Appia Sampling Encounters a Second Zone of 14.35 wt% Total Rare Earth Oxide Over 4.75 m on Its Alces Lake Property
Toronto, October 29, 2018 - Appia Energy Corp. (CSE: API) (OTCQB: APAAF) (FSE: A0I.F) (FSE: A0I.MU) (FSE: A0I.BE) (the "Company" or "Appia) is pleased to provide analytical results from surface channel samples collected from the Wilson zone as part of the Company's recently completed exploration program (the "Program") carried out on the Alces Lake Property (the "Property") in northern Saskatchewan.
Surface channel sample results for the Wilson zone are provided in Table 1. The highest results were obtained along line 10 (see Figure 1) which returned 14.35 wt% total rare earth oxide ("TREO") over 4.75 m. Other notable results include 14.47 wt% TREO over 3.55 m from line 5 and 10.54 wt% TREO over 4.48 m from line 13. These results compare favourably with previous results reported from the Charles zone which returned a maximum of 14.90 wt% TREO over 5.1 m (see news release dated September 18, 2018).
Additional assay results for the 2018 surface channel samples at the Bell, Dante, Dylan and Ivan zones, and the assay results of samples from the 15 drill holes are still pending. They will be announced in the coming weeks as they are received and analyzed by the Company.
Mr. James Sykes, Vice President of Exploration and Development for Appia comments: "The results obtained so far from the Wilson zone and the Charles zone surface channel samples continue to demonstrate that the Alces Lake property is an emerging world-class high-grade rare earth element deposit endowed with high concentrations of critical rare earths required for the permanent magnet industry."
Twenty of the 35 lines (or 57%) demonstrate "high-grade" continuity over a 50 m strike length. The average grade for the "high-grade" core returned 9.08 wt% TREO after applying a 4.0 wt% TREO cutoff to the sample data. By comparison, Lynas Corporation Ltd.'s Mt. Weld CLD deposit in Western Australia, which produced approximately 15% of the Global REOs in 2017, has an average Ore Reserve grade of 8.6 wt% TREO (using a 4.0 wt% TREO cutoff, as of August 6, 2018). The REO grades exhibited at Alces Lake continue to showcase its position amongst the top tier REE deposits globally.
To illustrate the importance of the REOs at Alces Lake, one metric tonne of mineralization from the Wilson zone "high-grade" core would contain approximately 90.73 kg of REOs, of which 19.9 kg are critical magnet material REOs (14.81 kg Nd2O3, 4.79 kg Pr6O11, 0.21 kg Dy2O3, 0.06 kg Tb4O7, 0.03 kg Eu2O3). Using current market prices for each REO* produces a total in-situ value of US$1,159.26/metric tonne, of which over 86% (US$1,004.54) is attributable to the critical REOs.
A total of 35 lines were sampled on the Wilson zone outcrop. Lines were spaced approximately 2.0 m apart, with a range of 1.47 to 11.48 m in length (average 6.16 m in length). A total of 400 samples were diamond sawcut and collected from 215.7 m of surface exposure. Individual sample length intervals ranged from 0.24 to 1.16 m in length (average 0.5 m), 1 inch wide, and 1 to 2 inches deep, with a range 3 to 23 contiguous samples per line (average 11 samples per line). Some lines were left open and mineralization was not sampled due to topographic constraints and/or remaining overburden cover, especially in the areas surrounding the historic exploration trenches.
The Alces Lake Property encompasses some of the highest-grade total and critical REE mineralization in the world, hosted within seven surface showings that remain open in all directions (see **Note below). Critical rare earth elements are defined here as those that are in short-supply and high-demand for use in permanent magnets and modern electronic applications (i.e: Neodymium (Nd), Praseodymium (Pr) and Dysprosium (Dy)). The Alces Lake project area is 14,334 hectares (35,420 acres) in size, and is 100% owned by Appia.
All sample results were provided by Saskatchewan Research Council's ("SRC") Geoanalytical Laboratory, an ISO/IEC 17025:2005 (CAN-P-4E) certified laboratory in Saskatoon, SK, for multi-element and REE analysis.
All analytical results reported herein have passed rigorous internal QAQC review and compilation. The technical content in this news release was reviewed and approved by Thomas Skimming, P.Eng, a Director of Appia, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
*REO prices as per Shanghai Metals Market, October 26, 2018 (https://price.metal.com/Rare-Earth). All prices presented as US$/kg. Tb4O7 = $418.23, Dy2O3 = $164.94, Pr6O11 = $57.86, Nd2O3 = $44.99, Eu2O3 = $42.40, Er2O3 = $23.36, Gd2O3 = $18.54, Y2O3 = $2.95, Sm2O3 = $1.94, CeO2 = $1.90, La2O3 = $1.83
**Note: The Alces Lake REE grades were compared with global REE deposit grades. The global REE deposit information was derived from publicly available information as of January 31, 2018, from individual company websites, SEDAR technical report filings, and the Technology Metals Research Advanced Rare Earth Projects Index (http://www.techmetalsresearch.com/metrics-indices/tmr-advanced-rare-earth-projects-index/).
About Appia
Appia is a Canadian publicly-traded company in the uranium and rare earth element sectors. The Company is currently focusing on delineating high-grade critical rare earth elements ("REE") and uranium on the Alces Lake property, as well as prospecting for high-grade uranium in the prolific Athabasca Basin on its Loranger, North Wollaston and Eastside, properties. The Company holds 100% of the surface rights to exploration over 63,980 hectares (158,098 acres) in Saskatchewan.
The Company also has NI 43-101 compliant Mineral Resources of 8.0 M lbs U3O8 and 47.7 M lbs Total REE Indicated and 20.1 M lbs U3O8 and 133.2 M lbs Total REE Inferred in the Teasdale Zone plus 27.6 M lbs U3O8 Inferred in the Banana Lake Zone in the historic mining camp of Elliot Lake in Ontario (previously reported in the Company's news release dated August 14, 2013). The resources are largely unconstrained along strike and down dip. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Appia's technical team is directed by James Sykes, who has had direct and indirect involvement with over 450 M lbs. U3O8 being discovered in five deposits in the Athabasca Basin.
Appia currently has 58.4 million common shares outstanding, 76.6 million shares fully diluted.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: This News Release contains forward-looking statements which are typically preceded by, followed by or including the words "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans" or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance as they involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. We do not intend and do not assume any obligation to update these forward- looking statements and shareholders are cautioned not to put undue reliance on such statements.
Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For further information, please contact:
Tom Drivas, President, CEO and Director: (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) appia@appiaenergy.ca
James Sykes, VP Exploration & Development, (tel) 306-221-8717, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) jsykes@uraniumgeologist.com
Frank van de Water, Chief Financial Officer and Director, (tel) 416-546-2707, (fax) 416-218-9772 or (email) fvandewater@rogers.com
