Mineral Hill Project Additional Carbonates Identified

COEUR D’ALENE, ID – Idaho Strategic Resources (IDR) has sampled greater than 17.6% total rare earth oxides (TREO) at the Company’s Mineral Hill project – IDR’s northernmost rare earth project in the Idaho REE-Th Belt. The Company also recently completed a drone-based magnetics survey flown over the entirety of the Mineral Hill project which has aided in the Company’s knowledge of known carbonatite outcrops and the potential identification of additional carbonatites at Mineral Hill.
The TMI magnetics data correctly reflects the geologic mapping and spatial location of the known carbonatites and provides a template for identifying other potential carbonatite prospects throughout the project. Monazite is the primary ore mineral and occurs in relatively pure bands up to 20 cm within the carbonatite. Select grab samples were taken from the areas of the carbonatite outcrop with visible monazite. Samples where certain rare earth elements exceeded the upper detection limits of the selected lab analysis are being re-processed to account for overruns.
Idaho Strategic’s geologists were successful at identifying at least three subparallel carbonatite seams with abundant visible monazite and consistently high pXRF sample results. The Cardinal prospect is a well-known high-grade carbonatite that was discovered in 1953. The occurrence has an extraordinary assemblage of minerals that contain rare earth elements, chromium, niobium and titanium. The carbonatite forms prominent outcrops as it is protected from weathering by an adjacent quartz vein. It can be traced in semi-continuous outcrop for greater than 1,000 feet and has widths from 1 to 3 meters. In addition to high-grade rare earth elements at the surface, the Company’s Cardinal prospect benefits from a network of roads constructed sometime between 1950 and 1970. The roads were constructed to access the carbonatite outcrop where numerous large open cuts and at least one adit are present. Idaho Strategic plans to utilize the existing roads and open cuts as drill pads to test the depth of the carbonatite, requiring minimal road building and excavation prep work.
Earlier this year, IDR executed a long-term lease agreement for the mineral claims comprising the Cardinal prospect, as well as approximately 1,300 acres of additional various in-holdings within the Company’s Mineral Hill and Lemhi Pass projects. Key prospects covered by the mineral claims leased by IDR include the Cardinal (Mineral Hill), Lucky Horseshoe (Lemhi Pass – Idaho), Silver Queen (Lemhi Pass – Idaho), Last Chance (Lemhi Pass – Montana), Trapper (Lemhi Pass – Montana), and other prospects. While IDR’s geologists were familiar with the Cardinal prospect from historic literature, the grade and extent of its rare earth elements mineralization were not well-known.
President and CEO, John Swallow, said, “I think most would agree the DoD partnership announcement by MP on July 10th marks a step change in the rare earth industry. We view a market going forward where results matter and the context around a project also matter. At Mineral Hill, the overall desirability of high grade REE surface samples and the complimentary nature of having multiple carbonatite occurrences in distinct areas (Lower Lee Buck, Roberts, Cardinal) is something that sets it apart. This includes the added benefit of having monazite-based mineralization, Idaho jurisdiction, and IDR’s operational track record as an Idaho company. With this field work underway, we are also advancing first phase drill plans as we work toward resource definition, making this an exciting time for our company.”