Search Minerals Announces Initial Deep Fox Drill Results

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 05, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Search Minerals Inc. ("Search" or the "Company") (TSXV:SMY), and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Alterra Resources Inc. (“Alterra”), are pleased to announce the results of the initial three holes (500m) of a planned 12 drill hole (2000m) drill program at the Deep Fox CREE (Critical Rare Earth Element) prospect located in the Port Hope Simpson (PHS) CREE District in SE Labrador. These results indicate that high CREE grades and significant widths occur both underground and on the surface at Deep Fox.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE INITIAL THREE HOLES OF THE DEEP FOX DRILL PROGRAM

Three drill holes at Deep Fox indicate high CREE grades and significant widths both underground and on surface; these are similar to or higher than found at Foxtrot;

Assay highlights:

• FD-17-02: 1231 ppm Y, 1852 ppm Nd, 512 ppm Pr, 41.3 ppm Tb and 241 ppm Dy over 14.13m (true width);
• FD-17-03: 1321 ppm Y, 1911 ppm Nd, 530 ppm Pr, 41.1 ppm Tb and 241 ppm Dy over 8.04m (true width);

Greg Andrews, President and CEO comments: “These initial Deep Fox drill results are very encouraging and support our compelling basis for the drill program.  First, the results indicate that the Deep Fox CREE mineralization follows the model established for the Foxtrot CREE mineral resource; mineralization observed on surface can be followed along the volcanic stratigraphy at depth. Second, higher grades of our key elements (Nd, Pr, Dy, Tb) than Foxtrot evidenced at surface, continue underground at Deep Fox.  Third, although the strike length is not yet confirmed, the widths were larger than those at Foxtrot.  Search plans to finish the current outlined 2000m drill program commencing in May/June 2018, and upon returns of good results and funding, anticipates drilling an additional 2000m program to potentially establish a resource at Deep Fox. This could outline a second resource in the PHS CREE District. We have continued to advance our District during low rare earth prices and are now poised to benefit with the renewed interest in the sector led by government initiatives for renewable energy, electrification of vehicles and increasing prices of our key rare earth elements.”

Assay results from the initial three holes at Deep Fox are outlined in Table 1. Analytical techniques (assays by Actlabs Ltd.), sample preparation, and drill core sampling procedures are outlined in Search’s Nov. 27^th, 2017 news release; drill core and channel samples are treated in the same manner.

The assay and logging results from the three drill holes, taken from 50 m and 100 m intersection depths, are very similar to those obtained from surface channels at Deep Fox (see Table 1 and Search Minerals news releases Jan. 27^th, 2015, Oct. 15^th 2015 and Nov. 27^th, 2017). Assay results in both drill core and channels at Deep Fox are very similar to, or slightly higher than, those at Foxtrot (Technical Ni-43-101 Report: Technical Report On The Foxtrot Project, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada, April, 28, 2016). Geological mapping and core/channel logging indicate that the host peralkaline rhyolites and trachytes (commendite and pantellerite) to the CREE mineralization at Deep Fox and Foxtrot are the same.

The Deep Fox (formerly Deepwater Fox) prospect occurs about 2 km NE of the port of St. Lewis on the SE Labrador coast and within 12 km of the Foxtrot Deposit. The prospect is accessible by an all-weather gravel road and a newly constructed bush road.

Qualified Person(s):

Dr. Randy Miller, Ph.D., P.Geo, is the Company's Vice President, Exploration, and Qualified Person (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) who has supervised the preparation of and approved the technical information reported herein. The company will endeavour to meet high standards of integrity, transparency, and consistency in reporting technical content, including geological and assay (e.g., REE) data.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control (QA/QC):

Lithogeochemistry samples, all from bedrock, are collected by Company personnel, bagged and described. Reference samples are also collected for each grab, lithogeochemistry and channel sample. The samples are shipped to Activation Laboratories Ltd. (ActLabs) sample prep facility in Ancaster, Ontario, where they are crushed to 80% -10 mesh and riffled to produce a representative sample. This sample is then pulverized to 95% -200 mesh with the pulverizing mills being cleaned between each sample with cleaning sand. A representative sample is treated by a lithium metaborate/tetraborate fusion and then analyzed by ICP and ICP/MS techniques. Mass balance is required as an additional quality control technique and elemental totals of the oxides should be between 98% and 101%. For QA/QC purposes Search requires duplicates every 25 samples and two Search reproducibility standards every 50 samples. ActLabs analyzes duplicates and splits approximately every 15 samples and also analyses 29 measured standards for QA/QC. To further enhance our QA/QC procedures Search has a program of checking analytical results with other labs to confirm the ActLabs results. ActLabs is a ISO/IEC 17025 accredited laboratory.

About Search Minerals Inc.

Led by a proven management team and board of directors, Search is focused on finding and developing resources within the emerging Port Hope Simpson Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District of South East Labrador (the “District”). The Company controls a belt 70 km long and 8 km wide including its 100% interest in the FOXTROT Project which is road accessible and at tidewater. Exploration efforts have advanced “Deep Fox” and “Fox Meadow” as significant new CREE prospects very similar and in close proximity to the original FOXTROT discovery. While the Company has identified more than 20 other prospects in the District, its primary objective remains development of FOXTROT with the clearly demonstrated success of the proprietary processing technology at the pilot plant level and delineation of prospects that will ensure competitive-low cost production beyond the 14-year mine life contemplated in the preliminary economic assessment of FOXTROT completed in April 2016. The FOXTROT Project has a low capital cost to bring the initial project into production ($152 M), a short payback period and is scalable due to Search’s proprietary processing technology.  The preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.  The preliminary economic assessment includes the results of an economic analysis of mineral resources. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

All material information on the Company may be found on its website at www.searchminerals.ca and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

About neo-CREOs (Adamas Intelligence – December 2016)

We consider neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium to be neo-CREOs and they are vital to NdFeB magnets used widely in renewable power generation, electric mobility, and energy-efficient technologies.  We consider terbium to be a neo-CREO because upon experiencing shortages of dysprosium, consumers in the magnet industry will rapidly consume available terbium supplies in its place for applications involving renewable power generation, electric mobility and energy efficient technologies.  Lanthanum is considered a neo-CREO because it is widely used in catalytic converters and rechargeable batteries, and will be increasingly used as a thermal stabilizer by producers of poly-vinyl chloride (PVC) to minimize lead consumption and improve the energy efficiency of PVC and other processing equipment.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Andrews
President and CEO
Tel: 604-998-3432
E-mail: info@searchminerals.ca

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information.
This news release includes certain "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" (collectively "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation including the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, without limitation, statements relating the future operating or financial performance of the Company, are forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are frequently, but not always, identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible", and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions, or results "will", "may", "could", or "should" occur or be achieved.  Forward-looking statements in this news release relate to, among other things future events or the Company's future performance, business prospects or opportunities. Actual future results may differ materially.  There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.  Forward-looking statements reflect the beliefs, opinions and projections on the date the statements are made and are based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the respective parties, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies.  Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and the parties have made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors.  Such factors include, without limitation, general business, economic and social uncertainties; litigation, legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; and those additional risks set out in Search's public documents filed on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  Although Search believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, Search disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.