Rare Earth Ridge Resources Corp. Announces Exploration Update at 100% Owned Mount Major Hart Project

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – February 27, 2023) – RARE EARTH RIDGE CORP. (the “Company” or “Rare Earth Ridge“), is pleased to announce the acquisition of, and early exploration results from, its 100% owned Mount Major Hart project, located in north-central British Columbia (BC), Canada (Figure 1). The property comprises five (5) British Columbia mining claims covering 1,910.15 ha (4,718.07 acres), located about 93 km ENE of the village of Dease Lake, within the Northwest Region of northern British Columbia (Figure 2). Access is by helicopter from Dease Lake which is located along BC Highway 37 and hosts good accommodation, fuel and grocery services.

The Mount Major Hart property is located in the Intermontane Belt of British Columbia, within an area having undergone multiple terrane collisions, combined with prolonged thrust and extensional faulting. The property covers much of the Major Hart pluton, an alkali-feldspar granite with a lithologic composition suitable for the enrichment of rare earth elements (REEs) and other rare metals, particularly lithium and rubidium.

The Mount Major Hart pluton has received limited previous exploration and is considered to be a newly recognized target. The only documented previous exploration program occurred in 2010, identifying elevated REE values throughout the property as well as two areas having high tin potential. Results from the 2010 whole rock analysis show the pluton is comprised of “highly evolved granites” indicating an advanced level of magma differentiation and therefore a favourable environment for REE enrichment. Rock sampling also returned lithium (Li) values roughly 10 x average crustal abundances and rubidium (Rb) values averaging about 8 x average crustal abundances.

Figure 1: Location map, Mount Major Hart property

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Figure 2: Claim map, Rare Earth Ridge property

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2022 Exploration

Following the acquisition of the Mount Major Hart project, Rare Earth Ridge identified “The Knoll”, a sizable hill in the central property area, as its primary exploration target. This was based on positive results from the 2010 work, as well as a value of 19.8% tin oxide (SnO₂) from heavy mineral concentrate sampling of a stream drainage directly to the south.

Figure 3: Li Assay Results in “The Knoll” area

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Exploration in 2022 comprised two short programs of rock geochemical sampling in August and September, respectively. The August program, conducted by Rare Earth Ridge, comprised the collection of 34 rock grab samples, analyzed for a suite of elements including Li, Rb and the REEs. Analytical results include Li values up to 325.8 ppm and averaging 179.3 ppm (Figure 3), comparing favourably to an average crustal abundance of 20 ppm (CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 2016 – 2017). Re-analysis of six samples utilizing lithium borate fusion, enabling a more complete digestion of REEs, returned values significantly above crustal averages for most REEs and rare elements (Table 1).

Table 1: Comparison of Elemental Abundances of Six Selected Samples with Crustal Averages

In September 2022, Rare Earth Ridge commissioned Aurora Geosciences Ltd. (Aurora) to conduct a short program of due-diligence style rock grab sampling, in preparation for a Technical Report in accordance with National Instrument 43-101. The report is expected to be completed in the next 8 weeks.

The September 2022 program returned similar values for Rb (8.6 x crustal average), Li (14.0 x crustal average), cesium (Cs, 8.8 x average), tantalum (Ta, 8.9 x), thorium (Th, 7.3 x), uranium (U, 12.25 x) and tungsten (W, 6.10 x). The September 2022 program included specialized analysis for fluorine (F, 4.08 x crustal abundance). Fluorine presence is a strong indicator of highly evolved magmas due to fractionation. REE values are somewhat lower than for the August program, due largely to the four-acid digestion technique employed, rather than the lithium borate method.

Microbial Extraction of REEs

A composite sample was submitted to Ecobiome Technologies (Ecobiome) of The Woodlands, Texas, USA. Ecobiome has a trademarked “Cultured Rare Earth” technique involving microbially enhanced extraction of REEs and rare metals. Preliminary results indicate significantly higher values for lanthanum (La), neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr) and scandium (Sc) from treated samples. Rare Earth Ridge continues to work with Ecobiome to develop techniques for maximum extraction of REEs.

Metallurgical Studies

Preliminary metallurgical studies by Forte Analytical (Forte) on composite rock samples have been initiated. Forte has conducted four “bottle roll” tests for the leachability of “Total Rare Earth Elements and Yttrium” (TREE + Y) and Li, and one “static leach” test to determine the leachability of TREE and Li. Forte has also conducted preliminary magnetic separation and gravity concentration testing for TREE + Y and Li.

Preliminary results are as follows:

• Acid leaching at a 12.5mm crush size extracted 21% of TREE+Y, with a low acid consumption of 10.1Kg/metric tonne of material.
• Magnetic separation testing upgraded the product (mag fraction) from 350 ppm to 3,359 ppm TREE+Y.
• The gravity concentrate, utilizing a Knelsen concentrator followed by processing over a Model 60 Gemeni Concentration table, assayed 6,317ppm, an approximately 10-fold increase in TREE + Y.

Proposed Exploration

The 2023 exploration program on the Rare Earth Ridge property is expected to commence with an early phase of surface rock sampling and geological mapping program across “The Knoll”. The objective is to determine areas of further magma fractionation potentially resulting in the enrichment of REEs and rare metals, particularly Li. The results from this exploration program will be utilized to determine sites for a 1,000-metre reverse-circulation drilling program targeting The Knoll. Other exploration targets include skarn and greisen-hosted tin-tungsten (Sn-W) mineralization, particularly upslope of the 19.8% SnO₂ value from heavy mineral stream sampling. REE and rare metal enrichment, within hydrothermal veining and hydrothermally altered material, may also provide an additional exploration target setting.

Carl Schulze, P. Geo., Consulting Geologist with Aurora Geosciences Ltd, is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for Rare Earth Ridge Resource Corp’s exploration projects and has reviewed and approved the technical information in this release.

About Rare Earth Ridge Resources

Rare Earth Ridge Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior mining exploration company with its 100% owned Mount Major Hart property located in British Columbia. The Company is focussed on rare earth elements and rare metals, particularly lithium and rubidium. More information can be found at the Company’s website at www.rareearthridgeresources.com.

ON BEHALF OF RARE EARTH RIDGE RESOURCES CORP.

“Barry Miller”
President and Director
T: (778) 232-1878
E: [email protected]

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release may include forward-looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation, concerning the business of Rare Earth Ridge. Forward-looking information is based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by the management of Rare Earth Ridge. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “will,” “may,” “would,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “continue,” “likely,” “could” and variations of these terms and similar expressions, or the negative of these terms or similar expressions. Although Rare Earth Ridge believes that the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking information is based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because Rare Earth Ridge can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct.

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