Appia Intersects High-Grade 10.02 wt% Treo over 3.55 m in First-Ever Drill Program on Its Alces Lake Property
Toronto, November 26, 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 the analytical results from the first-ever diamond drilling program (the "Program") completed on the Alces Lake Property (the "Property") in northern Saskatchewan.
A total of 15 short diamond drill holes ("DDH") were collared in 3 different rare earth element ("REE") zones that were previously exposed at surface as part of the Company's 2018 Summer overburden stripping program (see Table 1 and Figure 1). Twelve of these holes intersected REE mineralization, of which ten intersected high-grade Total and Critical REEs (see Table 2). Two drill holes, CH-18-000 and CH-18-004, were abandoned and re-collared as CH-18-001 and CH-18-004A, respectively.
Furthermore, three new sub-surface occurrences without surface expressions were also discovered within 12 m true depth below the surface of the Charles and Ivan zones; the Charles Lower, Ivan Middle and Ivan Lower zones. The best drill hole analytical results of the Program were from drill hole CH-18-008 within the Charles Lower zone, which returned 10.02 wt% TREO over 3.55 m. The sub-surface zones encountered with drilling remain open in all directions.
The depth extensions of the surface REE zones (Charles, Ivan and Wilson) were traced down to a range of 0.43 to 7.27 metres true depth from surface and remain open with the exception of the Charles N-S subzone which was closed off at 1.95 m depth from surface. In particular, the drill hole analytical results from the Charles N-S subzone were higher grades than those witnessed at surface; for example 10.12 wt% TREO over 0.9 m returned from DDH CH-18-007.
Mr. James Sykes, Vice-President, Exploration and Development for Appia comments: "The diamond drilling program was successful in verifying the concepts of a working geological model, as well as indicating that REE mineralization continues below the surface, and more importantly, the sub-surface discoveries provide evidence that the Alces Lake property remains highly prospective for additional REE zones to be discovered. As a result of a significant number of years of erosion of these zones, we are only seeing the tail ends of saucer-shaped REE zones at surface, whereas the sub-surface presents us with the potential for discovering fully-intact high-grade REE bodies. The recent drill program was cut short due to earlier-than-expected lake ice at Alces Lake."
To date, 4 of the 7 REE zones exposed at surface have been drill-tested superficially. Diamond drilling was focused within an area measuring 1.5 hectares (3.7 acres), which represents a very small portion of the Alces Lake property, further attesting to the exploration potential of the Property.
Appia plans to continue diamond drill exploration on the Alces Lake property in 2019 with a 3,000 m program designed to continue defining and evaluating the currently known surface and sub-surface zones, as well as testing other high-priority target areas. The planned drilling program will be carried out concurrent with a detailed ground gravity survey exploring for subsurface REE zones, and additional overburden stripping and channel sampling of at least 9 other REE showings identified during the 2011, 2013 and 2017 exploration programs and 2 historic high-grade REE surface showings.
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 at depth. 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 Mr. Thomas Skimming, P.Eng, a Director of Appia, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
**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, Vice-President, Exploration and 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
