Appia Acquires More High Grade Rare Earth Stakes Near Alces

Appia Energy Corp. (CSE:API,OTCQB:APAAF,FWB:A0I.F) has reported the acquisition of a group of high grade rare earth claims in northern Saskatchewan. The new property, called Oldman, surrounds the company’s Alces lake property and comprises 15 mineral claims totalling 12,816 hectares in size. The new site will expand the Alces Lake rare earth element project area to 14,334 hectares.

As quoted from the press release:

The property was staked along geological and geophysical continuity with the Alces Lake high-grade critical rare earth outcrops. In particular, the property hosts the Oldman River monazite occurrence, located 6.6 km south-southwest of the Alces Lake monazite-rich outcrops, was discovered in 1955 and shares numerous geological similarities with the Alces Lake outcrops ie; up to 20 percent visible monazite at surface with monazite crystals measuring between 0.2 and 1.0 mm in diameter, and all hosted by a band of massive, coarse-grained biotite and pegmatite. Visible monazite mineralization occurs as localized clusters traced over a strike length of between 400 m and 500 m.

The Oldman River monazite occurrence was never assayed historically for rare earth elements but did return a partial analysis of 5.4 wt percent Th and 0.263 wt percent U. Thorium  is part of the crystal structure of monazite and can be used as a proxy for REE concentration, depending on elemental ratios for specific monazite occurrences. For example, the highest Th concentration from samples at Alces Lake returned 5.3 wt percent Th and 52.3 wt percent total rare earth oxide.

“This is an exciting time for the company as we continue to explore the Alces Lake property. Rare earth element mineral occurrences continue to be exposed at surface at Alces Lake, and the strategic staking of the Oldman property solidifies additional high-grade rare earth element assets for the company,” said James Sykes, VP exploration and development.

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