July 2012 Updates To The TMR Advanced Rare-Earth Projects Index

I recently updated the list of projects on the TMR Advanced Rare-Earth Projects Index, to reflect a new rare-earth mineral-resource estimate that was announced recently. I also made some other updates. The effective date of the updates is August 10, 2012. The specifics:

• On April 17, 2012, Galileo Resources PLC (AIM:GLR) announced a SAMREC-compliant mineral-resource estimate for the Glenover project in South Africa, co-owned with Fer-Min-Ore (Pty) Ltd. According to the associated press release, 16.8 Mt of the resource is at the Indicated level @ 1.45% TREO and 12.2 Mt is at the Inferred level @ 0.98% TREO (each at unspecified cut-off grades of TREO).

I have also updated the pricing used in the Index data, to reflect the average monthly prices for July 2012 and the moving three-year average price for separated rare-earth oxides.

In addition, to the new projects above, four companies with projects on the Index recently announced updates to their existing resource estimates:

• In its March 14, 2012 Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) report, Matamec Explorations, Inc. (TSX.v:MAT, OTCQX:MHREF) changed the base case for the NI 43-101-compliant mineral-resource estimate for its Kipawa project in Canada. According to the PEA, 17.6 Mt of the resource is at the Indicated level @ 0.44% TREO and 6.8 Mt is at the Inferred level @ 0.37% TREO (each at a cut-off grade of 0.2 wt% TREO).
• Tasman Metals Ltd. (TSX.V:TSM, MKT:TAS, F:T61) announced an update to its NI 43-101-compliant mineral-resource estimate for the Norra Kärr project in Sweden, on March 21, 2012. According to the associated press release, 41.6 Mt of the resource is at the Indicated level @ 0.57% TREO and 16.5 Mt is at the Inferred level @ 0.64% TREO (each at a cut-off grade of 0.17 wt% TREO).
• On July 10, 2012, Avalon Rare Metals Inc. (TSX:AVL, MKT:AVL) announced an update to its NI 43-101-compliant mineral-resource estimate for its Nechalacho project in Canada. According to the associated press release, 8.9 Mt of the resource is at the Measured level at 1.64% TREO, 152.3 Mt is at the Indicated level @ 1.32% TREO and 331.7 Mt is at the Inferred level @ 1.05% TREO (each at a cut-off of $260 / t Net Metallurgical Return).
• GBM Resources Ltd. (ASX:GBZ) announced an update to its JORC-compliant mineral-resource estimate for the Milo project in Australia, on August 9, 2012. According to the associated press release, 187 Mt of the resource is at the Inferred level @ 0.06% TREO, at a cut-off grade of 0.03 wt% TREO.

There was a recent change in ownership of a project on the Index:

• On April 25, 2012 Southern Crown Resources Limited (ASX:SWR) announced the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary Rare Earth International Ltd. (REI) to the original vendors of the subsidiary. Among other exploration projects owned or being pursued by REI is the Xiluvo project in Mozambique. On July 25, 2012 Galileo Resources PLC (AIM:GLR) announced the signing of a Heads of Agreement with REI to earn-in to a number of projects, including Xiluvo.

FYI, TMR is tracking a total of 441 rare-earth projects in progress associated with 269 different companies in 37 different countries.

You can access the updated details via the Index page.

Disclosure: at the time of writing, Gareth Hatch holds no shares or stock options in any of the companies mentioned in this article, or in any publicly traded rare-earth company, nor is he doing paid consulting for any such company.