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IAMGOLD Corporation announced that it has declared an inferred resource of 466.8 million tonnes at a grade of 1.65% Total Rare Earth Oxides (TREO) as a result of its 2011 exploration drilling program conducted on the rare earth elements zone adjacent to its Niobec niobium mine near Saguenay, Quebec, Canada.
Steve Letwin, President and CEO of IAMGOLD, stated, "I am so proud of our team of employees who have unlocked this valuable deposit of highly prized metals. They have successfully defined the scope and size of a resource that we only guessed at a year ago and is completely unvalued by investors. In terms of developing this resource and bringing it to market, we plan to take the same funding approach as with our self-funded Niobec business. We will explore alternative strategies for developing this resource, such as joint venture partnerships and strategic alliances, which will not impact our gold business. "While the scoping study will define the exact significance to the REE market, this deposit has the potential to place IAMGOLD among a select group of global REE suppliers to a market where applications for these metals are constantly evolving and expanding. Rare earths are integral to a wide range of fast growing industries and are difficult to substitute. China`s actions to restrict exports to protect supply for its domestic industry has led to a shortage of a number of REEs that are critical to some of the fastest growing markets, including the clean energy sector. Demand for REEs is growing at 9-15% a year, and according to a report by Ernst & Young -Technology Minerals - The rare earths race is on (April 2011), the market value is expected to double in size to a range of $4 billion to $6 billion by 2015." IAMGOLD`s known rare earth element zone was last explored in 1985 and is known to host significant rare earth element mineralization. As reported in the Company's 2011 second quarter report, a supplemental exploration program of $2.5 million was approved to drill test the projected extensions of known niobium resources at Niobec, and to explore the REE zone. The REE zone was evaluated with a total of 13,798 metres of diamond drilling in 29 holes including an underground drill hole from the Niobec mine. IAMGOLD's rare earth resource is located one kilometre north of its Niobec mine in the mining friendly jurisdiction of Quebec. "The location of this resource is very conducive to bringing these REEs to market in a timely and cost effective manner," continued Mr. Letwin. "In addition to its close proximity to our existing mine infrastructure at Niobec, the location provides access to a large skilled population, an established and very competitively priced hydro power source, and excellent shipping and distribution options given the existing road and rail infrastructure and close proximity to deep water ports with ocean access. These factors, together with the Company's strong balance sheet, development expertise and excellent community relations provide distinct speed-to-market advantage." More information, click here. |
