VANCOUVER, July 29, 2015 /CNW/ - (TSXV: SMY)
Search Minerals Inc. ("Search" or the
"Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the first
tranche of its previously announced private placement and the
filing of the 2nd quarter ended May 31, 2015 Financial Statements and Management
and Analytical Discussion. The Company has also provided a
corporate update regarding the 2015 Exploration program, the
re-location of the exploration office to St. Lewis and the planned programme for the
balance of the year.
Greg Andrews, President, states,
"Search continues to work towards achieving its corporate goals for
2015 which are: 1) to continue to advance the Port Hope Simpson
Critical Rare Earth Element ("CREE" - Nd, Eu, Tb, Dy, Y) District
in SE Labrador, specifically the
FOXTROT Project and the recently announced Deepwater Fox Prospect;
2) to prove the commercial application of the Company's proprietary
metallurgy process with a demonstration plant, which should allow
the Company to initiate a feasibility study; and 3) continue to
build relationships and seek strategic partners. Search has also
been working very diligently in strengthening the balance sheet and
reducing corporate expenses."
FINANCING
Further to its news release dated July 2,
2015, the Company has completed the first tranche of its
non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") raising gross
proceeds of $477,000 by the issuance
of 7,950,000 units (the "Units") at $0.06 per Unit. Each Unit consists of one
common share in the capital of the Company (a "Share") and one
share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles
the holder to purchase one additional common share in the capital
of the Company (a "Warrant Share") at a price of $0.10 per Warrant Share for a period of 24 months
from the closing of the Offering. The Company intends to
close the final tranche of the Offering shortly.
The Company will use the proceeds from the Offering as
follows:
- Continue channel sampling work program at the new Deepwater Fox
prospect;
- Prepare updated preliminary economic assessment report using
the information contained in the recent engineering study (see
"Search Minerals Receives Independent Engineering Study For
Processing Facility In SE Labrador," June
16, 2015) and including information from Search's
proprietary metallurgical process (see "Search Minerals Announces
Successful Scale Up of Proprietary Metallurgical Process to Produce
98.9% Purity Rare Earth Oxide Product," Feb.
2, 2015);
- To maintain its rare-earth properties in the Port Hope Simpson
CREE District; and
- For general working capital.
All securities issued in the Offering are subject to a statutory
hold period to November 29, 2015 in
accordance with applicable securities legislation. Closing of the
Offering is subject to final approval of the TSX Venture
Exchange.
A director of the Company acquired Units under the Offering.
Such participation is considered to be a "related party
transaction", as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 ("MI
61-101"). The Company intends to rely on the exemptions from the
valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements of MI
61-101 contained in sections 5.5(b) and 5.7(1)(b) of MI 61-101 in
respect of such insider participation.
PROGRESS OF 2015 EXPLORATION PROGRAM
The Search Exploration Crew, consisting of three geologists and
5 local support staff, has been in the field for just over two
months. The focus of the exploration program is maintenance work on
licenses in the Port Hope Simpson CREE (Critical Rare Earth
Element) District and a channelling program on the Company's new
Deepwater Fox Prospect (see Search Minerals News Release
January 27, 2015).
The main part of the channelling program is almost complete; a
total of 12 channels totalling 350m of channel and approximately
650 assay samples over a strike length of 500m. Most samples have
been delivered for assay and the results are pending. Geological
surface mapping, prospecting and channel logging indicate the
presence of mineralization over 500m strike length and varying from
3 to 34m wide. An additional 2-3 channels are planned.
Results of the channel program will be used to evaluate and plan
a 2000m drill program at Deepwater Fox in October. The aim of this
program is to outline a second source of feed material, in the Port
Hope Simpson CREE District, for a possible central processing plant
in the St. Lewis, Labrador region.
Upon completion of the Deepwater program, exploration will also
be carried out elsewhere in the Port Hope Simpson CREE District, in
the Henley Harbour area of SE
Labrador and in the 100% owned Red Wine area of Central Labrador (see June 29, 2015, Search Minerals owns 100% of Red
Wine Complex Property with purchase of Great Western Minerals'
working interest.)
RELOCATION OF SEARCH EXPLORATION OFFICE
The Search Exploration office is in the process of moving to a
larger facility in St. Lewis,
which will house the exploration team, facilitate the core analysis
and separation operation, and provide space to maintain all the
Company's core, including that from the Red Wine Complex. The
consolidation of offices and core shacks will have immediate
savings for the Company. The exploration office is located
closer to the FOXTROT project and Deepwater Fox prospect, which
will reduce travel time and the associated costs getting to the
worksites.
PLANNED ADVANCEMENTS FOR BALANCE OF 2015
- Design and build a larger-scale pilot demonstration plant to
test the FOXTROT Project mineralization. The material processed
through the demonstration plant will confirm the specifications and
purity of the mixed rare earth oxide product for further testing by
end-users or separation refineries;
- Engage an Engineering Company to initiate an Environmental
Scoping Study to provide the Company with strategic guidance and
tools required to initiate the Environmental Assessment
process;
- Continue to work on our relationships with Atlantic Canada
Opportunities Agency ("ACOA"), Research and Development Corporation
("RDC"), NunatuKavut Community Council ("NCC")_, and the local
communities, and cultivate new relationships to enhance the
development of FOXTROT. These new relationships could include
off-take partners, joint venture partners, end-users, or other
strategic partners; and
- Build market awareness of Search Minerals, by enhancing our
investor relations, redesigning our website, and increased
communication to the marketplace.
The above advancements for 2015 will depend on funding to
complete and therefore are subject to change.
About Search
Search is a TSX Venture Exchange listed company focused on
creating value through finding and developing "critical rare earth
element ("CREE")" mineral assets in Labrador. CREEs (Nd, Eu, Tb, Dy, Y) have
growing demand, constrained or restricted supply and are commonly
used in innovative technologies.
Search is the discoverer of the Port Hope Simpson CREE District,
a highly prospective CREE belt located in southeast Labrador, where the Company controls a belt 70
km long and up to 8 km wide. Search owns 100% of the advanced CREE
resource called the Foxtrot Project ("Foxtrot"), and a
recently announced Foxtrot-like prospect called "Deepwater Fox". In
addition, the Company has identified more than 20 other
Foxtrot-like prospects in the District. The primary focus of Search
is to continue to advance the Foxtrot resource, while evaluating
other Foxtrot-like prospects. Several of the Foxtrot-like prospects
require exploration drilling programs and may provide additional
resources to a central processing facility that would be situated
within the District.
In addition, Search holds a number of other CREE mineral
prospects in Labrador in its
portfolio, including claims in the Red Wine Complex, in the Henley
Harbour area and in the Strange Lake Complex (where Quest Rare
Minerals has a Joint Venture with Search) .
Search Minerals is led by a Management Team and Board of
Directors with proven track records in the mining industry. The
Company also has experienced geological and metallurgical teams led
by Dr. Randy Miller and Dr.
David Dreisinger respectively.
All material information on the Company may be found on its
website at searchminerals.ca and on SEDAR at sedar.com.
Neither the 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 release.
Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking"
Information.
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements"
under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not
historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks,
uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results,
performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are necessarily based on a number of
estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are
subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors
which may cause actual results and future events to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: general
business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation,
legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory,
political and competitive developments; and those additional risks
set out in Search's public documents filed on SEDAR at
www.sedar.com. Although Search believes that the assumptions and
factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are
reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these
statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release
and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the
disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law,
Search disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise
any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events, or otherwise.
SOURCE Search Minerals Inc.