Commerce Resources Corp. (CA;CCE) has announced that its summer field program has resulted in the identification a new rare earth (REE) zone at the Eldor Project in northern Quebec, Canada.
The new zone, called the Ashram Peninsula, is associated with an approximately 1 km wide by 0.8 km long magnetic low where mineralization was discovered in outcrop with assays greater than 1.00 % REE+Y consistently returned over multiple samples.
In a release the company said the area is also the postulated source for an adjacent glacially dispersed mineralized boulder train in which sampling previously returned assays as high as 4.18% REE+Y. Because of the potential significance of this new discovery, the Company is mobilizing a field crew for immediate follow-up sampling. A mapping, prospecting and sampling program will be completed in order to define drilling targets.
The Company also reported that summer prospecting produced a boulder assay of 1,408 g/t tantalum (Ta2O5), 6,171 g/t niobium (Nb2O5), and 0.16% uranium (U3O8) in the vicinity of the single drill hole drilled at the Star Trench Area in 2008 (EC08-025). The presence of such high grade mineralization points to the niobium-tantalum potential of the zone and the larger property that continues to be evident.
The high rare earth values at the Ashram Peninsula are generally within a moderately radioactive, fine-to very fine grained, massive, grey-green carbonatite. Variable amounts of fluorite, disseminated pyrite and other unknown minerals are present. Rare earth mineralization has previously been reported at the Eldor Property within the minerals monazite [(La,Ce,Nd)PO4], bastnasite [(Ce,La,)CO3F] and xenotime [YPO4]. Thin sections from the 2009 samples are currently being selected for mineralogical analysis, which will be completed this fall.
In addition to the rare earth zone discovered during the summer program, the presence of significant tantalum-niobium mineralization on the Eldor Project continues to be evident. Summer prospecting at the Star Trench area produced a boulder assay of 1,408 g/t Ta2O5, 6,171 g/t Nb2O5, 0.16% U3O8. Additionally, prospecting at the Southeast Zone in the area of drill hole EC08-025 discovered a large area of highly anomalous radioactivity. Boulder samples in this area, believed to be locally derived and possibly frost heaved, assay consistently higher than 200 g/t Ta2O5 to a high of 1,153 g/t.
Based on the encouraging results, a crew is being mobilized for follow-up sampling and is expected to be on site by early to mid-September 2009. A mapping, prospecting and sampling program will be completed with a focus on the significant rare earth values discovered in the vicinity of the Ashram Peninsula in order to define drilling targets.
The diverse array of mineralization found in the Eldor Complex is not uncommon to these types of systems. Carbonatites are very rare and unique rock types, with approximately 500 complexes known worldwide. Often containing a variety of exotic minerals, carbonatites have been known to produce economic concentrations of rare earth elements, niobium, copper, iron, apatite, vermiculite and fluorite; with significant associated commodities which may include barite, zircon, tantalum, gold, silver, uranium, nickel and platinum group elements.
