Pele Mountain Enters Agreement to Acquire Rare Earth Mining Claims Surrounded by
posted on
Mar 06, 2012 09:05AM
Edit this title from the Fast Facts Section
Pele Mountain Enters Agreement to Acquire Rare Earth Mining Claims Surrounded by Molycorp, 1800 Metres from the Mountain Pass Mine (ccnm)
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 6, 2012) - Pele Mountain Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:GEM)(OTCQX:GOLDF) ("Pele" or the "Company") today announced that it has entered into a binding Purchase and Sale Agreement (the "Agreement") to purchase 11 contiguous mining claims (the "Simon Rare Earth Claims"), which are surrounded by Molycorp's Mountain Pass rare earth property in south-eastern California. The seller of the Simon Rare Earth Claims is a company (the "Seller") owned by the family of Peter Simon II, the son of the prospector who originally staked much of the Mountain Pass area more than 60 years ago. (Click here for satellite photo of Simon Rare Earth Claims)
As the Cold War escalated in the late 1940s, American interest in domestic uranium production surged, initiating a prospecting boom across the western United States. In 1949, Peter "Pop" Simon and his partners discovered intense radioactivity along a vein in Mountain Pass, California, where they located the Birthday claim. The mineralization in the vein turned out to be Bastnasite, a rare earth bearing fluoro-carbonate, prompting the location of many more claims throughout the area.
In 1950, most of the Simon partnership claims in the area were sold to Molybdenum Corporation of America, a.k.a. "Molycorp", which developed the world-class Mountain Pass rare earth deposit. However, Pop Simon retained 11 mining claims, the Simon Rare Earth Claims. These claims have been maintained privately by the Simon family during the past 60 years.
Pele President and CEO Al Shefsky stated, "On closing this transaction, Pele will be strategically positioned in the only two North American mining camps to ever achieve significant commercial rare earth production: Mountain Pass, California and Elliot Lake, Ontario. Both locations have compelling competitive advantages over other emerging rare earth development projects, including extensive existing regional infrastructure and favourable mineralogy, bastnasite at Mountain Pass and monazite at Elliot Lake."
Mr. Shefsky continued, "This acquisition is consistent with our corporate vision at Elliot Lake: to develop safe, secure, reliable, long-term supplies of critical rare earths. We are privileged to work with Peter Simon II and his family and are eager to complete our due diligence and commence our Exploration Program at Mountain Pass. Meanwhile, at Elliot Lake, we remain on track to deliver an updated resource estimate and Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") at our Eco Ridge Mine Rare Earths and Uranium Project by month-end."
The terms of the Agreement include the following: