Commerce Resources Corp. Announces Successful Processing of Tantalum and Niobium from the Upper Fir Deposit, British Columbia
Commerce Resources Corp. Announces Successful Processing of Tantalum
and Niobium from the Upper Fir Deposit, British Columbia
February 16, 2018 - Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv: CCE, FSE: D7H) (the “Company”
or “Commerce”) is pleased to announce that the tantalum and niobium sample from the Upper
Fir Deposit in British Columbia, (see news release dated July 11, 2017) has been successfully
processed utilizing the patented Krupin Process.
The Company is now working towards the signing of a definitive agreement whereby Commerce
Resources will acquire the global rights to the Krupin Process. Upon signing of such a definitive
agreement, additional data on the Krupin Process may be made available.
The intent of this agreement will be to further the development of the Upper Fir Tantalum and
Niobium Deposit towards production with the incorporation of the Krupin Process on site in
British Columbia. The Company believes that the technology offered by Dr. Krupin is cost
advantageous compared to conventional processing approaches.
The sample of Upper Fir Deposit material, totaling approximately 1,300 kg was sent by the
Company to the Krupin facility and was received there in the fall of 2017. The processing took
place thereafter and following initial reports of success, the Company sent Dr. Axel Hoppe, the
Chairman of the Board, to visit the facility and to evaluate the test results.
Dr. Hoppe was pleased to report that the initial test data from the Krupin Process was highly
encouraging, with strong indications of it representing a superior approach of processing a mixed
tantalum and niobium concentrate to marketable samples of Nb2O5 and high grade
Ta2O5/Nb2O5 mixed oxide.
Dr. Hoppe states “It is expected that applying this technology will offer advantages in lowering
the cost structure of the Blue River Project in regards to both capital expenditure and operating
cost. We look forward to continuing our mutual developments with Dr. Krupin.”
About Dr. Alexander Krupin
Dr. Krupin is an expert in the recovery of tantalum and niobium products. His overall
professional experience is more than 35 years of work in this field, including more than 15 years
of production experience in processing high-grade tantalum and niobium ore concentrates. His
research activities have developed new technologies for the chemical upgrading of low-grade
tantalum and niobium ore concentrates.”
About Dr. Axel Hoppe
Dr. Hoppe is an internationally acknowledged leader in the tantalum/niobium field. He has held
numerous positions with H.C. Starck GmbH ("HCST"): a worldwide group of companies with
more than 3,400 employees at 13 production sites in Europe, North America and the Far East.
Dr. Hoppe's last position at HCST was Head of Technical Services and Engineering Group and
he was a Member of the Executive Board.
Under Dr. Hoppe's previous leadership as Head of the Electronics and Optics Business Group,
HCST grew into the leading producer of tantalum and niobium products, and remains one of the
world's largest consumers of tantalum raw materials.
During his time in senior management, Dr. Hoppe also worked in the fields of other refractory
metals, such as tungsten, molybdenum, and rhenium.
From 1997 until 2007, Dr. Hoppe served as a member of the Executive Committee of the
Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center ("TIC"): an international association which
promotes tantalum and niobium metals, and includes representatives from all segments of the
tantalum and niobium industries. In addition, Dr. Hoppe was the President of the TIC in 2002
and 2007.
NI 43-101 Disclosure
Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geol., Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd., a Qualified Person as
defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information
in this news release.
About The Upper Fir Deposit and The Blue River Project
The Upper Fir deposit has an Indicated Mineral Resource totalling 48.4 million tonnes at 197
ppm Ta2O5 and 1,610 ppm Nb2O5, and an Inferred Mineral Resource totalling 5.4 million
tonnes at 191 ppm Ta2O5 and 1,760 ppm Nb2O5.
The Blue River Project is located near the town of Blue River, which is approximately 250 km
north of the city of Kamloops and approximately 90 km south of the town of Valemount. The
Project comprises 105,373 hectares (1,000 km2) of mineral claims. Power transmission lines,
rail, as well as paved and gravel roads are all adjacent to, or within the Property boundaries.
Transalta Corp.’s 18 MW Bone Creek run-of-river hydroelectricity project, located near the
Upper Fir, was commissioned in June 2011.
About Commerce Resources Corp.
Commerce Resources Corp. is an exploration and development company with a particular focus
on deposits of rare metals and rare earth elements. The Company is focused on the development
of its Ashram Rare Earth Element Deposit in Quebec and the Upper Fir Tantalum and Niobium
Deposit in British Columbia.
For more information please visit the corporate website at http://www.commerceresources.com
or contact Investor Relations at 604.484.2700 or [email protected].
On Behalf of the Board of Directors
COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP.
“Chris Grove”
Chris Grove
President
Tel: 604.484.2700
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.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and
other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. These are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events
or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information . Risks that could change or
prevent these statements from coming to fruition include changing costs for mining and processing; increased capital
costs; the timing and content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may
change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumption based on
limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that with further test work may not
be comparable; the availability of labour, equipment and markets for the products produced; and despite the current
expected viability of the project, conditions changing such that the minerals on our property cannot be economically
mined, or that the required permits to build and operate the envisaged mine can be obtained. The forward-looking
information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or
revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.