Commerce Resources Corp. Announces Successful Processing of Tantalum and Niobium from the Upper Fir Deposit, British Columbia

Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Commerce Resources Corp. (TSXv: CCE, FSE: D7H) (the “Company” or “Commerce”) is pleased to announce that the tantalum and niobium sample from the Upper Fir Deposit in British Columbia, (see news release dated July 11, 2017) has been successfully processed utilizing the patented Krupin Process.

The Company is now working towards the signing of a definitive agreement whereby Commerce Resources will acquire the global rights to the Krupin Process. Upon signing of such a definitive agreement, additional data on the Krupin Process may be made available.

The intent of this agreement will be to further the development of the Upper Fir Tantalum and Niobium Deposit towards production with the incorporation of the Krupin Process on site in British Columbia. The Company believes that the technology offered by Dr. Krupin is cost advantageous compared to conventional processing approaches.

The sample of Upper Fir Deposit material, totaling approximately 1,300 kg was sent by the Company to the Krupin facility and was received there in the fall of 2017. The processing took place thereafter and following initial reports of success, the Company sent Dr. Axel Hoppe, the Chairman of the Board, to visit the facility and to evaluate the test results.

Dr. Hoppe was pleased to report that the initial test data from the Krupin Process was highly encouraging, with strong indications of it representing a superior approach of processing a mixed tantalum and niobium concentrate to marketable samples of Nb2O5 and high grade Ta2O5/Nb2O5 mixed oxide.

Dr. Hoppe states “It is expected that applying this technology will offer advantages in lowering the cost structure of the Blue River Project in regards to both capital expenditure and operating cost. We look forward to continuing our mutual developments with Dr. Krupin.”

About Dr. Alexander Krupin

Dr. Krupin is an expert in the recovery of tantalum and niobium products. His overall professional experience is more than 35 years of work in this field, including more than 15 years of production experience in processing high-grade tantalum and niobium ore concentrates. His research activities have developed new technologies for the chemical upgrading of low-grade tantalum and niobium ore concentrates.”

About Dr. Axel Hoppe

Dr. Hoppe is an internationally acknowledged leader in the tantalum/niobium field.  He has held numerous positions with H.C. Starck GmbH ("HCST"): a worldwide group of companies with more than 3,400 employees at 13 production sites in Europe, North America and the Far East.  Dr. Hoppe's last position at HCST was Head of Technical Services and Engineering Group and he was a Member of the Executive Board.

Under Dr. Hoppe's previous leadership as Head of the Electronics and Optics Business Group, HCST grew into the leading producer of tantalum and niobium products, and remains one of the world's largest consumers of tantalum raw materials.

During his time in senior management, Dr. Hoppe also worked in the fields of other refractory metals, such as tungsten, molybdenum, and rhenium.

From 1997 until 2007, Dr. Hoppe served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center ("TIC"): an international association which promotes tantalum and niobium metals, and includes representatives from all segments of the tantalum and niobium industries.  In addition, Dr. Hoppe was the President of the TIC in 2002 and 2007.

NI 43-101 Disclosure

Darren L. Smith, M.Sc., P.Geol., Dahrouge Geological Consulting Ltd., a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, supervised the preparation of the technical information in this news release.  

About The Upper Fir Deposit and The Blue River Project

The Upper Fir deposit has an Indicated Mineral Resource totalling 48.4 million tonnes at 197 ppm Ta2O5 and 1,610 ppm Nb2O5, and an Inferred Mineral Resource totalling 5.4 million tonnes at 191 ppm Ta2O5 and 1,760 ppm Nb2O5.

The Blue River Project is located near the town of Blue River, which is approximately 250 km north of the city of Kamloops and approximately 90 km south of the town of Valemount. The Project comprises 105,373 hectares (1,000 km2) of mineral claims. Power transmission lines, rail, as well as paved and gravel roads are all adjacent to, or within the Property boundaries. Transalta Corp.’s 18 MW Bone Creek run-of-river hydroelectricity project, located near the Upper Fir, was commissioned in June 2011.

About Commerce Resources Corp.

Commerce Resources Corp. is an exploration and development company with a particular focus on deposits of rare metals and rare earth elements.  The Company is focused on the development of its Ashram Rare Earth Element Deposit in Quebec and the Upper Fir Tantalum and Niobium Deposit in British Columbia.

For more information please visit the corporate website at http://www.commerceresources.com or contact Investor Relations at 604.484.2700 or info@commerceresources.com.  

On Behalf of the Board of Directors

COMMERCE RESOURCES CORP.

“Chris Grove”

Chris Grove
President
Tel:  604.484.2700

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.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains forward-looking information which is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. These are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information.  Risks that could change or prevent these statements from coming to fruition include changing costs for mining and processing; increased capital costs; the timing and content of upcoming work programs; geological interpretations based on drilling that may change with more detailed information; potential process methods and mineral recoveries assumption based on limited test work and by comparison to what are considered analogous deposits that with further test work may not be comparable; the availability of labour, equipment and markets for the products produced; and despite the current expected viability of the project, conditions changing such that the minerals on our property cannot be economically mined, or that the required permits to build and operate the envisaged mine can be obtained. The forward-looking information contained herein is given as of the date hereof and the Company assumes no responsibility to update or revise such information to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

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