Search Minerals Outlines the Silver Fox Zirconium-Rare Earth Element Mineralized Zone, Se Labrador
SEARCH MINERALS OUTLINES THE SILVER FOX ZIRCONIUM-RARE EARTH
ELEMENT MINERALIZED ZONE, SE LABRADOR
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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, April 08, 2020 -- Search Minerals Inc. (TSXV: SMY) (“Search” or the “ Company”) is
pleased to report assay results from SILVER FOX, its fourth major mineralized zone in its Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis
Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District. Trenching/channelling (4 new channels in 2019), and mapping/prospecting
indicate that the surface expression of this mineralized zone is up to 8.8m wide and 650m long. This surface expression is
significantly longer, but thinner, than the surface expressions of the nearby and related FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Resources.
The mineralization is similarly hosted by peralkaline volcanic rocks and contains slightly lower grades of the REE magnet
materials (Nd, Pr, Tb and Dy) but significantly higher grades of Zr and Hf.
HIGHLIGHTS - SILVER FOX MINERALIZED ZONE
• SILVER FOX (all true widths) exhibits high grade Zr (Hf, Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) mineralization ranging from 3.63 to 8.83m wide
over 650m strike length;
• Channel assay highlights (all true widths):
• FSC-19-04: 26,389 ppm Zr, 110 ppm Dy, 1494 ppm Nd, 409 ppm Pr, over 7.14m;
• FSC-18-01: 28,965 ppm Zr, 96.7 ppm Dy, 1249 ppm Nd, 348 ppm Pr over 6.49m;
• FSC-12-02: 25,466 ppm Zr, 89.1 ppm Dy, 1281 ppm Nd, 348 ppm Pr over 8.83m;
• SILVER FOX contains Zr (Hf) values much higher than any other CREE resource ( FOXTROT and DEEP FOX ) or
mineralized zone (FOX MEADOW) in SE Labrador.
Greg Andrews, President/CEO states; “These results are very encouraging and support the vision of multiple deposits of High
Grade CREEs in our CREE district. Silver Fox is uniquely positioned with significant grades of Zirconium and Hafnium, but
somewhat lower values of the rare earth elements. We will evaluate methods to recover a Zirconium/Hafnium product from the
SILVER FOX prospect and to our current flowsheet processing of the FOXTROT and DEEP FOX material.”
Dr. David Dreisinger comments: “The objective of metallurgical testing of the SILVER FOX (and other deposits) will be to
recover a high grade zirconium by-product for sale with minimal processing cost and complexity. Search is engaged with our
technology advisor, SGS Canada, to identify process flowsheet options.”
The 2019 channelling program at SILVER FOX (totalling 26.89m) consisted of four channels. One new channel through the
mineralized zone and adding an extension to a previously cut channel; two other channels did not sample high Zr
mineralization. Two of the new channels occur in areas with significant overburden; a mini-excavator with a backhoe-like
bucket was used to expose bedrock in these channels.
Table 1 outlines assay highlights from the 2019 channelling program and channels from the 2012 and 2018 channelling
programs at SILVER FOX. These channels outline a mineralized zone with a surface expression of at least 650m strike length
and up to 8.83m wide.
SILVER FOX contains very high values of zirconium and hafnium (Table 1), being amongst the highest found in the Port Hope
Simpson – St. Lewis Critical CREE District (see Search Minerals new releases: May 26, 2011, April 27, 2012, October 30,
2013, October 15, 2015). The recent results from FOX MEADOW (see Search Minerals new release: April 6, 2020) reflect the
range of Zr values, 9,733 – 17,807 ppm Zr, observed throughout most of the CREE district, with the exception of SILVER FOX
(25,466 – 29,058 ppm Zr; Table 1). Preliminary mineral identifications indicate that most of the Zr occurs in the mineral zircon
in these rocks. The company is currently exploring the potential/possibility of producing and marketing a zircon concentrate, in
addition to a mixed REE concentrate, from the mineralized peralkaline rocks in the Port Hope Simpson – St. Lewis CREE
District.
The SILVER FOX mineralized zone is thinner than both the DEEP FOX and FOXTROT mineralized resources, which are up to
40m thick; however, it is much longer (at least 650m long) than these zones (about 350-450m long). The surface expression of
the FOX MEADOW mineralized zone is greater than that of DEEP FOX and FOXTROT combined.
Exploration plans for 2020 at SILVER FOX include additional channels to infill between current channels and to test the limits
of the mineralized zone to the east and west.
The SILVER FOX prospect occurs about 12 km west of St. Lewis and about 2 km west of FOXTROT; access is from an all-
season gravelled highway.
TABLE 1. WEIGHTED AVERAGE OF MINERALIZED INTERVALS AT SILVER FOX Zr-REE PROSPECT
FSC12-03 FSC12-02 FSC19-04 FSC-19-01 FSC18-01 FSC12-04
From (m) 5.14 1.72 2.20 0.00 0.14 0.00
To (m) 11.35 10.55 9.34 3.63 6.63 4.60
Length (m) 6.21 8.83 7.14 3.63 6.49 4.60
Y (ppm) 488 446 556 533 489 566
Zr (ppm) 27,268 25,466 26,389 29,058 28,966 28,534
Nb (ppm) 244 216 291 285 271 271
Hf (ppm) 646 599 663 826 702 676
La (ppm) 1,949 1,807 2,081 1,951 1,758 1,975
Ce (ppm) 3,350 3,105 3,542 3,511 3,091 3,471
Pr (ppm) 375 348 409 382 348 384
Nd (ppm) 1,397 1,281 1,494 1,412 1,249 1,434
Sm (ppm) 229 211 250 232 206 234
Eu (ppm) 6.4 5.9 7.3 6.8 6.2 7.2
Gd (ppm) 161 151 182 179 150 167
Tb (ppm) 18.6 17.6 21.9 22.4 18.3 21.0
Dy (ppm) 95.9 89.1 110 110 96.7 110
Ho (ppm) 16.5 15.2 19.1 19.4 17.0 19.2
Er (ppm) 45.3 41.9 52.9 52.4 47.0 53.1
Tm (ppm) 6.2 5.7 7.3 7.1 6.5 7.3
Yb (ppm) 38.3 35.8 46.1 47.7 42.3 47.2
Lu (ppm) 6.0 5.6 7.0 7.4 6.5 7.4
LREE 7,300 6,751 7,776 7,488 6,652 7,497
HREE 394 368 454 452 390 439
HREE + Y 882 814 1,010 985 879 1,005
TREE 7,694 7,119 8,230 7,940 7,042 7,936
TREE + Y 8,182 7,565 8,785 8,472 7,531 8,503
% TREE 0.77% 0.71% 0.82% 0.79% 0.70% 0.79%
% TREE + Y 0.82% 0.76% 0.88% 0.85% 0.75% 0.85%
% HREE 5.12% 5.17% 5.51% 5.69% 5.54% 5.53%
% HREE + Y 10.8% 10.8% 11.5% 11.6% 11.7% 11.8%
Mag REE 1,887 1,736 2,035 1,926 1,711 1,949
Note: All amounts parts per million (ppm). 10,000 ppm = 1% = 10 kg/tonne
REE Rare Earth Elements: La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu (Lanthanide Series).
TREE Total Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu.
LREE Light Rare Earth Elements: Add La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm.
HREE Heavy Rare Earth Elements: Add Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu.
Y Y not included in HREE due to relatively low value compared to most Lanthanide series HREE.
%HREE+Y %(HREE+Y)/( TREE+Y)
%HREE %( HREE/ TREE)
Mag REE Sum of Pr, Nd, Tb and Dy (used in REE magnets)
Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC):
Channel samples, 10cm deep and 8cm wide, are cut by gas-powered diamond saw from cleaned outcrops to provide samples
for assay and logging/reference. Each channel is cut into two vertical sections, similar to drill core, with a 6 cm thick section
(weathering removed) being sent out for assay to Activation Laboratories Ltd. A 2 cm thick section is stored in channel boxes
for reference and to provide due diligence/verification samples. The channels are cut perpendicular to strike, pieced together,
logged and photographed to produce geological and geochemical sections. These channel samples, or horizontal drill holes,
produce the same data as vertical diamond drill holes, except the data is from horizontal geological sections and the collected
sample is 6 to 8 times bigger than NQ drill core. Additional 8 cm wide cuts from a channel interval make excellent preliminary
metallurgical samples (1m of channel yields about 30kg of sample).
Lithogeochemistry samples, all from bedrock, are collected by Company personnel, bagged and described. Reference
samples are also collected for each grab, lithogeochemistry and channel sample. The samples are shipped to Activation
Laboratories Ltd. (ActLabs) sample prep facility in Ancaster, Ontario, where they are crushed to 80% -10 mesh and riffled to
produce a representative sample. This sample is then pulverized to 95% -200 mesh with the pulverizing mills being cleaned
between each sample with cleaning sand. A representative sample is treated by a lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion and
then analyzed by ICP and ICP/MS techniques. Mass balance is required as an additional quality control technique and
elemental totals of the oxides should be between 98% and 101%. For QA/QC purposes Search requires pulp and coarse
reject duplicates every 20 samples and two Search reproducibility standards every 40 samples. ActLabs analyzes duplicates
and splits approximately every 15 samples and also analyses 29 measured standards for QA/QC. To further enhance our
QA/QC procedures Search has a program of checking analytical results with other labs to confirm the ActLabs results.
ActLabs is a ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory.
Qualified Person:
Dr. Randy Miller, Ph.D., P.Geo, is the Company's Vice President, Exploration, and Qualified Person (as defined by National
Instrument 43-101) who has supervised the preparation of and approved the technical information reported herein. 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 63 km long and
2 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 and SILVER FOX as new CREE prospects 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), a short payback period and is scalable due to Search’s proprietary processing technology.
For further information, please contact:
Greg Andrews
President and CEO
Tel: 604-998-3432
E-mail: [email protected]
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