Rare Element Resources unveils more 2011 drill results from Bear Lodge

Rare Element Resources (AMEX:REE) (TSE:RES) unveiled Tuesday rare earth element and gold assay results from 29 additional drill holes at its Bear Lodge property in northeastern Wyoming.
The results formed part of the 2011 core drilling program at the property. Of the 29 holes, 15 were from the Bull Hill resource area, six were from the Whitetail Ridge area, four were from the East Taylor target, and four were from the Carbon target area.
Three drill holes from the 2011 program are yet to be assayed, the company said.
"Our 2011 drilling results confirm the continuity of the mineralized bodies, and we have continued to significantly expand the resource," said vice president of exploration, Dr. Jim Clark.
"We are excited about the prospect of delineating another resource that exhibits the potential for higher grades of HREE [heavy rare earth elements] at Whitetail Ridge, East Taylor and Carbon. We feel that the district has tremendous upside potential."
Highlights from the Bull Hill area included hole RES-11-48, which intersected 30 metres of 4.58% total rarth earth oxide (TREO), 17 metres of 12.35% TREO, and 8 metres of 9.44% TREO. Hole RES-11-58 also encountered 117 metres of 6.45% TREO.
In the Whitetail Ridge area, hole RES-11-15 hit 12 metres of 2.43% TREO, and 11 metres of 3.06% TREO.
At East Taylor, hole RES-11-31 returned 11 metres of 3.86% TREO, and 57 metres of 0.81 grams per tonne (g/t) gold.
The East Taylor target is located around 760 metres west of the main Bull Hill rare earth deposit and 760 metres southwest of the Whitetail Ridge deposit. The rare earth element mineralization in this area is associated with peripheral zones of gold mineralization, the company said.
The Carbon target area also returned significant rare earth element bearing mineralization, Rare Element said. If this mineralization is a continuation of the Whitetail Ridge dike system and the Bull Hill southwest system, it may strike up to 1,500 metres in length, the company added. The area is enriched in both light and the more valuable heavy rare earth elements.
In 2011, Rare Element identified significant HREE enrichment in FMR and oxide-carbonate carbonatite dikes at the Whitetail Ridge and the East Taylor and Carbon areas, with results today confirming this, the company said.
The company also said the grades for europium, terbuim, dysprosium and yttrium are among the highest of any North American rare earth element deposit, according to preliminary metallurgical results.
REE assay values are reported as the combined oxide equivalents (REO) of the 15 elements in the lanthanide series plus yttrium.
The Bull Hill deposits at the Bear Lodge project contain predominately the light rare earth elements (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium and samarium), with significant quantities of several of the heavy rare earths (europium, dysprosium and terbium).

While some rare earths are relatively common, they are dispersed in a way that makes it difficult to find deposits with high enough ore grades to economically exploit.

Due to their unique attributes, new applications are constantly being developed for rare earths. Demand for the metals is expected to continue to grow steadily as China, which produces 97 percent of the world’s rare earths, has cut exports by more than half of 2004 levels to 30,000 tons in 2010.