Secures Dominant Land Position in Emergent Rare Earth District
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 4, 2011) - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") (TSX VENTURE:WML)(FRANKFURT:EJZ) is pleased to announce that it has acquired an additional ~6,000 hectares of ground with good to excellent rare earth exploration potential, surrounding and subjacent to, the Company's Rodeo de los Molles ("Rodeo") rare earth deposit, the largest undeveloped Rare Earth Element (REE) project in South America with an historical resource of 5.6Mt at 2.1% total rare element oxide.
"Following China's recently announced REE export quota cutback, the second cut in concurrent years, we are extremely pleased to have secured a large, unexplored land package in a region that is known to host very significant rare earth element concentrations," stated Henk van Alphen, Wealth's President and CEO. "Our expert technical team believes the district has excellent potential to host additional discoveries and we are very confident that the aggressive exploration program currently underway on the Rodeo deposit will result in the discovery of a rare earth element resource going forward."
RODEO DE LOS MOLLES REE DEPOSIT
REE mineralization at the Rodeo deposit has only been tested to very shallow depths of approximately 35 to 50 vertical metres. The mineralization discovered to date remains open for expansion in all directions, including at depth. Previous metallurgical testwork suggests a relatively straight-forward metallurgical process for the deposit type similar to the formerly producing (bastnasite-hosted) Mountain Pass REE deposit in California, which contains total proven reserves of 88.0 million pounds of rare earth oxide and which produced most of the world's REE's from 1965 to 1985 (source - Molycorp, Inc.).
The Rodeo property may be worked all year round and infrastructure is excellent – a paved road is within 2 kilometres of the deposit and power and water are within 8 kilometres (Figure 1: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/wml14-map.pdf).
Initial results from an on-going campaign of extensive surface sampling, mapping and preliminary metallurgical investigations (Phase I), which began in late 2010, are anticipated imminently. The Company will commence Phase II of its aggressive exploration program upon completion of the detailed surface work, the aim of which is to increase the known mineralization and define a NI 43-101 compliant resource. The field portion of Phase II will begin with approximately 1,000 metres of diamond drilling and include additional mapping, sampling, and prospecting and metallurgical work. The program is expected to cost approximately $450,000 and take approximately two months to complete beginning on or about March 1st, 2011. The Company has the funds to complete the program.
The historical geologic resource estimate for Rodeo was prepared in 1992 (including metallurgical testwork) and is based on approximately 6,000 metres of RAB drilling. This historical resource estimate is considered relevant by the Company given the global concerns regarding secure future supplies of REEs and for the purposes of the Company's decision to acquire the property and to guide the Company in formulating an exploration program for the property. However, the Company cautions that the resource estimate was prepared before the introduction of NI 43-101, and is therefore historical in nature and the Company is not treating such resource as a current resource under NI 43-101. Investors are further cautioned that a qualified person has not yet completed sufficient work to be able to verify the historical resource, and therefore they should not be relied upon.
ACQUISITION AGREEMENT
Wealth has entered into a purchase agreement with Uranio del Sur S.A. (Uranio) whereby Wealth will acquire a 100% interest in both the 3,928 hectare 'Sean 15' cateo (exploration concession), which completely surrounds the Company's existing Rodeo properties, and the 2,000 hectare 'Rocio 15' cateo, located approximately 10 kilometres to the northwest of the Company's existing Rodeo deposit in San Luis Province, Argentina. The Sean 15 and Rocio 15 cateos are predominantly underlain by the same strongly altered igneous rocks of the Las Chacras Coloradas igneous complex that host the rare earth element mineralization on the Company's existing Rodeo properties.
Under the terms of the purchase agreement dated December 17, 2010, Wealth can acquire a 100% interest in the 'Sean 15' and 'Rocio 15' cateos, with no underlying royalties, by paying Uranio USD 15,000, as to USD 7,500 on the signature of the purchase agreement (paid) and the balance upon the registration, in the name of Madero Minerals, S.A. (Wealth's Argentinean subsidiary), of the minas to be applied for by Uranio in respect of the Sean 15 and Rocio 15 cateos.
RARE EARTH ELEMENTS
Sometimes called the "clean energy", "tech" or "green" metals, the unique physical, chemical and light-emitting properties of the rare earths make them indispensable in modern technologies such as magnets, hybrid cars, wind turbines, computers, cell phones and aircraft. The price of rare earth products has increased significantly over the past three years due to increased demand and tightening supplies.
The rare earth element (REE) group is considered to include the 15 lanthanide elements: lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pm), promethium (Pr) (does not occur naturally), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu). The element yttrium (Y) is also included as it has similar chemical properties. Total rare earth oxides (TREO) refers to the 15 rare earth elements lanthanum to lutetium plus yttrium expressed as oxides. Heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) refers to the total of yttrium plus europium to lutetium, as oxides, as a percentage of TREO.
REE deposits tend to occur in two sub-groups:
1. Light rare earth element (LREE) enriched deposits which include La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm.
2. Heavy rare earth element (HREE) enriched deposits which include Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y.
Qualified Person & QA/QC Controls
R. Scott Heffernan, M.Sc., P.Geol., Wealth's Vice-President, Exploration, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Heffernan is not independent of Wealth by virtue of being an officer and shareholder and a holder of incentive stock options.
Wealth's activities to date at Rodeo have been supervised by R. Scott Heffernan, P.Geol., Wealth's Vice-President, Exploration, who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project rigorously collect and track samples which are then sealed and shipped to the Activation Laboratorios Ltda. laboratory facilities in Coquimbo, Chile for preparation and then forwarded to Activation Laboratories Ltd. ("Actlabs") of Ancaster, Ontario for geochemical analysis by '8-REE Assay Package by Fusion ICP & ICP/MS'. Actlabs' Quality System is accredited to international quality standards through the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Comission (ISO/IEC) 17025. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Quality control is further assured by the use of international and in-house standards.
Laboratory results are received in parts per million uranium. The conversion factor used to convert parts per million uranium to pounds per short ton U3O8 is 1.179, which was verified with the Saskatchewan Research Council (ppm uranium x 1.179 = ppm U308; 10,000 ppm uranium = 1% = 20 lbs/ton uranium).
About Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth is an early stage mineral exploration company with approximately 47.3 million shares issued and listings on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges. The Company's focus is the acquisition and exploration of prospective uranium and rare earth element properties, primarily in Argentina and Peru. In addition to ongoing work programs on its existing properties, it continues to actively evaluate new potential uranium and rare earth projects in these and other countries.
For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web site (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of WEALTH MINERALS LTD.
Hendrik Van Alphen, President & CEO
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the potential to verify and potentially expand upon the historical resource at RdlM, the potential for the expansion of the known mineralized zones at RdlM; the potential for the amenability of RdlM mineralization to respond to proven technologies and methods to recover both light and heavy rare earth oxides, the potential for mineralization at RdlM to have relatively straight-forward geometallurgy, business and financing plans and business trends, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, dilution, the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume; variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis filed with certain securities commissions in Canada, and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com, and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
Cautionary Note Concerning Similar or Adjacent Mineral Properties
This press release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. The Company advises US investors that the US Securities and Exchange Commission's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties.
This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
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 press release, which has been prepared by management.
For more information, please contact
Wealth Minerals Ltd.
John Kocela
604-331-0096
604-408-7499 (FAX)
info@wealthminerals.com
www.wealthminerals.comVANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 4, 2011) - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (the "Company" or "Wealth") (TSX VENTURE:WML)(FRANKFURT:EJZ) is pleased to announce that it has acquired an additional ~6,000 hectares of ground with good to excellent rare earth exploration potential, surrounding and subjacent to, the Company's Rodeo de los Molles ("Rodeo") rare earth deposit, the largest undeveloped Rare Earth Element (REE) project in South America with an historical resource of 5.6Mt at 2.1% total rare element oxide.
"Following China's recently announced REE export quota cutback, the second cut in concurrent years, we are extremely pleased to have secured a large, unexplored land package in a region that is known to host very significant rare earth element concentrations," stated Henk van Alphen, Wealth's President and CEO. "Our expert technical team believes the district has excellent potential to host additional discoveries and we are very confident that the aggressive exploration program currently underway on the Rodeo deposit will result in the discovery of a rare earth element resource going forward."
RODEO DE LOS MOLLES REE DEPOSIT
REE mineralization at the Rodeo deposit has only been tested to very shallow depths of approximately 35 to 50 vertical metres. The mineralization discovered to date remains open for expansion in all directions, including at depth. Previous metallurgical testwork suggests a relatively straight-forward metallurgical process for the deposit type similar to the formerly producing (bastnasite-hosted) Mountain Pass REE deposit in California, which contains total proven reserves of 88.0 million pounds of rare earth oxide and which produced most of the world's REE's from 1965 to 1985 (source - Molycorp, Inc.).
The Rodeo property may be worked all year round and infrastructure is excellent – a paved road is within 2 kilometres of the deposit and power and water are within 8 kilometres (Figure 1: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/wml14-map.pdf).
Initial results from an on-going campaign of extensive surface sampling, mapping and preliminary metallurgical investigations (Phase I), which began in late 2010, are anticipated imminently. The Company will commence Phase II of its aggressive exploration program upon completion of the detailed surface work, the aim of which is to increase the known mineralization and define a NI 43-101 compliant resource. The field portion of Phase II will begin with approximately 1,000 metres of diamond drilling and include additional mapping, sampling, and prospecting and metallurgical work. The program is expected to cost approximately $450,000 and take approximately two months to complete beginning on or about March 1st, 2011. The Company has the funds to complete the program.
The historical geologic resource estimate for Rodeo was prepared in 1992 (including metallurgical testwork) and is based on approximately 6,000 metres of RAB drilling. This historical resource estimate is considered relevant by the Company given the global concerns regarding secure future supplies of REEs and for the purposes of the Company's decision to acquire the property and to guide the Company in formulating an exploration program for the property. However, the Company cautions that the resource estimate was prepared before the introduction of NI 43-101, and is therefore historical in nature and the Company is not treating such resource as a current resource under NI 43-101. Investors are further cautioned that a qualified person has not yet completed sufficient work to be able to verify the historical resource, and therefore they should not be relied upon.
ACQUISITION AGREEMENT
Wealth has entered into a purchase agreement with Uranio del Sur S.A. (Uranio) whereby Wealth will acquire a 100% interest in both the 3,928 hectare 'Sean 15' cateo (exploration concession), which completely surrounds the Company's existing Rodeo properties, and the 2,000 hectare 'Rocio 15' cateo, located approximately 10 kilometres to the northwest of the Company's existing Rodeo deposit in San Luis Province, Argentina. The Sean 15 and Rocio 15 cateos are predominantly underlain by the same strongly altered igneous rocks of the Las Chacras Coloradas igneous complex that host the rare earth element mineralization on the Company's existing Rodeo properties.
Under the terms of the purchase agreement dated December 17, 2010, Wealth can acquire a 100% interest in the 'Sean 15' and 'Rocio 15' cateos, with no underlying royalties, by paying Uranio USD 15,000, as to USD 7,500 on the signature of the purchase agreement (paid) and the balance upon the registration, in the name of Madero Minerals, S.A. (Wealth's Argentinean subsidiary), of the minas to be applied for by Uranio in respect of the Sean 15 and Rocio 15 cateos.
RARE EARTH ELEMENTS
Sometimes called the "clean energy", "tech" or "green" metals, the unique physical, chemical and light-emitting properties of the rare earths make them indispensable in modern technologies such as magnets, hybrid cars, wind turbines, computers, cell phones and aircraft. The price of rare earth products has increased significantly over the past three years due to increased demand and tightening supplies.
The rare earth element (REE) group is considered to include the 15 lanthanide elements: lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pm), promethium (Pr) (does not occur naturally), neodymium (Nd), samarium (Sm), europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), and lutetium (Lu). The element yttrium (Y) is also included as it has similar chemical properties. Total rare earth oxides (TREO) refers to the 15 rare earth elements lanthanum to lutetium plus yttrium expressed as oxides. Heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) refers to the total of yttrium plus europium to lutetium, as oxides, as a percentage of TREO.
REE deposits tend to occur in two sub-groups:
1. Light rare earth element (LREE) enriched deposits which include La, Ce, Pr, Nd and Sm.
2. Heavy rare earth element (HREE) enriched deposits which include Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, and Y.
Qualified Person & QA/QC Controls
R. Scott Heffernan, M.Sc., P.Geol., Wealth's Vice-President, Exploration, and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this news release. Mr. Heffernan is not independent of Wealth by virtue of being an officer and shareholder and a holder of incentive stock options.
Wealth's activities to date at Rodeo have been supervised by R. Scott Heffernan, P.Geol., Wealth's Vice-President, Exploration, who is responsible for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality assurance program. On-site personnel at the project rigorously collect and track samples which are then sealed and shipped to the Activation Laboratorios Ltda. laboratory facilities in Coquimbo, Chile for preparation and then forwarded to Activation Laboratories Ltd. ("Actlabs") of Ancaster, Ontario for geochemical analysis by '8-REE Assay Package by Fusion ICP & ICP/MS'. Actlabs' Quality System is accredited to international quality standards through the International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Comission (ISO/IEC) 17025. Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Quality control is further assured by the use of international and in-house standards.
Laboratory results are received in parts per million uranium. The conversion factor used to convert parts per million uranium to pounds per short ton U3O8 is 1.179, which was verified with the Saskatchewan Research Council (ppm uranium x 1.179 = ppm U308; 10,000 ppm uranium = 1% = 20 lbs/ton uranium).
About Wealth Minerals Ltd.
Wealth is an early stage mineral exploration company with approximately 47.3 million shares issued and listings on the TSX Venture and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges. The Company's focus is the acquisition and exploration of prospective uranium and rare earth element properties, primarily in Argentina and Peru. In addition to ongoing work programs on its existing properties, it continues to actively evaluate new potential uranium and rare earth projects in these and other countries.
For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's web site (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors of WEALTH MINERALS LTD.
Hendrik Van Alphen, President & CEO
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the potential to verify and potentially expand upon the historical resource at RdlM, the potential for the expansion of the known mineralized zones at RdlM; the potential for the amenability of RdlM mineralization to respond to proven technologies and methods to recover both light and heavy rare earth oxides, the potential for mineralization at RdlM to have relatively straight-forward geometallurgy, business and financing plans and business trends, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, dilution, the volatility of the Company's common share price and volume; variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the Company's inability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities, the Company's inability to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis filed with certain securities commissions in Canada, and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com, and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.
Cautionary Note Concerning Similar or Adjacent Mineral Properties
This press release contains information with respect to adjacent or similar mineral properties in respect of which the Company has no interest or rights to explore or mine. The Company advises US investors that the US Securities and Exchange Commission's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned that the Company has no interest in or right to acquire any interest in any such properties, and that mineral deposits on adjacent or similar properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on the Company's properties.
This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
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 press release, which has been prepared by management.
For more information, please contact
Wealth Minerals Ltd.
John Kocela
604-331-0096
604-408-7499 (FAX)
info@wealthminerals.com
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