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VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Search Minerals Inc. (“Search” or the “Company”) (TSXV: SMY) is pleased to announce that Mr. Kaz Machida has been engaged to provide consulting services to Search to guide the development of a marketing strategy for entrance into the rare earth supply chain both in North America and primarily Japan.  His extensive experience and expertise will add significantly to the Company’s management team.   

For more than 3 decades, Mr. Machida has worked with Itochu Corporation, an international trading company headquartered in Japan involved in multiple business sectors. Through his career with Itochu, Mr. Machida has been involved with the trade in Rare Earth oxides and metals, primarily from China since the early 1980s, however,  it is his strong belief that it is necessary to have a totally independent long-term, stable source of rare earth supply outside of China for the industry.  He has been promoting to help the non-Chinese rare earth resource development projects including introducing the Australian Mt. Weld project in late 1980s to the Japanese rare earth industry.  He was then invited to join Lynas Corporation and worked with them as a sales representative in Tokyo during the early years of operation in the early part of the 2000s.  Mr. Machida is currently engaged to provide consultancy service not only to international rare earths resource developing companies but also to major leading Japanese rare earths users helping them to identify a reliable and competitive long-term source of non-Chinese rare earths supply.  

Mr. Machida stated: “I am very impressed at the quality and size of the resources Search Minerals has been developing in Labrador, and the easy access to the fundamental infrastructures.  I look forward to this opportunity to participate and develop another new invaluable non-Chinese rare earth resource project.”

Greg Andrews, President/CEO states: “We are very excited to attract Kaz and his level of expertise to our Company.  In June 2019, Kaz visited our properties and operations office in St. Lewis, Labrador and traveled to Goose Bay for Expo Labrador. The recent resource estimate for Deep Fox and our successful 2019 exploration program, moves Search closer to our goal to create a world-class multigenerational source for rare earths in Canada.  We also continue to optimize our patented proprietary process, and will be able to provide more samples for further testing for separation and refining.  Kaz will be a welcome addition to help identify and pursue those opportunities for Search Minerals in the rare earth supply chain.”

About Search Minerals Inc.

Led by a proven management team and board of directors, Search is focused on finding and developing resources within the emerging Port Hope Simpson Critical Rare Earth Element (“CREE”) District of South East Labrador (the “District”). The Company controls a belt 70 km long and 8 km wide including its 100% interest in the FOXTROT and DEEP FOX Projects, which are road accessible and at tidewater. Exploration efforts have advanced “Fox Meadow” as a significant new CREE prospect very similar to and in close proximity to FOXTROT and DEEP FOX. The FOXTROT Project has a low capital cost to bring the initial project into production ($152 M), a short payback period and is scalable due to Search’s proprietary processing technology.

The FOXTROT preliminary economic assessment is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary economic assessment will be realized.  The preliminary economic assessment includes the results of an economic analysis of mineral resources. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

All material information on the Company may be found on its website at www.searchminerals.ca and on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

For further information, please contact:

Greg Andrews
President and CEO
Tel: 604-998-3432
E-mail: info@searchminerals.ca

Neither the 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.