Jul. 14, 2011 (Business Wire) -- Stans Energy Corp (TSX-V: HRE, OTCQX: HREEF) (‘Stans’ or ‘The Company’) is pleased to announce the following update on the progress of the exploration and development activities at its Kutessay II and Kutessay III sites and the Aktyuz Orefield and at the company’s Kashka Rare Earth Processing Facility (KRP).

Selected Highlights of Stans Energy’s progress:

Feasibility Studies

Exploration Updates

Key Personnel Updates

Progression of Strategic Partnership Discussions

FEASIBILITY STUDIES

Stans Energy’s feasibility study is at an advanced stage and scheduled for completion by end of Q4 2011. The company has retained a team of highly qualified and experienced consultants with extensive experience in rare earths to undertake the following roles:

Project Oversight

The feasibility studies will be conducted under the guidance of VNIIHT – All Russian Research Institute of Chemical Technology. VNIIHT has 60 years of research experience in the technology of rare earth elements and is capable of executing the complete cycle of research, development, and the creation of profitable highly efficient technologies of rare earth production. This includes ore concentrates treatment, purification from impurities and separation with the recovery of highly pure rare earth metals, as well as powders and other final rare earth metal products.

Dr. Valery Kosinkin will be overseeing the metallurgical aspects, while Dr. Marat Fazlullin will be supervising the mine design and its various elements.

Mine Design and Planning

Asiarudproject Mining Planning-Production Company CJSC (Asiarudproject) has been retained for the mine design and its planning. Asiarudproject has completed more than 90 designs of mining enterprises and feasibility studies, over twenty of which were implemented including:

• Design of Kumtor open-pit in its final outlines for Centerra Gold
• Designs of open-pits of the Central, Southwestern and Northwestern sites in the Kumtor deposit;
• 2001: Asiarudproject prepared a feasibility study of further development or the Kumtor deposit by underground mining
• 2004-2005: Asiarudproject developed “an underground mine for the Taldybulak Levoberezhny deposit” project

Laboratory Services

Information-Research Centre LLC (IRC LLC) will be responsible for all assays and further development of new milling technologies for Stans Energy. Dr. Ludmilla I. Evteeva, Director General of IRC LLC will be reporting to VNIIHT whilst overseeing the company’s laboratory services which include:

• Research of chemical, physical and mineral composition of various natural minerals, geochemical, exploration and industrial samples and end products;
• Research in the sphere of analytical chemistry, ecology, geo-technology and technology of various branches of industry

IRC’s laboratory has the following accreditations:

• International accreditation center UKAS, Great Britain (laboratory #4431)
• Kyrgyz Center of Accreditation (Accreditation Certificate # KG417/KCS.IL.007)
• Laboratory is accredited for compliance with the international standard ISO/IEC 17025:2005. The accreditation includes measurements of grades of elements using the atomic absorption, ICP and X-ray fluorescence.

Process Engineering

VNIIHT – The All Russian Research Institute of Chemical Technology will be guiding the implementation of improvements to historical methods of Rare Earth extraction and processing of final metals, alloys and oxides. VNIIHT has developed technologies and technological schemes of individual REE production out of different types of raw materials which were implemented at plants in Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Estonia.

Technologies worked out in VNIIHT became the production cycle for over 20 hydrometallurgical plants. Over 2600 inventors’ certificates and patents have been issued. Of the 1000 employees at VNIIHT, over 100 are PhDs.

VNIIHT, having previously improved upon historical methods of thorium roasting will be furthering the testing of the sorption technology to remove radioactivity from the production process.

Environmental

Geomin will be responsible for environmental protection management for Stans Energy. GEOMIN cooperative is a Czech geological and consulting company, offering services in a wide range of geological and environmental branches. The company was established in 1994 and follows up with activities of the former state enterprise Geoindustria. The company´s pivotal program is to project, carry out and evaluate geological work and to perform the work associated with protection of the environment.

GEOMIN has a System of Quality Assurance introduced, in accordance with the Standards of ČSN EN ISO 9001:2008 and ČSN EN ISO 14001:2004.

Mineral Resource Estimate

Kazakhstan Mineral Company (KMC) is a Kazakhstan consulting company that will provide resource estimation services to the company.

KMC has carried out projects in the CIS countries, Afghanistan, Poland, Angola and Mongolia. In 2004-2010, KMC completed more than 40 projects (gold, uranium, copper, nickel, tin, and phosphates) in these countries.

Construction Survey

Kyrgyz GIIZ OJSC (Kyrgyz Main Institute of Engineering Surveys in Construction), will provide a full complex of geological engineering and topographical surveys for Stans Energy.

The largest recent projects include surveys for a biological laboratory in Bishkek city ordered by the Canadian Government (2008-2009); surveys for facilities of the Taldybulak Levoberezhnyi gold deposit (1996-present); surveys for the Ishtamberdy gold deposit (2008-2009); sampling of tailing ponds 1 and 2 of the Tereksay deposit.

Stans Energy Key Personnel Update

Stans Energy Corp. is pleased to announce that it’s Mining and Milling initiatives will be overseen by Valery Yakhin. Mr. Yakhin will hold the position as the Project Manager for Kutessay Mining LLC. Mr. Yakhin brings a wealth of technical engineering management service to the company. He is a graduate of the Moscow Mining Institute and was formerly the Deputy Head at Altynken LLC, a company developing the Taldybulak Levoberezhnyi gold deposit. Mr. Yakhin’s extensive career at KAZATOMPROM began with several technical and engineering positions, eventually leading to Head of Production and Technical Department of the Taukent Mining and Chemical Enterprise.

The Atomic Company KAZATOMPROM is the national operator, of the Republic of Kazakhstan, for import and export of uranium, rare metals, nuclear fuel for power plants, special equipment and dual-purpose materials.

Additionally, Stans Energy Corp. is pleased to announce that Vladmir Shubin its Chief Geologist will be responsible for all the geological activities for Stans Energy KG. Mr. Shubin holds a degree in Mining Engineering, specializing in geology and exploration of mineral deposits.

Mr. Shubin has over 20 years of experience as the Chief Geologist for the North Kyrgyz geological Expedition.

Exploration Update

Stans Energy Corp. will focus this year’s initial exploration program on extending the mineralization to depth on Kutessay II to increase to size of the Measured and Indicated Reserves as confirmed by the JORC on Kutessay II.

Kutessay II

The exploration plan for Kutessay II is to drill below the known mineralization that was used for the resource calculation in the recently completed JORC report by KMC.

Two 500m drill holes are initially planned and will be drilled from the open pit.

Aktyuz Mine

In researching the historical records of the Aktyuz lead, zinc and silver mine (last mined in the 1940s), Stans Energy Corp discovered a zone of Rare Earth mineralization. This mineralization was categorized into a B category by the Soviets which had been discovered by exploring underground, drifting into the mineralization along with diamond drilling.

This Yttrium rich mineralization is will be initially prospected with two drill holes to test the downward extension of the historic mineralization.

Kutessay III

In 2010 Stans Energy KG drilled two holes of 500m to test a geophysical anomaly at Kutessay III. The two drill holes intersected Rare Earth mineralization however the results did not explain the strong anomaly.

Over the next six months, the geological team of Stans Energy KG led by Chief Geologist, Vladimir Shubin researched the historical reports in the Kutessay III area done by the Soviet geologists. This research discovered underground drilling done at Kutessay II that intersected REE mineralization which showed a REE structure approximately 100 meters east of Stans Energy’s 2010 drilling. Stans Energy KG is continuing to evaluate known data in the Kutessay III area to determine the best drill targets.

In reviewing the historic data from the annual reports of work in the Kutessay III site for 1968 by A.T. Khokihlol and the 1974-75 report by Dr. V.F Kim it was noted that Kutessay III had a length of 300m with a thickness from 22m to 50m averaging 40m.

Aktyuz Ore Field

Stans Energy KG will continue to do surface exploration work on the Aktyuz ore field in 2011, along with building a computerized model using historic data

Geophysics

Geophysical surveys over the entire ore field are near completion and the data is being compiled. The data will be used in conjunction with geological data which Stans compiled over 2010 and will be coordinated with the historical data to further expand the known rare earth zones.

There are over 400 historical geological reports on the Aktyuz field. Stans Energy is continuing to add to the database to further refine the computerized models.

Five historical areas in the Aktyuz ore field where REE mineralization was put into a resource category by the Soviets. These areas are:

• Kutessay II
• Kutessay III
• Aktyuz
• Kuperlisai
• Anjilga

Strategic Partnership Discussions Initiated

Throughout 2010 and 2011, Stans Energy Corp has been approached by various companies and agencies that have expressed interest in developing strategic partnerships in respect to its property in Kyrgyzstan, namely Kutessay II. These firms have the ability to assist with financial, technical, marketing and other necessary prerequisites that would accelerate early production at Kutessay II.

About Stans Energy

Stans Energy Corp. is a resource development company focused on progressing Heavy Rare Earth (HRE) properties in areas of the Former Soviet Union. In December 2009, Stans acquired a 20-year mining license for the past-producing Kutessay II rare earth mine from the Kyrgyz Republic. On May 26, 2011 Stans completed the purchase of the Kashka Rare Earth Processing Plant (KRP) the same plant that previously refined REEs historically from Kutessay II. The KRP was the only hard rock plant to produce all rare earth elements outside of China, producing 120 different metals, alloys, and oxides. For over 30 years, Kutessay II produced 80% of the rare earth metals for the former Soviet Union.

We seek safe harbour.