market with the development of additional production. But because there is still no significant production of HREEs in the Western world and many of these deposits, half a dozen at least, have reached at least the post-PEA stage and are approaching a production decision, there is still a place for HREEs, despite the drop in prices and consumer attempts at HREE substitution or recycling.

TMR: Is the number of survivors in the industry going to be curtailed drastically?

AK: That was always going to be the case. Two years ago, when over 200 companies were exploring for REEs, the sensible companies were aiming to be low-cost producers. And when prices start to drop, the low-cost producer of any commodity, especially HREEs, is going to be the last one standing, and will be available to a) acquire additional sources of production from the failed producers or b) stay in production and wait for times to get better in this business. As long as we’ve been in this business, we know that prices fluctuate dramatically over the years. So investors have always been looking for the company that could either reach production and distribution first, and/or the company that had the lowest production costs so that when the free market price started to fall, this company would be able to hang in there the longest.

TMR: What’s the ballpark range of capital expenditure needed to put a REE mine into production?

AK: Again, specific numbers are not my bailiwick; I’m an exploration geologist. But proximity to infrastructure is a big cost factor. If you have to transport your chemicals, raw materials and construction materials a long distance and then transport your product a long distance back to be sold, that’s obviously going to be more expensive.

The second factor is metallurgy. You have to take these REE elements, break down the minerals that they occur in, get them into solution and then be able to precipitate them in a form that will allow them to be separated into individual elements so that they can be sold at a maximum profit. If your minerals are hard to break down, require expensive acid treatments or even an acid manufacturing plant at your site, which costs hundreds of millions of dollars, these are going to carry price tags that many companies can’t cover.

Another important cost factor is the cost associated with anomalous radioactivity. These deposits tend to accumulate uranium and thorium. That’s just the nature of the beast. The key question is, are these radioelements occurring within the minerals that contain the REEs, or are they in subsidiary minerals, such as thorite? The common REE mineral that contains significant radioactivity is monazite, which is commonly found in certain LREE deposits. If you have monazite or other REE minerals that contain the radioelements, then these will have to be disposed of later on, as opposed to on site. That’s going to be extremely expensive. If, on the other hand, the REEs are in a separate mineral, they can be left behind and put back in the tailings, which carries a significantly lower cost for the producer.

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WEST PERTH, AUSTRALIA - Jan 22, 2013) - Peak Resources Limited ("Peak" or "the Company"), the developer of a potentially low cost, long term rare earth project in Tanzania, today announced it has received final assay results for its 100%-owned Ngualla Rare Earth Project. Additionally, it has entered into agreements with two groups in Asia to assist in identifying and securing strategy funding partners for its Ngualla Rare Earth Project.

About Peak Resources

Peak is developing the Ngualla Project, a potentially low-cost, long term rare earth project located in south west Tanzania. Ngualla has been ranked as the fifth largest deposit in the world outside China, and the highest grade of the top seven.

Ngualla has a Mineral Resource of 170 million tonnes grading 2.24% of rare earth oxides (REO). Within the resource there is a highly weathered and near-surface zone estimated at 40 million tonnes at 4.07% REO, equivalent to 1.6 million tonnes of contained REO. Ngualla is also a bulk deposit which is largely outcropping. These attributes place the project among the world's most notable rare earth discoveries of recent years.

Ngualla is a potential low cost open pit mine due to its shallow outcropping high grade mineralization. The initial sighter metallurgical test work to date has been completed using a sulphuric acid leach process route suggesting a relatively less complex, potentially cheaper capital outlay and shorter time to production.

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Western Australia based St George Mining has used an infill MMI soil geochemical survey to identify anomalous and coincident heavy and light rare earth element values at the Red Dragon prospect.

The prospect in located on the company's East Laverton Property in the NE Goldfields region of Western Australia.

St George said that the high priority area forms an ovoid shape measuring 2 kilometres by 1.5 kilometres, which is situated within a large carbonatite alteration system covering over 60 square kilometres.

The company now has high priority targets for drilling in the June quarter of 2013, with the reconnaissance program at Red Dragon to include four reverse circulation holes each with a target depth of 250 metres.

St George is targeting to establish a third dimension to the extensive carbonatite‐REE surface alteration system which is indicated by the current geochemical and geophysical signature.

Government Drilling Grant

St George has also been awarded a grant of $122,000 to be applied towards the direct drilling costs of the drilling, which is under the West Australian Government’s “Innovative Drilling Program” within its Exploration Incentive Scheme.

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