Sparton Resources Inc. (TSX VENTURE:SRI) (the "Company") reported today that it has executed an agreement with Minvesco LLC, a private Mongolian company, to evaluate Minvesco's new Zoson Teeg ("ZT") rare earth element ("REE") discovery located approximately 350 km southwest of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Under the terms of the option agreement the Company will conduct a due diligence evaluation of the ZT licence area which will involve detailed mapping, sampling and possibly an induced polarization survey. The due diligence period will expire on January 15, 2010 and involve minimum expenditures by Sparton of USD$25,000. If the results of the due diligence program are positive Sparton may elect to continue with the option and earn up to a 60% interest in the ZT licence by expending a total of USD$1.5 million and making payments to Minvesco totalling USD$325,000 over a three year period.
The Zoson Teeg exploration licence, in the Dundgobi area has an area of 4500 hectares and was explored independently by Minvesco in reconnaissance programs completed in 2006-7.
In 2007, geological mapping, limited prospecting and rock chip sampling located an area with highly anomalous rare earth elements ("REE") associated with the contact zone of a large alkaline intrusive complex intruding volcanic and sedimentary rocks. A subsequent detailed ground magnetic survey outlined the intrusive complex contact zone and located several structures that appear to be related to the sample locations with anomalous REE analyses.
Out of a total of 32 random grab samples taken in the area and analysed for the most common rare earth elements lanthanum cerium and yttrium, 22 samples (69%) returned anomalous values ranging from 0.03% to 0.41% total REE. These samples were reported to be associated with altered alkaline granitic rocks, sediments and volcanics. Some are described as topaz greisens with strong hematitic and clay mineral alteration. These descriptions suggest contact metasomatic type mineralization as the host for the REE. The due diligence program will attempt to identify the geologic controls for the location of the rare earth minerals and assess the size potential of the area to host commercial mineralization. A minimum of 300 samples will be taken systematically over the strongly altered areas.
The ZT evaluation is a new and important development in Sparton's specialty metals program which currently involves profitable germanium production at its 51% owned Huajun operations in Yunnan China. Huajun waste contains anomalous quantities of rare earths and the potential for their economic recovery from the germanium operations is under study at this time. As well, the anomalous REE values reported earlier from the New Brunswick Canada Whiskey project area continue to be reviewed.
All analyses reported here were done for Minvesco using atomic adsorption techniques by the Vinogradov Institute of Geochemistry in Irkutsk, Russia. The Science Centre here is part of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The new samples will likely be analysed by the SGS international standards laboratory in Ulaanbaatar or a similar institution. New results will be reported when all data are available.
