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Search Minerals Completes Successful Bench and Pilot Plant Program to Test Improvements IN the Proprietary Direct REE Extraction Process

Exploration Programs Metallurgy & Processing

SEARCH MINERALS COMPLETES SUCCESSFUL BENCH AND PILOT PLANT

PROGRAM TO TEST IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROPRIETARY DIRECT REE

EXTRACTION PROCESS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 31, 2020 -- Search Minerals Inc. (TSXV: SMY)  (“Search” or the “Company”) is

pleased to announce the final results from its bench and pilot plant testing operation at SGS Laboratories (“ SGS”) in Lakefield,

Ontario.

An extensive bench testing and pilot plant campaign has been completed at SGS to test engineering and process

improvements in the Search Minerals Proprietary Direct Extraction Process.

Bench Testing and Pilot Plant Highlights:

• Tested new methods of acid/ore contact and heating using crushed Foxtrot Deposit material followed by water leaching.

• Achieved excellent metallurgical results including:

◦ Best extraction of 87% Neodymium (Nd), 88% Praseodymium (Pr), 77% Dysprosium (Dy) and 78% Terbium (Tb)

by acid treatment/water leaching of -0.5 mm crushed Foxtrot Deposit material at bench scale.

◦ Effective removal of uranium from either the primary water leach solution or the secondary releach solution using

ion exchange. Uranium was reduced to below detection limit in solution. 

◦ First precipitation of +99.9% of the rare earth elements as an intermediate mixed carbonate product

◦ Demonstration of improved releaching process to reject more silica and aluminum from the rare earth sulfate

solution prior to thorium removal.

◦ Demonstration in bench and pilot plant testing of the removal of thorium from the secondary releach solution

using a selective solvent extraction process. The solvent system is based on the Primene JMT primary amine

extractant (commercially available).  The process was tested in a 5-day continuous pilot plant comprising two

stages each of extraction, scrubbing, and stripping, allowing for virtually 100% removal of thorium with minimal

losses of rare earth elements to the thorium strip solution.

◦ Demonstration of continuous removal of zinc by sulfide precipitation to less than 1 mg/L of zinc remaining in

solution.

◦ Oxalic acid precipitation of the rare earths followed by calcination to produce ~99% pure rare earth oxide product

◦ As an alternative, the precipitation of a mixed rare earth carbonate with 58% REO content was demonstrated

after supplemental removal of aluminum from the zinc free solution.

• Generated engineering data for all parts of the circuit from sample preparation to production of the mixed rare earth

oxide.

Greg Andrews, President and Chief Executive Officer of Search, states, “The results from the pilot plant testing conducted at

SGS Laboratories in Lakefield, Ontario have exceeded expectations. Search has now produced both a 58% REO mixed rare

earth carbonate concentrate and a 99% pure mixed REO concentrate, which will provide Search with more options as we seek

to refine our products into the individual oxides.”

Furthermore, “Search Minerals would like to acknowledge the funding from both Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency

(Federal) and InnovateNL (Newfoundland and Labrador). Their support, since 2014, has allowed Search to be at the forefront of

the recent focus to create a secure rare earth supply chain for electric vehicles and wind turbines in North America and

Europe.”

Further Description of Process and Results

The Search Minerals Direct Extraction Process was tested on a representative sample of Foxtrot mineralization (1% TREO) at

SGS Minerals Lakefield Site.

Table 1.  Foxtrot Bulk Sample Analysis

Element Unit Amount

La g/t 1600

Ce g/t 3410

Pr g/t 408

Nd g/t 1500

Sm g/t 270

Eu g/t 14.1

Gd g/t 280

Tb g/t 40.5

Dy g/t 238

Ho g/t 47

Y g/t 1180

Er g/t 131

Tm g/t 17.8

Yb g/t 111

Lu g/t 15.7

Sc g/t <25

Th g/t 151

U g/t 31.9

Si % 31.9

Al % 3.92

Fe % 7.42

Mg % 0.3

Ca % 2.05

Na % 1.78

K % 2.85

Ti % 0.31

P % 0.03

Mn % 0.26

Cr % 0.02

V % <0.01

Primary Leach Circuit

Acid Bake and Water Leach Optimization – Bench Scale

A study of acid baking and water leaching examined the impact of crush particle size prior to acid treatment, and % solids and

temperature in the water leach. The acid bake conditions were; 150 kg/t of H 2SO4 added versus 145 kg/t for Baseline test,

heating to 190°C and holding at temperature for 4 hours. 

Test 0 (Baseline) mimics the water leach conditions used historically with a coarser crush size ( -1.7 mm). Tests 1 and 2

compare 80 and 90°C at 10% solids and Test 3 and 4 compare 80 and 90°C at 20% solids. The extraction is always improved

at 90 °C. The light rare earth element leaching (La, Ce, Pr, Nd) is relatively unaffected by % solids in leach. However the

Terbium and Dysprosium (Tb, Dy) extractions are reduced at 20% solids. The best extractions are achieved in Test 2 with

87% Neodymium (Nd), 88% Praseodymium (Pr), 77% Dysprosium (Dy) and 78% Terbium (Tb). These elements are the main

value drivers for Foxtrot as they are used in magnet making for electric vehicle and related applications.

Table 2.  Acid Bake and Water Leach Bench Tests

Test 0 (Baseline) 1 2 3 4

Particle Size -1.7 mm -0.5 mm -0.5 mm -0.5 mm -0.5 mm

Water Leach % Solids 10 10 10 20 20

Water Leach Time (h) 36 24 24 24 24

Water Leach Temperature (°C) 90 80 90 80 90

Extraction (%)          

La 86 85 89 88 90

Ce 88 85 89 87 90

Pr 87 85 89 86 89

Nd 87 87 90 87 90

Sm 85 83 86 80 83

Eu 83 81 83 76 78

Gd 78 79 81 74 76

Tb 77 77 78 69 71

Dy 74 76 77 67 69

Ho 73 74 75 63 65

Y 74 74 76 68 68

Er 72 72 73 61 62

Tm 72 69 71 58 60

Yb 65 64 65 55 57

Lu 57 57 58 48 51

Th 79 77 74 87 87

U 52 53 53 53 52

A number of other tests were performed with wet grinding after acid baking and prior to water leaching. These showed only

slight improvement in the rare earth element extractions. The addition of hot acid to hot ore and then mixing was compared to

cold acid and cold ore mixing followed by heating and then in each case, water leaching. The results were comparable.

Acid Bake and Water Leach Optimization – Pilot Plant

Pre-crushed ore (-1.7 mm) was processed through a screw furnace to preheat the ore, which was then mixed with preheated

sulphuric acid (both at or near 190°C) in a stainless steel pug mill. The heated acid and ore mixture was then transferred to a

static oven set at 185°C for four hours to complete the acid bake.

While preheating of the separate materials was successful, significant material buildup and corrosion was observed in the pug

mill, wearing down the paddles that sweep material down the trough to the discharge. This is likely a matter of materials of

construction, as the SS316 grade paddles in the pug mill were of insufficient hardness and acid resistance to withstand such

aggressive chemical and physical conditions. Additional vendor investigations were recommended by SGS for the engineering

plant design phase of the Search project to ensure that the materials of construction and equipment configuration are

appropriate for the process. Sulphur assays of the batches of acid-baked product generated in this campaign were in line with

previous piloting and bench tests, suggesting that any additional acid losses as a result of thermal decomposition from

preheating the acid beforehand were negligible.

The calcine produced in the acid bake campaign was then water leached in batches, maintained at 90°C for 36 hours at 10%

solids. After 36 hours, the pulp was oxidized with hydrogen peroxide and then adjusted to pH 3.2 using magnesium carbonate

slurry for two hours to precipitate most of the iron and thorium as hydroxides before filtering. This pilot plant campaign was

simply a liquor production exercise to generate a bulk volume of solution for downstream testing. A total of approximately 6000

liters of solution containing approximately 800 mg/L TREE was produced from leaching of 730 kg of prepared calcine.

Water Leach Solution Treatment

The water leach solution was split in two. The first portion was treated by uranium ion exchange and then precipitated with

sodium carbonate to make a rare earth carbonate precipitate for releaching and further purification. The second portion went

directly to rare earth carbonate precipitation. The removal of uranium from this material was investigated as part of the releach

circuit purification.

The uranium ion exchange test on the water leach solution removed uranium from 2 mg/L U to below the detection limit of 0.02

mg/L U (+99% removal) using Purolite A660 resin in two columns (lead and lag configuration) with each column containing ~5

L of resin. The treatment rate was 1 L/min which equated to 12.5 BV/h. A total of ~3000 L was treated in about 48 hours. The

REE concentrations in the uranium free solution were unchanged from the influent solution, confirming highly selective uranium

removal with negligible loss of REE.

The rare earth precipitation pilot plant was conducted at 50°C and pH 6.5 with 150 g/L Na 2CO3 solution addition. The circuit

was configured with three tanks overflowing in series with the last tank flow directed to a thickener. The thickener underflow

was filtered and washed. The recovery of rare earth elements to the precipitate was essentially 100% along with any thorium,

uranium, aluminum, iron, zinc, magnesium, and calcium present. Manganese recovery to the precipitate was controlled to

about 10% total to allow separation of rare earths from manganese in solution. The rare earth carbonate precipitate analyses

from the two solutions (with and without uranium removal prior to precipitation) are shown below.

Table 3.  Analysis of the Rare Earth Carbonate Precipitates

  Analysis (%)

Element La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Y Er Tm Yb Lu

U-Cont. RE Carbonate 4.14 9.01 1.11 4.07 0.72 0.04 0.60 0.09 0.54 0.10 2.53 0.28 0.04 0.21 0.03

  Th U Al Fe Mg Ca Na Mn Zn            

  0.03 0.04 7.52 0.44 0.85 1.91 0.24 0.40 3.39            

Element La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Y Er Tm Yb Lu

U-Free RE Carbonate 3.95 8.57 1.10 4.04 0.70 0.04 0.57 0.08 0.50 0.10 2.40 0.27 0.04 0.21 0.03

  Th U Al Fe Mg Ca Na Mn Zn            

  0.04 0.00 8.24 0.50 0.09 2.04 0.25 0.41 3.14            

Secondary Leach Circuit

Rare Earth Carbonate Releaching

The rare earth carbonate releaching is the start of the second part of the Search Minerals Direct Extraction Process circuit.

The purpose is to re-dissolve the rare earth carbonate to the maximum extent while rejecting silicon and aluminum into the

releach residue. The releach residue carrying minor amounts of rare earths is then returned to the acid bake and water leach

circuit for secondary leaching to ensure high overall recovery of REE’s. The procedure adopted involved re-dissolving the rare

earths at pH 1 using sulfuric acid and then increasing the pH to 3.0 to 3.5 with magnesium carbonate addition to remove

reprecipitated impurities. The higher the pH the greater the rejection of silicon and aluminum to the residue. Two bulk releach

tests were performed on the rare earth carbonate precipitates. The analysis of the final releach solutions is shown below in

Table 4. The Si level in solution was reduced to 28-46 mg/L in the releach solution representing over 99% rejection of Si to the

solid residue. 

Table 4.  Bulk Releach Solution Analysis for Uranium-Containing RE Carbonate and Uranium-Free RE Carbonate

  Solution Analysis (mg/L)

Element La Ce Pr Nd Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Y Er Tm Yb Lu

U-Cont RE Carbonate 3170 7060 819 3040 542 29 444 66 384 73 2020 203 27 168 21

U-Free RE Carbonate 3110 6950 810 3000 533 27 419 62 363 68 1970 191 26 163 20

Element Th U Si Al Fe Mg Ca Na Mn Zn

U-Cont RE Carbonate 2.96 32 28 1630 6 9720 1610 253 330 2500

U-Free RE Carbonate 7.32 0.05 46 2790 16 11600 1810 334 321 2390

The uranium containing releach solution was subjected to uranium ion exchange in the same manner as described previously.

Uranium was removed from 32 mg/L to below the detection limit of 0.02 mg/L U in solution representing an efficiency of more

than 99.9%.

Thorium Removal from Uranium-Free Releach Solution

The original process for thorium removal from the releach solution involved pH adjustment with magnesium carbonate to

precipitate the thorium to low levels. This resulted in significant co-precipitation of REE’s. As this precipitate was to be

returned to the acid bake/water leach circuit, the result was a large circulating load of REE’s and increased costs for acid

(H2SO4) and base (Na2CO3) with each cycle.

Thorium removal using ion exchange and solvent extraction was investigated in this program. Ion exchange was not successful

in removing thorium to less than 0.1 mg/L in solution. This was the level required to ensure less than 5 g/t Th in the mixed rare

earth oxide produced from the final Th-free solution. Solvent extraction was tested first at the bench scale and then in a

continuous pilot plant. The best results were achieved with a solvent extraction organic solution containing 1.0% Primene JMT

(a primary amine), 2.5% isodecanol (a modifier) and 96.5% Aromatic 150ND (a diluent). A continuous pilot plant was used to

demonstrate the removal of thorium away from rare earths. The following design parameters were used.

Aqueous Solution: Combined releach solution after uranium removal by ion exchange adjusted to pH 1.5.

Extraction:  2 stages at an A/O advance ratio of 5:1, maintained at 45°C

Scrubbing:  2 stages at an A/O advance ratio of 0.5:1 and an A/O mixer-settler ratio of 1:1, at ambient temperature. The scrub

solution was 24 g/L H2SO4.

Stripping:  2 stages at an A/O advance ratio of 1.25:1 and an A/O mixer-settler ratio of 1:1 at ambient temperature. The strip

solution was 18 g/L HCl. 

The pilot plant ran for a total of 5 days and consistently removed the thorium from solution from 4.72 mg/L to <0.03 mg/L in the

purified raffinate. This result easily exceeded the target of <0.1 mg/L of Th to achieve low Th in the final mixed rare earth

product.

The losses of rare earths to the final strip solution have been estimated using the profile of the assays from the pilot plant

circuit shown below. Each of the aqueous and organic liquids present in the pilot plant circuit was sampled and analyzed.

Virtually 100% of the thorium is extracted and reports to the strip solution (Strip 1 Aqueous Solution). Meanwhile, the rare

earths are weakly extracted, partially scrubbed, and report at low concentrations in the strip solution (Strip 1 Aqueous

Solution). The fraction of the rare earths to the strip solution is always less than 1%. The strip solution can be returned directly

to the water leach process or neutralized and the solid precipitate containing rare earth elements returned to the acid bake-

water leach process to ensure that even the small amount of rare earths in the strip solution is recovered and the thorium is

reprecipitated into the stable primary solid residue.

Table 5.  Analysis of all Aqueous and Organic Solutions at the end of the Thorium Solvent Extraction Pilot Plant

  Aqueous Concentration (mg/L) Organic Solution (mg/L) Fraction

Ext

Feed

Ext

1 Ext 2

Scrub

1

Scrub

2

Strip

1

Strip

2

Ext

1

Ext

2

Scrub

1

Scrub

2

Strip

1

Strip

2 to Strip

La 3060 2670 2660 62.2 15.4 70.1 0.26 76 74 47 40 <3 <3 0.32%  

Ce 6550 5670 5720 152 41.5 329 1.3 363 261 198 182 <3 <3 0.70%  

Pr 758 658 663 18.5 5.12 43.2 0.16 35 34 26 24 <3 <3 0.79%  

Nd 2730 2400 2420 68 19 135 0.48 119 117 88 80 <9 <9 0.69%  

Sm 459 468 463 11 2.99 20.2 0.07 18 18 13 11 <4 <4 0.61%  

Eu 27.2 23 23.3 0.52 0.14 0.74 <0.03 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 0.38%  

Gd 464 420 426 8.8 2.17 7.4 <0.03 8 8 4 3 <3 <3 0.22%  

Tb 71.1 64.6 64.9 1.36 0.33 1.08 <0.03 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 0.21%  

Dy 412 371 376 7.47 1.77 4.96 <0.05 6 6 <4 <4 <4 <4 0.17%  

Ho 79.3 71.5 72.1 1.36 0.3 0.62 <0.02 <2 <2 <2 <2 <2 <2 0.11%  

Y 1750 1610 1540 27 5.3 6.48 0.03 18 18 6 3 <1 <1 0.05%  

Er 214 191 193 3.53 0.74 1.28 <0.04 <4 <4 <4 <3 <4 <4 0.08%  

Tm 29.6 26 25.9 0.49 0.1 0.16 <0.04 <4 <4 <4 <3 <4 <4 0.08%  

Yb 164 149 147 2.85 0.58 0.91 <0.02 2 2 <2 <2 <2 <2 0.08%  

Lu 21 18.8 18.9 0.34 0.06 0.08 <0.03 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 0.05%  

Th 4.72 0.04 <0.03 <0.03 <0.07 34 0.8 <3 20 20 21 <3 <3 100.00%  

U 0.03 0.02 0.02 <0.02 <0.02 <0.02 <0.02 <2 <2 <2 <2 <2 <2  

Al 2080 1910 1910 <0.8 <0.8 <0.8 <0.8 31 32 29 31 25 27  

Fe 9 8.2 8.3 0.3 <0.2 0.8 <0.2 2 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1  

Mg 10500 9640 9640 2.23 0.72 0.26 0.29 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1  

Ca 1290 1240 1210 <9 <9 <9 <9 9 10 9 10 9 9  

Na 290 257 260 <2 <2 <2 <2              

Mn 319 289 290 0.12 <0.04 <0.04 <0.04 <0.4 <0.4 <0.4 <0.3 <0.4 <0.4  

Zn 2450 2280 2270 <0.7 <0.8 <0.9 <0.10 <6 <6 <6 <6 <6 <6  

The thorium removal circuit was stable and well behaved throughout the pilot plant test. The organic solution was repeatedly

recycled and showed no signs of chemical degradation or fouling by any chemical species. The use of thorium solvent

extraction is a major improvement over the original pH adjustment method used in the first process pilot plant (2016) for

thorium precipitation. Thorium solvent extraction will be adapted into future process designs for the Search Minerals Direct

Extraction Process.

Zinc Precipitation

Zinc precipitation from the thorium free rare earth solution was demonstrated in a continuous pilot plant using hydrogen sulfide

gas to form zinc sulfide precipitate. Zinc was removed to less than 1 mg/L by this method in a 3 stage circuit by adjustment of

the starting solution to pH 2 and 50 C. The zinc precipitate analyzed 61% Zn and had negligible losses of REE’s. 

Rare Earth Precipitation

The standard method of rare earth recovery from the purified solution (free of thorium and zinc) is to precipitate a mixed rare

earth oxalate using oxalic acid and then calcine the precipitate to form a mixed rare earth oxide product. 

The precipitation process was performed in batch mode with 40 L of solution at 50°C with addition of 125% of stoichiometric

addition of oxalic acid (added as a 10% solution). The precipitate was filtered and washed and then calcined at 1200°C in a

muffle furnace to produce the mixed rare earth oxide.

The analysis of the final mixed rare earth oxide was 99% REO (based on 100% - impurity content as oxides) as expected with

1 g/t Th and <0.5 g/t U. The quality of this product is consistent with the use of uranium ion exchange and the newly

developed thorium solvent extraction process to remove thorium to very low levels.

Table 6.  Analysis of the Mixed Rare Earth Oxide Product from the SGS 2019 Program

Element Units Assay

La % 12.0

Ce % 32.4

Pr % 4.05

Nd % 15.9

Sm % 2.27

Eu % 0.135

Gd % 2.03

Tb % 0.304

Dy % 1.67

Ho % 0.32

Y % 7.52

Er % 0.86

Tm % 0.11

Yb % 0.69

Lu % 0.08

Sc g/t <40

Th g/t 1

U g/t <0.5

Si g/t 500

Al g/t <100

Fe g/t <100

Mg g/t 1400

Ca g/t 600

K g/t <100

Ti g/t <100

P g/t <100

Mn g/t <100

Zn g/t <40

S % 0.27

C % <0.01

F % 0.018

TREO* % 99

The production of an alternative material was also tested. The formation of a mixed rare earth carbonate product from the

thorium and zinc free solution was tested in two steps. In the first step, additional aluminum was removed from solution using

pH adjustment with magnesium carbonate to pH ~5.  The purified solution was then treated to pH 6.5 with sodium carbonate

solution. All precipitation was performed at 50°C in batch mode.

The mixed carbonate product quality is shown below. The mixed rare earth content was approximately 58% total rare earth

oxide (TREO) with very low levels of U and Th as expected based on the purification of the solution by the ion exchange and

solvent extraction process.

Table 7.  Mixed Carbonate Analysis (Dry Basis) with both Elemental and Oxide Equivalent Analysis for Rare Earth Elements

La % 10.7 La2O3 % 12.6

Ce % 16.0 CeO2 % 19.6

Pr % 2.24 Pr6O11 % 2.71

Nd % 8.21 Nd2O3 % 9.58

Sm % 1.31 Sm2O3 % 1.52

Eu % 0.07 Eu2O3 % 0.08

Gd % 1.23 Gd2O3 % 1.42

Tb % 0.19 Tb4O7 % 0.22

Dy % 1.06 Dy2O3 % 1.22

Ho % 0.22 Ho2O3 % 0.25

Y % 6.03 Y2O3 % 7.66

Er % 0.57 Er2O3 % 0.66

Tm % 0.07 Tm2O3 % 0.08

Yb % 0.36 Yb2O3 % 0.41

Lu % 0.04 Lu2O3 % 0.05

TREE % 48.29 TREO % 58.0

Sc g/t <40      

Th g/t 0.7      

U g/t 1.1      

Si % <0.07      

Al % 0.06      

Fe % <0.0004      

Mg % 0.62      

Ca % 0.58      

Na % 0.1      

K % <0.02      

Ti % 0.003      

P % <0.004      

Mn % 0.22      

Zn % 0.007      

S % 1.52      

F % 0.72      

Summary

The bench and pilot plant program have successfully demonstrated improvements in various steps in the Search Minerals

Direct Extraction Process.

1. The method of acid-ore mixing was tested using preheating of ore and acid followed by mixing. The rare earth extraction

was unaffected by this new method of ore contact. The hot/acid ore mixing method continues to require focussed

engineering efforts to minimize wear and maintain throughput. This will be taken up by the engineering team at the next

stage of process design.

2. Achieved excellent metallurgical results including:

◦ Extraction of 87% Neodymium (Nd), 88% Praseodymium (Pr), 77% Dysprosium (Dy) and 78% Terbium (Tb) by

acid treatment/water leaching of -0.5 mm crushed Foxtrot Deposit material.

◦ Effective removal of uranium from either the primary water leach solution or the secondary releach solution using

ion exchange. Uranium was reduced to below detection limit in solution.

◦ First precipitation of +99.9% of the rare earth elements as an intermediate mixed carbonate product

◦ Demonstration of improved releaching process to increase rejection of silica and aluminum from the rare earth

sulfate solution prior to thorium removal.

◦ Demonstration in bench and pilot plant testing of the removal of thorium from the secondary releach solution

using a selective solvent extraction process. The solvent system is based on the Primene JMT primary amine

extractant (commercially available). The process was tested in a 5-day continuous pilot plant comprising two

stages each of extraction, scrubbing and stripping allowed for virtually 100% removal of thorium with minimal

losses of rare earth elements to the thorium strip solution.

◦ Demonstration of continuous removal of zinc by sulfide precipitation to less than 1 mg/L of zinc remaining in

solution.

◦ Oxalic acid precipitation of the rare earths followed by calcination to produce ~99% pure rare earth oxide product

◦ As an alternative, the precipitation of a mixed rare earth carbonate with 58% REO content was demonstrated

after supplemental removal of aluminum from the zinc free solution.

• Generated engineering data for all parts of the circuit from sample preparation to production of the mixed rare earth

oxide.

Qualified Person :

Dr. David Dreisinger, Ph.D., P.Eng., is the Company’s Vice President, Metallurgy and Qualified Person for the purposes of NI

43-101. Dr. Dreisinger has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release as applicable. The

company will endeavour to meet high standards of integrity, transparency, and consistency in reporting technical content,

including geological and assay (e.g., REE) data.

About Search Minerals Inc.

Led by a proven management team and board of directors, Search is focused on finding and developing resources within the

emerging Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District of South East Labrador. The Company controls a belt 70 km long and

8 km wide including its 100% interest in the FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Projects, which are road accessible and at tidewater.

Exploration efforts have advanced “Fox Meadow” as a new CREE prospect very similar to and in close proximity to FOXTROT

and DEEP FOX. The FOXTROT Project has a capital cost to bring the initial project into production ($152 M – 2016 PEA for

1000 tpd of ore treatment), a short payback period and is scalable due to Search’s proprietary processing technology. 

All material information on the Company may be found on its website at www.searchminerals.ca and on SEDAR at

www.sedar.com

For further information, please contact:

Greg Andrews

President and CEO

Tel: 604-998-3432

E-mail: [email protected]

Neither the 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.

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restriction may constitute a violation of U.S. securities laws.

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This news release includes certain “forward-looking information” and “forward-looking statements” (collectively “forward-looking

statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States

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things, technical results from the Company’s drilling program and closing of the Offering. Actual future results may differ

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