More discoveries on Lofdal for Namibia Rare Earths Inc.

• Two new zones discovered at Area 6; one new zone in Area 5
• Higher grades intersected at Area 8 (Emanya)
• Metallurgical test work on Area 4 resource on-going at Mintek
• Geological teams mobilized to Marinkas and Florida permits for initial reconnaissance mapping and prospecting
• Namibia Rare Earths to support two Masters level studies and one PhD from Camborne School of Mines and McGill University

HALIFAX, Feb. 7, 2013 /CNW/ - Namibia Rare Earths Inc. ("Namibia Rare Earths" or the "Company") (TSX: NRE) (OTCQX: NMREF) is pleased to report that two new mineralized zones have been intersected by exploration drilling in Area 6, and one new zone in Area 5 at the Company's Lofdal Rare Earth Project in northwestern Namibia. This brings the total number of discoveries at Lofdal to 17 over a two year period, one of which has been drilled into a 43-101 compliant resource at Area 4 (Figure 1). Rare earth mineralization occurs in these new zones over very broad widths grading 0.2-0.7% TREO with moderate levels of heavy rare earth enrichment (10-25%). Highlights include:

• 0.70% TREO over 31.0 meters with 9.5% HREE enrichment from Area 6 (including 1.12% TREO over 15.0 meters with 8.2% HREE enrichment)
• 0.66% TREO over 35.0 meters with 9.3% HREE enrichment from Area 6 (including 1.49% TREO over 10 meters with 7.5% HREE enrichment)
• 0.42% TREO over 76.0 meters with 13.3% HREE enrichment from Area 6 (including 1.06% TREO over 8.0 meters with 8.7% HREE enrichment)
• 0.30% TREO over 39.0 meters with 21.3% HREE enrichment from Area 5

Intercept widths are reported as down the hole widths and are not necessarily true widths. Interpreted dips of the mineralized zones vary from 45 to 80 degrees. All results have now been received from the December 2012 drilling program and a complete listing of all significant results is provided in Table 1. Sample preparation and analytical work was provided by Activation Laboratories Ltd. (Windhoek, Namibia and Ancaster, Ontario) employing ICP-MS techniques suitable for rare earth element analyses and following strict internal QAQC procedures inserting blanks, standards and duplicates.

As the Company awaits completion of the Mintek metallurgical test work on the Area 4 core samples, one geological team has been deployed to the Marinkas permit in southern Namibia to complete reconnaissance mapping and sampling of the Marinkas Quellen Carbonatite Complex. A second team will carry out orientation and prospecting of the Florida permit which is contiguous with Lofdal, with the objective of determining if certain airborne geophysical anomalies from government surveys are related to extensions of the Lofdal Carbonatite Complex (Figure 2).

Don Burton, President of Namibia Rare Earths stated,

"In addition to completing the initial 43-101 compliant resource for Area 4 in 2012, our exploration team carried out detailed geological mapping which has led to the discovery of four more rare earth occurrences at Lofdal, on top of the 13 occurrences discovered during our first exploration campaign in 2011 following the IPO in April of that year.

Area 6 continues to provide encouraging results over a very large area and while the levels of 10-25% heavy rare earth enrichment¹ are lower than what we have in Area 4, this is still a heavy enriched zone with potential for much higher tonnage. It is a completely different mineralizing system than what we have drilled off in Area 4. Mapping in Area 6 shows that two of the three zones occur in a well-defined, broad corridor of strong alteration in the basement gneisses and breccias coincident with an IP chargeability trend over a strike length of two kilometers. The single hole drilled on the soil anomaly returned very encouraging results demonstrating the potential for at surface discoveries under shallow cover.

While our field teams carry on with preliminary exploration at Marinkas and Florida, the most important work underway is the metallurgical test work being conducted by Mintek to determine the amenability of the Area 4 resource to concentration and extraction. Management is working closely with both Mintek and our independent consultants at Specialized Metallurgical Projects and expects to have this metallurgical work completed by the end of first quarter 2013."

Significance of Most Recent Exploration Drill Results

Area 6

The intercepts being reported today are similar in character to the previously reported discovery in Area 6 announced in 2011 (Company press release December 5, 2011):

• 0.71% TREO over 18.7 meters with 15.1% HREE enrichment (including 1.07% TREO over 10.2 meters with 13.8% HREE enrichment)
• 0.42% TREO over 41.0 meters with 19.0% HREE enrichment (including 1.09% TREO over 6.5 meters with 13.7% HREE enrichment)

Five of the new holes were drilled on two sections 575 meters west of the 2011 discovery, following geophysical trends and mapped geological alteration. Interest in this area was first drawn by a VTEM airborne geophysical anomaly which was followed up with ground geophysics (IP) and mapping in early 2012. Subsequent traverses on outcrops with a handheld XRF analyser confirmed the presence of rare earths prior to drilling. One hole (NLOFDH6010) located 400 meters to the north of the 2011 discovery tested a soil anomaly from an orientation survey conducted along a single traverse line between Emanya and Area 6. This hole intersected three discrete zones with the hole ending in mineralization in the last intercept (0.34% TREO over 28.0 meters with 13.4% HREE enrichment). Samples of the mineralized cores will be taken for mineralogical studies to determine what rare earth minerals are being encountered in Area 6.

Area 5

With 10 documented rare earth occurrences, Area 5 is the most prolific mineralized area on Lofdal. The degree of HREE enrichment can rival that of Area 4 in places but shows a general trend of decreasing levels of HREE enrichment as one moves westward away from the Main Intrusion. There is a wide area of weak to moderate alteration that has been mapped towards the western margin of Area 5 over a strike length of two kilometers and this was the focus of the latest drilling. Surface sampling from 2010 had indicated low grades (0.1-0.5% TREO) with moderate levels of HREE enrichment throughout this alteration zone and the objective is to find zones of much greater thickness than occurs in Area 4 with the exceptionally high levels of HREE enrichment (70-90%). Two holes intersected a zone of modest thickness (6-8 meters) but two others intersected considerably greater thickness (26-39 meters) with moderate levels of HREE enrichment (20%). While not a primary target at this stage, it is areas like this that can eventually contribute significant resources in an established mining district. Samples of the mineralized cores will be taken for mineralogical studies to determine what rare earth minerals are being encountered in these latest holes in Area 5.

Area 8 (Emanya)

Emanya is an elongate intrusive carbonatite plug. Previous drilling in 2011 (Company press release September 15. 2011) reported up to 0.35% TREO over 152.2 meters with 10.8% HREE enrichment. Controls on mineralization at Emanya were not clear and in an effort to gain more understanding on the potential of the intrusion to be of economic significance, Namibia Rare Earths supported an undergraduate thesis from Stellenbosch University, South Africa to characterize the lithologies and mineralogy. This work determined that "the REE-bearing phases are the LREE-fluorocarbonates bastnäsite-(Ce), synchysite/parisite-(Ce), and the REE-phosphate monazite-(Ce). The main gangue minerals were identified as calcite, biotite/phlogopite, albite, quartz, and aegirine. Textures of the REE-bearing phases suggested a possibility of two mineralization events - a combination of two separate hydrothermal events, or a magmatic event followed by a hydrothermal event."

Geophysical surveys (IP) over Emanya in 2012 indicated deeper (more sulphide-rich) phases present on the northern side of the intrusion that would have been missed by the 2011 drilling. Higher grades were intersected at depths of 100-120 vertical meters in holes NLOFDH8005C and NLOFDH8006 (Table 1) with one of the holes ending in mineralization (NLOFDH8006 intersected 0.69% TREO over 22.9 meters to the bottom of the hole at 149.9 meters). While still a low priority target at Lofdal, Emanya will be further evaluated given its substantial tonnage potential as a satellite deposit.

Mintek Metallurgical Program

The Company recently announced the first 43-101 compliant resource in Area 4 (press release September 19, 2012) which at a cut-off 0.3% TREO, provided 0.90 MT of indicated resources at 0.62% TREO with 85.6% HREE and 0.75 MT of inferred resources at 0.56% TREO with 85.1% HREE. The contained tonnage of rare earth oxides (REO) essentially can double in both categories at a lower cut-off of 0.1% TREO (Table 1). It is therefore an objective of the Mintek metallurgical test work to determine the amenability of the Area resource to concentration and extraction at this lower cut-off grade.

Please click here for table In-situ: http://files.newswire.ca/961/In-situ.pdf

Mintek has been engaged to undertake preliminary metallurgical test work on representatives samples obtained from two HQ diameter drill holes. Portions of these samples were shipped to Commodas Ultrasort in Germany where detailed sorting test work was completed and all samples subsequently shipped to Mintek together with unsorted fines. Final results are pending receipt of analytical data, however it has been determined that the mineralization is highly amenable to sorting through the use of dual energy x-ray transmission ("DEXRT") sensors which detect variations in mineral densities. Sorting has been successfully achieved on material down to 10 mm size fractions. The objective in utilizing sorting technologies is to upgrade the run of mine feed by eliminating waste material prior to milling.

The results of this work are anticipated to be available by end of first quarter 2013.

Exploration on the Florida Permit (EPL 4208)

The Florida permit covers 570 km² is held 100% by Namibia Rare Earths (Pty) Ltd. as an Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL 4208) granted in 2012 (Figure 2). The permit is contiguous with, and immediately south of the Lofdal permit (EPL 3400).  The area will be prospected primarily to determine if there exist any extensions of the Lofdal Carbonatite Complex and associated rare earth mineralization. Government airborne radiometric and magnetic surveys flown during 2006-2007 will be used to identify prospective areas, as was done on the Lofdal permit. Field crews are assessing access routes to the priority areas and will undertake rock sampling of all favourable lithologies based on their experience from Lofdal.

Exploration on the Marinkas Permit (EPL 4360)

The Marinkas permit covers 87 km² is held 100% by Namibia Rare Earths (Pty) Ltd. as an Exclusive Prospecting Licence (EPL 4360) granted in 2010 (Figure 2). The Marinkas Quellen Carbonatite Complex consists of a sequence of intrusive silicate and carbonate rocks that crops out over an area of around 2.5 km², approximately 25 km north of the Orange River, in southern Namibia. The complex is dominated by carbonatite and syenite intrusions and was most recently investigated in a joint Namibian-Japanese cooperation through JOGMEC between 1994-1995. The rare earth mineralization was clearly identified as being associated with the carbonatites. The JOGMEC work indicated that Marinkas hosts a light rare earth dominated system, however discussions with geologists at the Geological Survey of Namibia raised the potential of exploring for more heavy enriched phases within the complex. Preliminary investigations by Namibia Rare Earth geologists in 2012 confirmed widespread light rare earth mineralization but also identified more heavy enriched phases and that the complex may be more expansive than first mapped. Geologists will therefore undertake to map the entire complex in more detail and collect sufficient rock samples to determine the potential of the complex for significant levels of heavy rare earth enrichment to be of economic significance.

Research Programs at Lofdal

The unique character and exceptional levels of heavy rare earth enrichment at Lofdal has captured the attention of several rare earth deposits specialists in the academic world. Dr. Anthony Mariano and Peter Siegfried first recognized the heavy rare earth potential at Lofdal and Dr. Mariano encouraged the first PhD level studies through the Geological Survey of Namibia, which was undertaken at the Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter, UK. Since 2005, Namibia Rare Earths has supported a number of undergraduate studies at the University of Namibia, Dalhousie University and Acadia University in Canada, and Stellenbosch University, South Africa, as well as one MSc level program at Camborne School of Mines. The Company will be supporting a second MSc program from Camborne School of Mines and both an MSc and a PhD from McGill University, Canada starting in 2013. These research programs provide academic support to both Namibian geology students and also have attracted the practical attention of two of the world's leading academics in rare earth deposit research in Dr. Frances Wall (Camborne) and Dr. Anthony Williams-Jones (McGill).

Donald M. Burton, P.Geo. and President of Namibia Rare Earths is the Company's Qualified Person and has reviewed and approved this press release.

About Namibia Rare Earths Inc.

Namibia Rare Earths Inc. is developing a portfolio of mineral exploration projects in Namibia and is currently focused on the accelerated development of the Lofdal Rare Earths Project. The Company completed a CDN$28.75 million initial public offering and Toronto Stock Exchange listing in April, 2011 and is well funded to carry out its development program. The common shares of Namibia Rare Earths Inc. trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "NRE" and in the United States on the OTCQX International under the symbol "NMREF".

No regulatory authority had approved or disapproved the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The foregoing information may contain forward-looking information relating to the future performance of Namibia Rare Earths Inc. Forward-looking information, specifically, that concerning future performance, is subject to certain risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties are detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the appropriate securities commissions.

¹ As per industry norms heavy rare earths ("HREE") and their oxide equivalents ("HREO") comprise europium (Eu), gadolinium (Gd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), holmium (Ho), erbium (Er), thulium (Tm), ytterbium (Yb), lutetium (Lu) and yttrium (Y). Light rare earths ("LREE") and their oxide equivalents ("LREO") comprise lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd) and samarium (Sm). Total rare earths ("TREE") and their oxide equivalent ("TREO") comprise HREE+LREE (HREO+LREO). "Heavy rare earth enrichment" is the ratio of HREE:TREE or HREO:TREO expressed as a percentage. Ratios are calculated from source data and may vary from use of rounded numbers in tables.lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd) and samarium (Sm). Total rare earths ("TREE") and their oxide equivalent ("TREO") comprise HREE+LREE (HREO+LREO). "Heavy rare earth enrichment" is the ratio of HREE:TREE or HREO:TREO expressed as a percentage. Ratios are calculated from source data and may vary from use of rounded numbers in tables.

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PDF available at: http://stream1.newswire.ca/media/2013/02/07/20130207_C3599_DOC_EN_23375.pdf

SOURCE: NAMIBIA RARE EARTHS INC.