Avalon Rare Metals Plays Active Role at Two Major Metallurgical Conferences

07:55 AEST June 6, 2012 ABN Newswire (C) 2004-2012 Asia Business News PL. All Rights Reserved.

Toronto, Canada (ABN Newswire) - In our ongoing efforts to provide broader communications and industry information, Avalon Rare Metals (TSE:AVL) is pleased to issue this Industry Bulletin, which reports on Avalon's active involvement in the mining and metallurgical technical arenas with respect to rare earths.


Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy ('CIM') Conference (May 7 - 9, 2012)

Attended by some 1,400 delegates, 1,700 exhibitors and 1,000 trade show visitors from 43 countries, the CIM's Annual Conference & Exhibition in Edmonton clearly demonstrated Canada's international appeal and scope. Next year's CIM Conference will be held in Toronto.

Ian London, P.Eng, MBA, Avalon's Market Development and Energy Advisor, was invited to serve on the opening day panel titled 'Canadian Hard Rock Stars', alongside Teck Resources, Osisko Mining Corp and Cliffs Natural Resources. In addition to providing updates on each of their company's flagship projects from the perspective of the conference theme 'From Prospects to Products', the panel discussed what were deemed to be the keys to projects success: availability and retention of trained human resources, embedding a culture that values and practices sustainability, and regularly and critically conducting full project risk assessments.

Avalon also moderated a panel focused on Rare Earth Metals. In addition to thoughtful presentations by Canada Lithium, Quest Rare Minerals and Avalon, technical presentations were heard from University of Waterloo ('UofW') and the Saskatchewan Research Council.

Josh Rosen, who recently graduated from the UofW's Nanotechnology Engineering Program (April 2012), spoke on the 'Applications of Rare Earth Elements and Nanotechnology in Medicine'. He described the underlying materials science behind the use of rare earths in a number of medical applications, such as injectable formulations for diagnostics and therapeutic applications, as well as enhanced medical equipment including magnetic resonance imaging ('MRI') magnets and surgical lasers. Mr. Rosen's participation was invited by the CIM as a beneficiary of his exposure to rare earths profiled under Avalon's University Outreach Program.


51st Annual Conference of Metallurgists (Sept 30 - Oct 3, 2012)

The Metallurgy and Materials Society of CIM will host its 51st annual conference, COM 2012, in Niagara Falls. This conference will, for the first time in its history, include a Rare Earths Symposium. Avalon is chairing this symposium and has secured 43 peer-reviewed technical papers from ten countries on a variety of topics relevant to rare earths. All technical papers will be published as a compendium for COM 2012, commencing September 30, 2012.

The final two-and-a-half day program can be found at
http://www.cim.org/com2012/conference/TechProgMain.cfm

The Rare Earths symposium will address the following topics:
- REE geology and geochemistry
- Ore dressing and separation technology
- Hydrometallurgical processing of rare earths
- Physical metallurgy of rare earths
- Preparation of metals, alloys and high purity metals
- Thorium management
- Rare earth economics

Don Bubar, Avalon's President & CEO commented, 'As Avalon's Nechalacho Rare Earth Elements Project advances through process piloting, mine and plant design, and completion of a feasibility study, the Company's knowledge and reputation is also advancing into the mining and metallurgical processing arenas. We value the opportunity to learn from other international experts throughout the rare earth supply chain and are delighted to contribute to the engineering and scientific community whenever possible.'


About Avalon Rare Metals Inc.:

Avalon Rare Metals Inc. is a mineral development company focused on rare metals deposits in Canada. Its flagship project, the 100%-owned Nechalacho Deposit, Thor Lake, NWT, is emerging as one of the largest undeveloped rare earth elements resources in the world. Its exceptional enrichment in the more valuable 'heavy' rare earth elements, which are key to enabling advances in green energy technology and other growing high-tech applications, is one of the few potential sources of these critical elements outside of China, currently the source of 95% of world supply. Avalon is well funded, has no debt and its work programs are progressing steadily. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones.



Contact:

Avalon Rare Metals Inc.
Communications and Investor Relations
Virginia Morgan, Director
T: +1-416-364-4938
F: +1-416-364-5162
E: ir@avalonraremetals.com
WWW: www.avalonraremetals.com