Great Western Minerals updates activities

Great Western Minerals Group Ltd. provides an update of its “mine-to-market” strategy to become a fully integrated explorer and developer of rare earth elements (REE’) and other strategic metals in North America.

General Industry Developments: The world demand for REE continues to accelerate. Based on discussions and presentations at the International Rare Earth Conference held in Hong Kong in November 2007, the global demand for REE is projected to exceed 190,000 tonnes by 2012, for a projected global supply deficit of 20,000 tonnes. The projections do not consider the likelihood that Japan and the US will institute stockpiling to meet their internal demands. As well, these projections do not factor in development of new products or technologies such as RE magnetic refrigeration; the consensus is also that the demand for REE in Hybrid Vehicles is underestimated.

In October 2007, the U.S. Government issued a report on Minerals, Critical Minerals, and the U.S. Economy which designated Platinum Group Metals (PGM) and REE as the two top “critical metals” groups required for certain industries to remain economically viable. As well, these elements and metals are deemed to be critical by the US Department of Defense and to the defense industry overall.

In late December 2007, China, the primary global supplier of REE, announced an increase in export duties and tariffs on REE products, now at 15% to 25% on all REE products being exported from China. In addition to tariffs, China has also imposed restrictive export quotas.

Those factors provide compelling reasons for GWMG to move ahead with aggressive efforts to expand the resource base on its REE properties and to accelerate activities leading to production.

Successful Financing: In December 2007, GWMG completed two non-brokered private placements for total gross proceeds of $4.3 million. GWMG now has approximately $5.5 million in working capital which will be used for the drilling program underway at Hoidas Lake, completion of the Preliminary Economic Assessment Report (“PEAR”), the development of the pilot plant, and exploration and development activities on the Deep Sands project in Utah.

Hoidas Lake: In late January, drilling commenced at the Hoidas Lake project to test the zone along strike and at depth. The objective is to at least double the resource on the entire property to a level that could potentially support an operation beyond the current 500 tonne-per-day base case. Approximately 1,800 m of drilling has been completed over 8 holes to date. Field work is expected to be completed by the end of April with assays anticipated in late summer.