TSX-V: RES
VANCOUVER, May 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Rare Element
Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: RES) ("Rare Element" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Tony Mariano and Mr. Matt Bender to its Advisory Board.
Dr. Anthony N. Mariano:
Dr. Anthony N. (Tony) Mariano is
a geological consultant for rare earths and other rare metals. He
has been the "go-to" expert on the geology and mineralogy of rare
earths, niobium-tantalum, and other rare metals for several
decades. Tony is an expert mineralogist and petrographer, and he
integrates a strong knowledge of geology and extractive metallurgy
("geometallurgy) to predict success or failure of proposed
rare-earth and niobium-tantalum ventures. His professional opinions
on the potential economic viability of these deposits based on
mineralogical examination are eagerly sought by the industry
worldwide, and he is a renowned world expert in the exploration for
new rare-metals resources.
Following Dr. Mariano's graduation with a PhD in geology from
Boston University, he worked a number
of years for Kennecott Research at their lab in Massachusetts. Upon leaving Kennecott, he
became a consulting geologist, specializing in carbonatite-hosted
rare-earth and niobium deposits. Tony has consulted for many of the
companies having an interest in these commodities including
Molycorp, Union Carbide, Anschutz Corp. CBMM (Brazil), and Hecla Mining Company, and more
recently he has added a number of junior exploration and mining
companies to his list of clients. While consulting over a long term
for Molycorp, he worked on the Mountain Pass mine, as well as many
of their exploration projects, including the Bear Lodge rare-earths
project, Wyoming. His knowledge of
rare-earth deposits, and particularly his history with the Bear
Lodge project, provided a strong basis for much of the
mineralogical and metallurgical programs conducted to date. A
combination of Dr. Mariano and Dr. James
Clark, Rare Element's VP-Exploration, is a formidable team
to guide the continued understanding and advancement of the
project's mineralogy and geology. Dr. Mariano has worked with Rare
Element for the past 5 years as a consultant and has assisted Dr.
Clark in our exploration programs.
Mr. Matt R. Bender:
Mr. Matt Bender is currently
Senior Study Director for Newmont Mining Company, responsible for
early stages of project engineering and economic studies. He has
over 22 years of experience in the mining and mineral processing
fields, which include precious metals, base metals and industrial
mineral operations, and process design and engineering. He has
directed scoping studies, preliminary economic assessments,
prefeasibility studies, and feasibility studies for projects around
the world.
Matt received his metallurgical engineering degree from the
Colorado School of Mines and an MBA
from the University of Nevada. He is a
registered Professional Engineer and a Canadian recognized
Qualified Person (QP). His experience includes employment with a
variety of mining companies (Nerco Minerals, FMC Gold, Eagle-Picher
Minerals, Outokumpu, and Gryphon Gold) and several engineering
consulting companies (SNC-Lavalin America, Washington Group, Samuel
Engineering, and CH2M Hill). He brings many years of metallurgical
processing, project evaluation, and business experience that will
be important to RES as we advance the Bear Lodge deposit through
stages of engineering-economic studies.
Dr. Don Ranta, President of Rare
Element, states that "We are exceptionally pleased to have Dr.
Mariano and Mr. Bender on our Advisory Board. Their credibility and
knowledge of the mining industry and the processes of evaluating a
mineral deposit, and Dr. Mariano's extraordinary knowledge of the
rare-earth industry will be valuable to the Company's geological
and evaluation team."
Rare Element Resources Ltd (TSX-V: RES) is a publicly traded
mineral resource company focused on exploration and development of
rare-earth elements and gold on the Bear Lodge property. Gold
exploration in the Bear Lodge Mountains has been conducted for
several decades with a number of companies significantly
contributing to the database and understanding. Newmont's recent
exploration efforts were the most comprehensive and extensive of
these programs.
Rare Element's Bear Lodge property encompasses one of the
largest disseminated rare-earth occurrences in North America (M H Staatz, 1983, US Geological
Survey Professional Paper 1049D). In parallel with the gold-focused
exploration project, Rare Element completed an NI 43-101-compliant
resource estimate and a Technical Report on the Bear Lodge
Rare-Earth Mineralization, and updating of the resource estimate
will be completed this spring. The Company has 100% interest in the
property, is continuing with drilling and a metallurgical testing
program, has begun a Scoping Study to accomplish a preliminary
engineering-economic assessment of the rare-earth project, and will
conduct drilling for gold mineralization in order to estimate
resources.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo, President & CEO
Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo,
serves the Board of Directors of the Company as an internal,
technically Qualified Person. Technical information in this news
release has been reviewed by Dr. Ranta and has been prepared in
accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements that are set out
in National Instrument 43-101. This news release was prepared by
Company management, who take full responsibility for content.
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.
SOURCE Rare Element Resources Ltd.