Rare Element Appoints George Byers as VP - Government & Community
Relations for the Bear Lodge Rare-Earths Project
Vancouver
B.C. - Rare Element Resources Ltd. (TSX-V: RES and AMEX: REE) (the
"Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. George G.
Byers as Vice President - Government and Community Relations. In this role he
will lead an initiative to foster community and government support for the
development and production of rare earths at the Bear Lodge Project, Wyoming.
As a consultant, Mr. Byers has contributed significantly for a number of months
to the initiative begun by the Company in the spring of 2010. He is a 35-year
mining and energy industry veteran with extensive executive experience in
federal, state and local government relations. He has worked extensively in a
variety of settings including dealing with public policy issues involved with
mineral exploration, project siting and development,
land use and public affairs issues in the Western United States.
During his career, Mr. Byers served as vice president of the coal mining unit
of Public Service Company of New Mexico, and as vice president of public
affairs and communications for Santa Fe Pacific Gold prior to its acquisition
by Newmont Mining Company. He has held executive positions in the uranium
industry with Rio Algom Mining and Cameco Corporation's US uranium production unit. At
Louisiana Energy Services he successfully built the case for siting in New Mexico what has become America's first
commercial gas centrifuge uranium enrichment facility. Mr. Byers comes to Rare
Element Resources from Neutron Energy Inc., a privately held uranium
development company with interests in New Mexico and Wyoming. He has been a
consultant to the precious metals, rare earths, copper, and uranium industries
on a variety of public and government issues.
Mr. Byers is a former president of the Northwest Mining Association, and serves
on the boards of directors of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the
Citizens' Alliance for Responsible Energy (CARE), the University of Mississippi
Engineering School Advisory Board and the Mississippi Mineral Resources
Institute. He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi, a Vietnam
veteran, an Army Ranger and a former Army Infantry Officer.
Dr. Donald E. Ranta, President and
CEO of Rare Element Resources, states, "George is a solid strategic
addition as we continue building our project development team for the Bear
Lodge Project. His background in Wyoming plus his experience and proven
ability to educate and build community and government acceptance for important
natural resources projects will help us immensely as we move Bear Lodge through
the pre-feasibility, feasibility, and permitting phases into construction and
production of rare-earth elements."
Rare Element Resources Ltd (TSX-V: RES & AMEX: REE) is a publicly
traded mineral resource company focused on exploration and development of
rare-earth elements and gold on the Bear Lodge property.
Rare-earth elements are key components of the green energy technologies and
other high-technology applications. Some of the major applications include
hybrid automobiles, plug-in electric automobiles, advanced wind turbines,
computer hard drives, compact fluorescent light bulbs, metal alloys, additives
in ceramics and glass, petroleum cracking catalysts, and a number of critical
military applications. China currently produces more than 95% of the 130,000
metric tonnes of rare-earths consumed annually
worldwide, and China has been reducing its exports of rare earths each year.
The rare-earth market is growing rapidly, and is projected to accelerate if the
green technologies are implemented on a broad scale.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo, President & CEO
For information, refer to the Company's website at www.rareelementresources.com or contact:
Mark T Brown, CFO, (604) 687-3520 ext 242 mtbrown@pacificopportunity..com .
Donald E Ranta, (604) 687-3520 don@rareelementresources.com
Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo, serves the
Board of Directors of the Company as an internal, technically Qualified Person.
Technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Dr. Ranta and has been prepared in accordance with Canadian
regulatory requirements that are set out in National Instrument 43-101. This
news release was prepared by Company management, who take full responsibility
for content. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider
(as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.