Great Western Minerals Group Expands Rare Earths Processing Capacity at Less Common Metals
SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- (Marketwire) -- 10/26/10 -- Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. ('GWMG' or the 'Company') (TSX VENTURE: GWG) (OTCQX: GWMGF) announces that a new Rare Earths processing furnace has been ordered for the Company's wholly-owned subsidiary Less Common Metals Limited. ('LCM').
The new furnace, which will increase LCM's processing capacity by approximately 50%, is scheduled to be in production by the 3rd Quarter 2011. The decision to proceed with the significant capacity expansion was driven by requests from LCM's international customer base.
Less Common Metals Limited, located in Birkenhead, United Kingdom, is a world leader in the production and supply of Rare Earth based alloys and high purity metals. LCM has been in operation since 1992 and was purchased by Great Western Minerals Group in 2008 as a key step in GWMG's strategic plan to become a fully integrated Rare Earths producer.
'LCM has been supplying Rare Earth alloys and powders to large international companies for more than eighteen years,' said GWMG President and Chief Executive Officer Jim Engdahl. 'Our customers appreciate LCM's proven quality as well as our Company's plans to be a fully integrated Rare Earths producer. In today's environment, it is evident that certainty of supply will be more crucial than ever to end users of Rare Earths production.'
LCM currently produces Rare Earth alloys for permanent magnets, including neodymium-iron-boron ('NdFeB') alloys, by vacuum induction melting with options for heat treatment and hydrogenation. These alloys are complex to produce in regard to composition control and microstructure. The new furnace is designed to provide NdFeB alloys with the preferred microstructure for sintered magnets. The output from the new furnace will be in the form of 'flakes', as opposed to the more traditional 'ingot' form.
'Given our focus on becoming a fully integrated Rare Earths producer, the recent news stories about disruptions of Rare Earth materials from China have further elevated the level of international interest in GWMG and Less Common Metals,' added Jim Engdahl.
Jim Engdahl, President
About Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.
Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. is an integrated Rare Earths processor. Its specialty alloys are used in the battery, magnet and aerospace industries. Produced at the Company's wholly owned subsidiaries Less Common Metals Limited in Birkenhead, U.K. and Great Western Technologies Inc. in Troy, Michigan, these alloys contain aluminium, nickel, cobalt and Rare Earth Elements. As part of the Company's vertical integration strategy, GWMG has signed an Off-take Agreement for 100% of the Rare Earth Elements produced at the former producing Steenkampskraal mine in South Africa and holds 20.8% ownership in Rare Earth Extraction Co. Ltd, the owner of the Steenkampskraal mine. GWMG also holds interests in seven Rare Earth exploration and development properties in North America.
Certain information set out in this News Release constitutes forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements (often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as 'expect', 'may', 'could', 'anticipate' or 'will' and similar expressions) may describe expectations, opinions or guidance that are not statements of fact and which may be based upon information provided by third parties. Forward-looking statements are based upon the opinions, expectations and estimates of management of GWMG as at the date the statements are made and are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or outcomes to differ materially from those anticipated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Those factors include, but are not limited to satisfaction of the conditions precedent with respect to GWMG's offtake agreement, receipt of all required approvals (including those relating to the commencement of production at the Steenkampskraal mine) and risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond the control of GWMG, risks associated with the industry in general, commodity prices and exchange rate changes, operational risks associated with exploration, development and production operations, delays or changes in plans, risks associated with the uncertainty of reserve or resource estimates, health and safety risks and the uncertainty of estimates and projections of production, costs and expenses. In light of the risks and uncertainties associated with forward-looking statements, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon forward-looking information. Although GWMG believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements set out in this press release or incorporated herein by reference are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The forward-looking statements of GWMG contained in this News Release, or incorporated herein by reference, are expressly qualified, in their entirety, by this cautionary statement and the risk factors contained in GWMG's current annual information form available at www.sedar.com.
CUSIP: 39141Y 10 3
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Contacts:
Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.
Dwight Percy
Manager of Investor Relations
(306) 659-4500
info@gwmg.ca
www.gwmg.ca
Great Western Minerals Group Ltd.
219 Robin Crescent
Saskatoon, SK S7L 6M8