NR: State of Alaska supports UCUState of Alaska Announces Support for Expedited Permitting and Production at Ucore's Bokan Heavy Rare Earth Project
April 20, 2010 - Halifax, N.S. - Ucore Uranium Inc. (TSX VENTURE:UCU) ("Ucore" or the "Company") is pleased to report that the Alaska State House of Representatives has unanimously passed a House Resolution in favor of expedited permitting and production of heavy rare earth resources at Ucore's Bokan Mountain project in southeast Alaska. Resolution 16 - Mining / Processing of Rare Earth Elements recommends the continued exploration of rare earth deposits in Alaska and, more specifically, the issuance of permits, as promptly as allowed by law, for extraction, processing and production of rare earth materials on the Bokan Mountain properties.
The Resolution, sponsored by Representative Craig Johnson, Co-Chair of the Alaska State House Resources Committee, acknowledges the United States' reliance on China for the supply of rare earth elements, the technological importance of these elements, in particular heavy rare earth elements ("HREE's") such as terbium and dysprosium, and the relative skew of mineralization found at Bokan towards these scarce and highly sought after metals. In addition, the resolution demonstrates the House's support of the recently tabled RESTART Act, which has been introduced to the United States Congress by Congressman Mike Coffman, R-Colorado. The RESTART Act proposes support for the development of a rare earth element supply chain within the U.S. Full text of Resolution 16 can be found at the following link:
"We're very pleased to see such direct political support for the advancement of the Bokan project," said Jim McKenzie, President and CEO of Ucore. "The recent GAO Report on Rare Earth Metals in the Defense Supply Chain has highlighted the near term need for a sustainable supply chain of heavy rare earths in the U.S., both for critical American national defense and industrial applications. In turn, the unanimous support of the Alaska State House of Representatives will be invaluable to expediting prospective near term production of HREE's at Bokan to meet that near term need. The Bokan project is one of very few heavy rare earth enriched deposits in the U.S., and is considered by many to be the nearest such deposit to production on U.S. soil, outside of HREE byproduct from Molycorp's primarily light rare earth enriched deposit at Mountain Pass. We look forward to working with the State of Alaska to bring Bokan into production with as little delay as possible."
About Ucore Uranium Inc.
Ucore Uranium Inc. is a junior exploration company focused on establishing REE and uranium resources through exploration and property acquisition. With multiple projects, Ucore's primary focus is the Rare Earth One operated Bokan - Dotson Ridge rare earth element and uranium project. The project is located on the southern part of Prince of Wales Island in southeastern Alaska, with excellent deep water access and proximity to major sea and rail shipping routes across North America and to Asia.
Jim McKenzie, President and CEO