Defense Metals Drills 4.32% Total Rare Earth Oxide Over 64 Metres From Surface And Extends Mineralized Zone At Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Deposit
Defense Metals Drills 4.32% Total Rare Earth Oxide Over 64 Metres From Surface
And Extends Mineralized Zone At Wicheeda Rare Earth Element Deposit
Vancouver, British Columbia — October 31, 2019 Defense Metals Corp. (“ Defense Metals”) (DEFN:
TSX-V / DFMTF: OTCQB / 35D: FSE) announces assay results for the first two diamond drill holes of
the recently completed 2019 resource definition diamond drill program at its 1,708 hectare (4,220 acre)
Wicheeda Rare Earth Element (REE) Project located near Prince George, Canada.
Drill hole WI19- 20, collared from the 2018 Wicheeda bulk sample site ( see Defense Metals News
Release dated March 14, 2019) , assayed 4.32% Total Rare Earth Oxide (TREO ; being cerium,
lanthanum, neodymium, praseodymium, and samarium oxides (Ce2O3+La2O3+Nd2O3+ Pr2O3+Sm2O3))
over a drill core interval of 64 metres1 from surface (Table 1).
Drill hole WI19-21 collared from the same drill pad returned an average grade of 3.26% TREO over
110 metres 1 from surface, expanding the southwestern drill define d edge of the Wicheeda REE
Deposit a distance of 25 meters beyond the limit of the 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate2.
Table 1: Wicheeda REE Deposit 2019 Diamond Drill Intercepts
Hole ID From
(m)
To
(m)
Interval
(m)
TREO
(%)
Ce2O3
(%)
La2O3
(%)
Nd2O3
(%)
Pr2O3
(%)
Sm2O3
(%)
WI19-20 4.6 68.8 64.2 4.32 2.10 1.54 0.46 0.18 0.04
WI19-21 3.9 114 110.1 3.26 1.57 1.16 0.36 0.14 0.04
Craig Taylor, CEO and President of Defense Metals Corp., commented, “We are extremely pleased to
see extensive REE mineralization in the core from the first two drill holes of our 2019 resource
definition program at Wicheeda. The assay results confirm Defense Metals’ exploration strategy of
adding value to the Wicheeda REE Deposit by focusing on expansion and further delineation of
relatively higher-grade, near surface REE mineralized carbonatite. With the intercept grade of WI19-
20 being more than twice the average grade of the current Wicheeda REE Deposit mineral resource
estimate it’s clear these results could have a positive impact on a future revised mineral resource
estimate. We believe the new drill results, together with our recently released positive metallurgical
recoveries and high concentrate grades , have excellent p otential to positively influence future
economic studies. We eagerly await results from the remaining 11 drill holes.”
The 2019 Wicheeda REE Deposit resource definition drill program comprised 13 diamond drill holes
totalling 2,005 metres that were completed from three separate drill pads, designed to test the northern,
southern and western extent of the Wicheeda deposit where it remains open, and to further delineate the
relatively higher-grade, near surface dolomite carbonatite unit.
Drill hole WI19-20 (-55o dip / 290o azimuth) was collared at the 2018 Wicheeda bulk sample site and
drilled southwestward in an effort to further define the limit of the Wicheeda REE Deposit. The hole
intersected REE mineralized carbonatite from the start of sampling at 4.60 metres to a downhole depth
of 64.2 metres with medium- to coarse-grained visible REE minerals (monazite and synchysite/parisite)
forming millimetre to centimetre-scale aggregates interstitial to coarse-grained dolomite
Drill hole WI19 -21 (-55o dip / 230 o azimuth), collared from the same site and drilled northwest, was
successful in expanding the drill define d edge of the Wicheeda Deposit a distance of 25 meters beyond
the limit of the 2019 Mineral Resource Estimate. Similar to the first hole, WI19 -21 intersected REE
mineralized carbonatite containing visible REE mineralization from the start of sampling at 3.9 metres
to a downhole depth of 114 metres, with medium to coarse grained visible REE minerals (monazite and
synchysite/parisite) observed throughout the interval.
Figure 1: Wicheeda Deposit 2019 Diamond Drill Plan
1 The true width of REE mineralization is estimated to be 60-70% of the drilled interval.
2 The Wicheeda REE Deposit Mineral Resource comprises an Inferred Mineral Resource of 11,370,000 tonnes averaging 1.96%
LREE (Light Rare Earth Elements) reported at a cut -off grade of 1.0% LREE (sum of cerium, lanthanum, neodymium and samarium
percentages). The resource is classified according to the CIM “Estimation of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves Best Practice
Guidelines” dated November 23rd, 2003 and CIM “Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves” dated May 10th,
2014. Details with respect to the Mineral Resource Estimate are summarized in the Defense’s NI 43-101 technical report titled “Wicheeda
Rare Earth Element Project, British Columbia, Canada” effective date of June 20, 2019 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
Defense Metals looks forward to receipt of assay results for the remaining 11 drill holes wit hin the
coming weeks and will provide additional updates as they are received.
Methodology and QA/QC
The analytical work reported on herein was performed by ALS Canada Ltd. (ALS) at Kamloops (sample
preparation) and Vancouver (ICP -MS fusion), B.C . ALS is an ISO -IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015
accredited geoanalytical laboratory and is independent of the Defense Metals and the QP. Drill core sam-
ples were subject to crushing at a minimum of 70% passing 2 mm, followed by pulverizing of a 250 gram
split to 85% passing 75 microns. A 0.1 gram sample pulp was then subject to multi-element ICP-MS anal-
ysis via lithium- borate fusion to determine individual REE content (ME -MS81h). Defense Metals fol-
lows industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Wicheeda Project, with a quality assur-
ance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate and standard samples were inserted into the sam-
ple sequence sent to the laboratory for analysis. Defense Metals detected no significant QA/QC issues dur-
ing review of the data. Defense Metals is not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery or other factors that
could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.
Qualified Person
The scientific and technical information contained in this news release as it relates to the Wicheeda Rare
Earth Element Project has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo. (BC) Principal and
Consultant of APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, a director of Defense Metals and a “Qualified
Person” as defined in National Instrument 43 -101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. Mr.
Raffle verified the data disclosed which includes a review of the analytical and test data underlying the
information and opinions contained therein.
About Defense Metals Corp.
Defense Metals is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition of mineral deposits contain-
ing metals and elements commonly used in the electric power market, military, national security and the
production of green energy technologies, such as, high strength, light weight, rare earth magnets. Defense
Metals’ primary focus is to exercise its option to acquire 100% of the 1,780 hectare Wicheeda Rare Earth
Element Project. Defense Metals Corp. trades in Canada under “DEFN” on the TSX Venture Exchange,
the United States, under “DFMTF” on the OTCQB and the German, Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol
of “35D”.
For further information, please visit https://defensemetals.com/ or contact:
Todd Hanas, Bluesky Corporate Communications Ltd.
Vice President, Investor Relations
Tel: (778) 994 8072
Email: [email protected]
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Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
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