DNI Announces Positive Leaching Results from Cover Rocks Overlying its Buckton Inferred Resource, Alberta

    




 DNI METALS INC.  

 TORONTO, March 1, 2012 /CNW/ - DNI Metals Inc.  is pleased to announce initial results from its bioleaching testwork on  drill core samples from the overburden cover rocks overlying its  Buckton inferred maiden resource (announced Oct24/2011 and Jan16/2012)  at its polymetallic black shale projects, Athabasca Region, Alberta.  The cover rocks consist of the LaBiche Shale Formation, also a black  shale, with a thin veneer of till which has been glacially scoured from  it. 

 The results being announced are from the first leaching tests ever  completed to determine recovery of Specialty Metals, Rare Earth  Elements and Base Metals from the overburden cover rocks. The results  are from recently completed bench scale batch amenability bioleaching  testwork launched in 2011, carried out by Alberta Innovates Technology  Futures (AITF, formerly the Alberta Research Council), on a 200gm drill  core sample representative of the overburden LaBiche Shale overlying  the Buckton inferred resource. The sample was tested in duplicate to  specifications formulated by DNI. 

 A summary of the best metal recoveries achieved during the above  bioleaching tests, as reported by AITF, are as follows: Mo-57%, Ni-82%,  U-78%, V-10%, Zn-76%, Cu-65%, Co-80%, Li-41%. 

 Recoveries for Specialty Metals and REE, as calculated by DNI, based on  the difference of metal content between head sample feed material and  final tail residues per analytical results from AITF's testwork, range  as follows: La-13%-20%, Ce-21%-28%, Pr-28%-34%, Nd-35%-41%, Sm-49%-53%,  Eu-55%-59%, Gd-61%-64%, Tb-60%-63%, Dy-61%-65%, Ho-58%-62%, Er-51%-55%,  Tm-53%-57%, Yb-42%-47%, Lu-53%-57%, Y-56%-59%, Sc-28%-37%, Th-32%-34%. 

 The above results are from bioleaching of a homogenized composite drill  core sample of the LaBiche Shale overlying the Buckton resource,  representing a 3m long intercept in an archived historic drill hole  which was collected by DNI during its 2009 verification sampling  program (Hole 7BK04 from 79.6m to 82.6m). The interval is geochemically  representative* of the LaBiche Shale which comprises the overburden  cover above the Buckton resource. 

 All of the above results were achieved under test conditions which are  yet to be optimized and, as such, are regarded by DNI as initial  results which future work will endeavor to improve by further  optimizing and refining test parameters. Final tails from one of the  duplicate samples was further leached in HCl following bioleaching to  monitor precipitation of a variety of compounds (eg: jarosites,  sulfates, ferro-compounds) and to assess related metals  re-precipitation from the leaching solution after the metals had been  extracted from the shale. As noted in previous bioleaching tests  conducted at AITF, the test results indicate that a significant  fraction of some of the dissolved metals, once leached from the shale,  are removed from the leaching solution through re-precipitation.  Mitigation of these processes will be addressed during future testwork  intended to optimize test parameters. 

 The Buckton inferred resource is a near-horizontal tabular zone hosted  entirely within the Second White Speckled (black) Shale Formation,  bounded within its upper and lower contacts. This Formation is exposed  throughout the erosional edge of the Birch Mountains (eg:Buckton Zone)  but is overlain westward by progressively thicker sequences of other  shales and till. Given the uniformity of metals grades within the  Speckled Shale, the Buckton resource has been laterally delimited based  on depth criteria (ie: volume of "waste" material which would have to  be excavated to access the mineralized zone by open pit) rather than  based on continuity of metallic mineralization which extends well  beyond the limits of the current resource. 

 As previously reported, overburden cover rocks overlying the Buckton  inferred resource have to date been considered to be "waste" material  for the purposes of estimating the Buckton resource. The results being  announced suggest that the overburden material may represent potential  value given that contained metals and REE are recoverable. 

 The results being announced about recoverability of Metals and REE from  the overburden cover above the Buckton resource might serve to:  (i) enable expansion of the Buckton inferred resource beyond its  current limits to surrounding areas under thicker overburden cover, and  (ii) provide an additional mineralized zone within the overburden cover  rocks which were previously considered to be "waste" material. The  foregoing represents a significant new milestone development from the  Buckton Zone. 

 The Buckton maiden resource study for Mo-Ni-U-V-Zn-Cu-Co-Li (announced  Oct24/2011) and the Buckton supplemental resource study for REE-Y-Sc-Th  (announced Jan16/2012) estimated that the Buckton inferred resource is  overlain by 762,678,000 short tons of overburden cover material  consisting of LaBiche Formation shales with a thin veneer of overlying  till glacially scoured therefrom. 

 In addition, the above studies also concluded that mineralized tonnages  ranging 400-679 million short tons with similar grades** as the Buckton  inferred resource can be blocked at a US$7.5 per tonne cut-off,  representing extensions of the Buckton resource which are beneath less  than 100m-150m of the surface and which are overlain by 1.4-3.0 billion  short tons of overburden material. These tonnages are not resources and  have currently not been classified as resources. Weighted average  compositions of LaBiche Shale intercepts from all available drill holes  were announced on Dec2/2011 and Dec16/2011. 

 In the absence of a resource study for the overburden material, and a  separate study to revise the Buckton inferred resource, the above  tonnages estimated by a quantitative resource model can only be  considered to be mineralized material which is a target for further  work whose ultimate quantity and grade are conceptual in nature as  there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource  and it is uncertain whether further exploration will result in  discovery of a mineral resource. 

 DNI's intentions are to shortly launch a resource study to estimate  quantity and grade of mineralization within the overburden material  overlying the Buckton resource and its projected extensions. Subject to  conclusions of this study, a collateral separate resource study will  also follow to re-asses the Buckton maiden resource to revise it based  on conclusions of the resource study relating to the overburden  material. 

 Plans are also underway to test a suite of composite drill core samples  from overburden intercepts of drill holes completed by DNI during its  2010-2011 winter drilling program. This work, scheduled to commence  during the summer, is slated for completion by the end of the year.  Plans are also underway for an expanded leaching testwork program  details of which will be announced once it has commenced. 

 The Qualified Person in connection with this press release is S.F.Sabag  P.Geo, DNI's president and CEO, who has reviewed analytical results and  is responsible for preparation of this press release. See DNI press  Sept8/2011 and Alberta Mineral Assessment Report MIN20100017 for  details of procedures related to the bioleaching testwork. Bioleaching  was carried out using inoculum previously harvested and cultured by  AITF from DNI's black shale zones. Analytical work carried out by  Actlabs, Ancaster, Ontario, by ICP-MS. The Buckton maiden resource  study and the Buckton supplemental resource study are both available  from www.sedar.com and www.dnimetals.com. lb/t = pounds per short ton. 

 *Head grades for the drill core sample of the LaBiche Shale bioleached  by AITF are as follows expressed in ppm(lb/t): MoO(3)-25(0.05), Ni-123(0.25), U(3)O(8)-4(0.01), V(2)O(5)-431(0.86), Zn-145(0.29), Cu-35(0.07), Co-15(0.03), Li(2)CO(3)-352(0.70), La(2)O(3)-40(0.08), Ce(2)O(3)-76(0.15), Pr(2)O(3)-9(0.02), Nd(2)O(3)-35(0.07), Sm(2)O(3)-7(0.01), Eu(2)O(3)-1(0.003), Gd(2)O(3)-6(0.01), Tb(2)O(3)-1(0.002), Dy(2)O(3)-5(0.01), Ho(2)O(3)-1(0.002), Er(2)O(3)-3(0.01), Tm(2)O(3)-0.5(0.001), Yb(2)O(3)-3(0.01), Lu(2)O(3)-0.5-(0.001), Y(2)O(3)-33(0.07), Sc(2)O(3)-28-(0.06), ThO(2)-12(0.02). 

 **Range of recoverable grades (lbs per short ton) reported in the  Buckton maiden resource study and the Buckton supplemental resource  study for mineralized tonnages ranging 400-679 million short tons,  representing extensions of the Buckton resource which are beneath less  than 100m-150m of the surface, which can be blocked by the resource  model at a US$7.5 per tonne cut-off:  MoO(3): 0.11-0.11, Ni: 0.26-0.26, U(3)O(8): 0.07-0.06, V(2)O(5): 1.02-1, Zn: 0.54-0.54, Cu: 0.09-0.09, Co: 0.04-0.04, Li2(2)O(3): 0.3-0.3, La(2)O(3): 0.09-0.08, Ce(2)O(3): 0.14-0.14, Pr(2)O(3): 0.02-0.02, Nd(2)O(3): 0.07-0.07, Sm(2)O(3): 0.02-0.02, Eu(2)O(3): 0.004-0.004, Gd(2)O(3): 0.02-0.02, Tb(2)O(3): 0.003-0.003, Dy(2)O(3): 0.02-0.02, Ho(2)O(3): 0.003-0.002, Er(2)O(3): 0.01-0.01, Tm(2)O(3): 0.001-0.001, Yb(2)O(3): 0.01-0.01, Lu(2)O(3): 0.001-0.001, Y(2)O(3): 0.11-0.11, Sc(2)O(3): 0.02-0.02, ThO(2): 0.02-0.02. Data for  Mo-Ni-U-V-Zn-Cu-Co-Li based on material under  less than 125m of cover. 

 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. 

 DNI - TSX Venture DG7 - Frankfurt Issued: 66,625,020 

 We seek Safe Harbour. This announcement includes forward looking  statements. While these statements represent DNI's best current  judgment, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause  actual results to vary, including risk factors listed in DNI's Annual  Information Form and its MD&As, all of which are available from SEDAR  and on its website. 



DNI Metals Inc.


CONTACT:  DNI Metals Inc. - Shahe Sabag, President & CEO (416-595-1195) orDenisClement, Chairman (416-364-1909) email [e-mail]. Alsovisit www.dnimetals.com. 


    

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