VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 10/25/12 -- Pancontinental Uranium Corporation ("Pancon" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: PUC) is pleased to announce that its Joint Venture partner, Crossland Uranium Mines Limited ("Crossland"), issued the following press release today in Australia, regarding the Charley Creek REE project in NT, Australia:
HIGHLIGHTS:
-- A contract has been signed with ALS Metallurgy to conduct acid leach
testwork on Xenotime-Monazite concentrate from Charley Creek alluvials.
-- Contractors are being engaged to undertake the various elements of a
Scoping Study (Preliminary Economic Assessment-PEA) that will
investigate the capital and operating costs of a mining and processing
REE project to produce 7,000 tonnes of contained TREO per annum.
-- Crossland's confidence that the Charley Creek Project can be an early
starter and long-term producer of valuable rare earth products is
firming. Compared with many competing projects, most of which are based
on hard-rock deposits, the Charley Creek alluvial project enjoys
important advantages. Some of these advantages are presented in the
diagrams below.
The leach testwork is intended to confirm that the Xenotime and Monazite minerals in the concentrate behave as expected under hydro-metallurgical conditions. The leach tests will be conducted on samples of final concentrate grading greater than 40% TREO produced by AML Laboratories from Charley Creek alluvial ore. This testwork will be the final link in the metallurgical scoping testwork chain to confirm that the Charley Creek ore can be processed from mining through to the production of saleable REE products, using well understood and low cost technology.
Negotiations with an engineering company to provide a Scoping Study on a 7,000 tonnes per annum of contained TREO mining project and mineral processing plant are at an advanced stage. The study will estimate likely capital and operating costs for the project and will embrace all engineering issues including infrastructure, mining and processing plant. Negotiations are also in train with consultants to provide an Environmental Impact Study planned to commence with baseline flora, fauna and hydrology studies in November 2012.
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Before the Mine Gate. The key point for comparison of Charley Creek with typical hard-rock projects is at the Mine Gate, at which stage Charley Creek will be producing material with competitive TREO grades following low cost, heavy mineral sands style mining and wet plant processing.
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After the Mine Gate. The mine and wet plant product has two very important qualities;
-- High HREO. The proportion of the critical Heavy REO in concentrates to
be produced from Charley Creek alluvial mine is about 17% of TREO and
substantially higher than many other known advanced REE resource
projects. Charley Creek contains a mixture of all of the Rare Earth
Elements, but more than half of the contained value is in the critical
Heavy REO.
-- Favourable mineralogy. The rare earth minerals in the concentrate
produced from the alluvium are Xenotime and Monazite. These minerals are
regarded as preferred feedstock for REE production, with few of the
problems that may confront more complex silicate REE mineralogy
contained in many other prospective REE deposits.
The information in this report that relates to Exploration Results, Mineral Resources or Ore Reserves is based on information compiled by Geoffrey S. Eupene, CP, a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy. He is a director of the Company and a full time employee of Eupene Exploration Enterprises Pty Ltd. He has sufficient experience which is relevant to the styles of mineralisation and types of deposits under consideration, and to the activity which he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined in the December 2004 edition of the Australasian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves (the JORC Code). Geoffrey S. Eupene has consented to the inclusion in this report of the matters based on this information in the form and context in which it appears.
About Pancontinental Uranium Corporation
Pancontinental Uranium Corporation ("Pancon") is a Canadian-based company focused on uranium and REE discovery and development. Through a joint venture with Crossland Uranium Mines Limited ("Crossland") of Australia, Pancon has established one of the strongest management teams in the uranium industry. This management and operating team has unparalleled experience from exploration, through development to operations, and includes people who were instrumental in the discovery of two of the largest uranium deposits in the world. Pancon and Crossland hold an impressive uranium and REE exploration portfolio with projects in prolific, mining friendly districts.
Exploration is ongoing or has occurred at three Australian projects which include Chilling, Charley Creek, and Kalabity. The Chilling project has the potential to host a mirror image of a portion of the renowned Alligator Rivers Uranium Field containing the large Jabiluka, Ranger and Koongarra deposits. Charley Creek has the potential for large alluvial REE deposits, and large, lower-grade, Rossing-type, granite-hosted uranium deposits. The Kalabity project lies in a district of historic uranium/radium mining that contains a variety of known uranium deposit styles.
Pancon has a 45% participating interest in this significant uranium and REE project portfolio. Pancon and Crossland are also pursuing exploration beyond Australia through an international subsidiary company, Crosscontinental Uranium Limited, and plans include formulating an exploration program in Burkina Faso.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Rick Mark, President & CEO
For additional information, please visit our website at www.PanconU.com.
Cautionary Language and Forward Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements", which are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Investors are cautioned that such statements are not guarantees of future performance and results. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in the Company's disclosure documents filed from time to time with the Canadian securities authorities.
Neither 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.
Contacts:
Pancontinental Uranium Corporation
Rick Mark
President and CEO
604-986-2020 or 1-866-816-0118
604-986-2021 (FAX)
www.PanconU.com
