Post by Franko10 ™ on Sept 20, 2004 15:52:43 GMT -5
NEWS RELEASE
HOIDAS LAKE UPDATE
Gary Billingsley, President, reports that field work on the Company's 100%-owned Hoidas Lake Rare Earth project in northern Saskatchewan is proceeding rapidly.
Stripping of the main JAK Zone has been completed in preparation for drilling and blasting the mini-bulk sample. The sample will consist of several hundred tonnes of the JAK Zone rare earth mineralization and will be used to complete the metallurgical assessment of the Hoidas Lake property leading to final pilot plant design. The metallurgical work is being carried out at the Center for Advanced Mineral & Metallurgical Processing (“CAMP”) in Butte , Montana .
The first of the known rare earth showings in the southern part of the property, discovered in the 1950s, has been located and stripped. The showing, one of 31 known rare earth showings on the property, is on the south shore of Hoidas Lake , 3 km down the lake from, and on-strike with, the JAK Zone. It appears to be hosted by the same fault system that hosts the JAK Zone and contains the same type of rare earth mineralization. Surface samples from the new trench have been sent to the Saskatchewan Research Council laboratory in Saskatoon for analysis.
Environmental baseline work under the direction of Golder Associates is in progress and includes the assessment and selection of a winter road route to the property.
The rare earth elements are critical to major alternate energy applications such as fuel cells, rechargeable batteries, hydrogen storage and permanent magnet motors. Recent news reports announcing that major automotive manufacturers are dramatically increasing their production of hybrid automobiles, due to high demand, is also positive news for the rare earth industry. Each Toyota Prius, for example, reportedly contains up to 20kg of rare earth products in the permanent magnet motor and rechargeable battery system. With the majority of rare earths currently supplied by China , it is increasingly imperative that North American rare earth sources be developed to keep pace with the explosion in demand for alternate energy applications and products, and ensure some degree of self-sufficiency.
Gary L. Billingsley, C.A., P.Eng., P.Geo.
President
For further information contact the Company at (306) 668-0701. All email inquiries should be made to info@gwmg.ca (website: http://www.gwmg.ca) Direct mail: Great Western Minerals Group Ltd., 119A Cardinal Crescent, Saskatoon, SK S7L 6H5
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© 2004 Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.