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Quantum Rare Earth Poised To Step Into Coming REE Gap
By Jonathan T. Orr
GreenTechnologyReport.com
Friday, April 16, 2010
When Green Technology Report asked Quantum Rare Earth Development’s (TSX.V:QRE) President Peter Dickie about the growing importance and future potential of rare earth elements to early-adopting green investors and the general purchasing public, he said without hesitation “It’s in everything.”
Making his point vividly Dickie points out that “A Prius has seventy pounds of rare earth minerals and there are close to seven hundred pounds in a wind turbine”. Although you may not know it rare earth elements are found in everything from the computer monitor you are looking at now to advanced nuclear technology and cutting edge medical applications. Perhaps equally important they are also an integral part of the green technology revolution, improving energy efficiency in the magnets and batteries that power the hybrid vehicles we will come to drive and the wind turbines that will heat our homes.
Quantum Rare Earth Developments is a junior exploration company with a focus on seeking out secure and economically feasible deposits of rare earth elements in North America and elsewhere in politically stable regions of the world. As Mr. Dickie made clear, the company are determined, with their portfolio of highly promising properties and a management team with depth, experience and a widespread network, to be a big part of that Rare Earth ‘everything’ that will power our future.
Surging Demand, Limited Supply
Unlike other green resources like lithium and cobalt whose future success as a globally in-demand product depends largely on which hybrid battery technologies are adopted and which are left by the wayside, REE’s will continue to play a role in a wide and ever growing array of technologies.
This prevalence in our daily lives clearly demonstrates not only the fundamental role REE’s play in current green technologies but also how important they will be to the clean tech future we are only beginning to imagine. REE’s flexibility of use guarantees that although they may be rare they will also be a constant presence in our lives for a longtime to come.
There is no clearer proof of the future role of rare earth elements than the fact global demand exploded from 85,000 tonnes in 2003, to 124,000 tonnes in 2008 with demand expected to rise to 200,000 tonnes by 2015 for a market of $2.3-billion.
The other thing that makes REE’s a unique and strategically important resource is the fact that although much of our world of interconnected and interdependent technologies depends on rare earth resources to continue to function: their continued supply is under severe threat.
With 97% of world supplies now produced by global economic behemoth China and with it’s vast population demanding more and more of the technologies we take for granted, it is clear that the country will be drastically curtailing the export of REE’s in the near future to meet its own demand, with many experts expecting a crash in world supplies by as early as 2012.
It’s hard not to overstate the impact this shortage would have on our daily lives.
The electronics and automobile industries would grind to halt as would the continued manufacture and development of advanced military technologies, nascent green technologies like hybrid cars, wind turbines and the batteries and magnets that are an integral part of them. It’s unarguable that these little known and exotically named seventeen rare earth elements are a critical part of the foundation of our modern world.
Dickie pointed that there is now a bill before Congress in the U.S. for $1.2 billion in funding for the exploration and development of domestic rare earth supplies. He believes this clearly demonstrates the gravity of the situation: “They’re serious. They foresee severe issues with a secure supply”
To put it mildly: It is thereby critical to secure reliable supplies of REE’s in North America.
This is where Quantum Rare Earth Developments are preparing to step in.
Quantum’s Property Portfolio: Archie Lake
Quantum is excited by the potential of the Archie Lake property to eventually become a politically stable, easy access, high volume producer of REE’s for the North American and global market. Dickie stresses however that the company are committed to reaching its critical development milestones first, stating that “Firm resource and firm grade is the first goal”.
The Archie Lake Rare Earth Element Property is located 50 kilometres east of Uranium City, Saskatchewan and 50 km south of Great Western Minerals Hoidas Lake REE Deposit. Historic exploration and results on the property returned significant concentrations of Rare Earth Elements. The property consists of one mineral claim covering an area of 2,108 hectares. Following numerous exciting surface results, Archie Lake also carries the exciting potential among REE properties in the area in that it has never been drilled. Quantum completed an extensive sampling program in 2009 and has filed a 43-101 report, with additional surface sampling and drilling planned for this spring and summer.
Archie Lake Recent Result Overview
- Mineralization confirmed in all trenches, with one chip sample returning a high of 29.9% REE+Y (Semi-Quantitative Analysis), and an overall average of 3.8% for the 36 samples
- A total of five samples exceeded Acme Lab’s detection limits for one to four of the lanthanides (Ce, La, Nd, and Pr).
- A total of 18 samples exceed 2% REE+Y, of which six exceed 5% REE+Y and three exceed 10% REE+Y.
- Thin sections confirm Monazite-(Ce) as the near exclusive REE bearing mineral, with most grains ranging from 200 ?m to 1 mm+ Monazite may locally comprise up to 60% of host lithology.
Speaking of these initial results Dickie said, barely able to believe them himself, those percentages “…are stupid high” and even exceeded the detection limits of the first lab the company used.
What these results indicate is that the exposed structure contains high-grade pods within the system that could strengthen the overall grade once additional work is completed. And the “thin section” work indicates a coarse-grained material which lends itself to better than average metallurgical recovery rates. This all bodes well for future development of this property.
Dickie sums up the potential of this property by pointing out that the U.S Geological Survey once listed Archie Lake as one of the top ten unexplored rare earth properties in North America. Although clearly confident about Archie Lake’s Rare Earth producing potential, Quantum’s ever-diligent President says, “ Our first goal is to prove our resources, which will warrant the next step in development and the making of production decisions.”
Quantum is planning a comprehensive drilling program this summer to confirm Dickie’s confidence.
What’s Next For Quantum?
The company has recently announced the signing of an agreement to acquire two significant rare earth properties in another politically stable region – Australia. These two properties are in the vicinity of the Mt. Weld deposit and are currently being developed in no small part thanks to a $500 million capital raise from a Chinese consortium. Early stage sampling on one of the properties came up with results of 5 – 8.3% REE’s, and perhaps more importantly, the distribution of rare earths in the sampling is quite similar to that of the nearby Mr. Weld deposit. Once the transaction completes in the next few weeks, additional work will commence immediately on these exciting prospects.
Quantum continue to go from strength to strength and are currently engaged in final evaluations on an other property acquisition in North America: they’re moving quickly so keep your eyes on them.
A Strategic Resource For Our Green Technology Future
Unlike green resources like lithium and cobalt whose future success as a globally in demand product depends largely on which hybrid battery technologies are adopted and which are left by the wayside, REE’s will continue to play a role in wide array an ever growing array of technologies. We are at an absolutely critical time in the pursuit of a clean, green world, both in terms of our continued pursuit of better and less harmful technologies but also in doing all we can do to secure our access to the fuels and materials that will power them forward. It’s clear that with the looming and inarguable fact of a pending collapse in the production of rare earth elements we must seek and support the development of REE’s in North America.
It’s a powerful triumvirate of facts for the green investor: proven and surging demand, a coming critical shortage, and huge potential for the powering of a clean technology world. It may be early days for this young company but it’s very late in the game to fill the gap in the upcoming rare earth shortage. Quick investors will realize we must act now to ensure our REE supply and will want to get behind a company like Quantum who hold one of the top ten unexplored rare earth properties in North America along with the drive and discipline to make Archie Lake a rare success indeed.
Follow the company’s progress: www.QuantumRareEarth.com.
DISCLOSURE: A fee has been paid for the production and distribution of this article and as such should be viewed in the context of advertising.
SOURCE: http://www.midasletter.com/news/10041601_Quantum-rare-earth-poised-to-step-in.php
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