Tasman Metals completes spring drill program at Norra Karr, starts updated resource

Vancouver-based Tasman Metals (CVE:TSM) said Friday that it has completed the winter and spring drilling program at its Norra Karr heavy rare earth element project in Sweden, and has signed a contract for an updated resource estimate.
The company said the thickness of rare earth and zirconium mineralization at the site was expanded significantly by the program, with mineralization intersected to a maximum down hole depth of more than 298 metres in hole NKA11040. Twenty three new holes were drilled during the campaign, with six existing holes extended, for a total of 4,734 metres.
According to Tasman, hole NKA11040 extended the depth of the mineralized intrusion roughly 100 metres below the lower limit of the current NI 43-101 compliant inferred resource estimate. A new, updated report is being planned, which will include more than twice the amount of drilling data used in the initial calculation.
Currently, with a total rare earth oxide (TREO) cut off of 0.4%, the inferred resource comprises 60.5 million tonnes, grading 0.54% TREO and 1.72% zirconium oxide, with 53.7% of the TREO being the higher value heavy rare earth oxide (HREO).
Results are still expected for much of the 2011 drilling program, which will be reported as soon as they are available, Tasman said. The updated resource will form the basis for a future preliminary economic assessment report on the project.
As assessed by industry research, Norra Karr contains the highest proportion of the high value heavy rare earth oxides (HREO) of all advanced projects in the Western World, and also contains an unusually low amount of radioactive metals compared to its peers.
Of particular significance is the high grades of yttrium and dysprosium, two metals that are in high demand in the lighting and automotive industries, and with few potential sources outside of China, which has lately been reducing export quotas.
Since over 95% of rare earth element supply is sourced from China, the European Union is actively supporting policy to promote domestic supply of the metals, as they are critical in a number of high tech and environmental applications.
Norra Karr is located in the south of Sweden, 300 kilometres southwest of the capital Stockholm. The site is well serviced by power, roads and water allowing all year round access, and is considered the fourth largest heavy rare earth project in the Western World by contained metal, according to Technology Metals Research.