More great news!NEWS RELEASE
October 20, 1999
Avalon Ventures Ltd.
Shares Outstanding 20,276,731
Working Capital $0.5 Million
SEC 12g3-2(b): 82-4427
Symbol AVL:VSE
HIGH GRADE CESIUM DISCOVERED AT LILYPAD LAKES SIGNIFICANT TANTALUM VALUES INTERSECTED AT
RALEIGH LAKE
Avalon Ventures Ltd. (the "Company") is pleased to announce significant new results from all three of its
current rare metals exploration projects in northwestern Ontario.
Lilypad Lakes Cesium Discovery
A reconnaissance mapping and sampling program, completed in September on the recently-staked Lilypad
Lakes rare metals prospect, located northeast of Pickle Lake, Ontario, has resulted in the discovery of high
grade cesium mineralization, assaying up to 3.84% Cs2O in composite samples. The property consists of 8
claims totalling 5,120 acres and is 100% owned by the Company. The high cesium values are associated with
the rare cesium ore mineral pollucite, which occurs as coarse aggregates in a pegmatite dyke measuring 12
metres in width. This dyke, named the Pollucite Dyke, is vertically-oriented, exposed over a strikelength of 25
metres and is open along strike. Assays from six composite grab samples and one 2-metre chip sample,
designed to be representative of the entire exposure, returned consistently high cesium values ranging from
1.43% Cs2O to 3.84% Cs2O and averaging 2.47% Cs2O. This level of cesium enrichment is indicative of an
average pollucite content in the pegmatite of 8-10% across its full width of 12 metres. In addition, these
samples all contain very high levels of tantalum and rubidium, averaging 0.04% Ta2O5 and 0.44% Rb2O. At these
grades, the rock is estimated to have an in situ value in excess of US $100/tonne.
Pollucite is presently mined at the Tanco mine at Bernic Lake, Manitoba, where it is used by parent company
Cabot Corp. to produce Cesium Formate. This is a newly-developed specialty drilling fluid designed for
high-temperature, high-pressure oil wells. Cesium also has many other high-technology applications which
are limited in their development only by the lack of defined cesium ore reserves, currently estimated at less than
500,000 tonnes worldwide. Concentrates of pure pollucite grading 24% Cs2O have historically sold for in the
order of US $1,000/tonne. The Pollucite Dyke at Lilypad Lakes probably already ranks as the second most
significant cesium occurrence in North America after Tanco.
Numerous other rare metal pegmatite occurrences are known on the Lilypad Lakes property, some of which
were previously explored for tantalum by Tanco from 1979 to 1981. One such occurrence, known as the
Rubellite Dyke, also yielded significant cesium values in composite grab samples collected by the Company,
ranging from 0.07 to 3.32% Cs2O, along with significant tantalum averaging 0.062% Ta2O5. The Company is
presently planning a follow-up work program to begin this winter to further delineate the rich, very highly
fractionated rare metal pegmatite dykes of the Lilypad Lakes area.
Raleigh Lake Tantalum Project
Further to the Company's news release of October 1, 1999, the Company is pleased to report that significant
tantalum values have been obtained from analyses of drill core samples from four of five holes drilled to test a
series of shallow-dipping rare metal pegmatites on the Raleigh Lake property, located near Ignace, Ontario.
Four vertically-stacked pegmatites were intersected in each of four holes with the fifth hole, a step-out 200
metres to the north, encountering only massive granite porphyry. Significantly, every pegmatite intersected
contained pervasive, highly anomalous tantalum mineralization with values ranging from 0.011% Ta2O5 over
5.4 metres to 0.027% Ta2O5 over 2.0 metres. The best individual sample assayed 0.039% Ta2O5 over 0.7
metres.
The largest pegmatite intersected, Pegmatite #1, ranges from 5.0 to 8.5 metres in thickness and is continuous
down-dip for over 450 metres, where it remains open. This pegmatite also demonstrates local enrichment in
cesium and rubidium with individual samples assaying up to 1.16% Rb2O and 0.53% Cs2O. Further exploration
is planned to delineate thicker and higher-grade extensions to pegmatite #1 and evaluate numerous other rare
metal occurrences on the property.
Separation Rapids Project Update
Lakefield Research Ltd. has reported that recent flotation work on the Big Whopper petalite ore has resulted in
improved recoveries of feldspars from the petalite flotation tailings. In particular, recovery of Rb-K feldspar into a
saleable mineral concentrate has increased by 42% to 6.7% of the head grade. The concentrate exhibits an
excellent K2O content of 11.7% with approximately 1% Rb2O. The sodaspar recoveries were also improved by
20% into a saleable concentrate grading 10.1% Na2O. This new data has been provided to MICON International
Ltd., along with the previous data on the improved petalite recoveries and an updated Market Study Report
completed recently by Hains Technology Associates, so that they can now complete the revised economic
analysis of the Project. This is expected by the end of October.
Avalon Ventures Ltd. is a Canadian junior mineral exploration and development company, focussed on the
"Metals of the Future", specifically the high-technology commodities lithium, tantalum, cesium and rubidium. For
further information contact Donald S. Bubar, at (416) 364-4938. Corporate Information may also be accessed
on the internet at www.avalonventures.com
For further information contact Donald S. Bubar, at (416) 364-4938. Corporate Information may also be
accessed on the Internet at www.avalonventures.com.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
"Donald S. Bubar"
Donald S. Bubar, President
*No stock exchange has either approved or disapproved the information contained herein* |
