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Wealth Minerals - Exploring for Rare Earths in Argentina

January 28, 2011 @ 2:52 pm In Uncategorized

Wealth Minerals – Exploring for Rare Earths in Argentina

Overview

Wealth Minerals Ltd. (CVE: WML, OTCQX: WMLLF) is a junior exploration and development company focused on its rare earth elements project in Argentina. Wealth has a 100% interest (no underlying royalties) in the Rodeo de los Molles Rare Earth Project. With over 6,000 hectares it is the largest rare earth project in South America.  The company has undertaken a multi-phase program of geological sampling, metallurgical studies and confirmation drilling with the intent to establish a NI-43-101 compliant resource at the historical deposit.

Wealth Minerals' highly successful management team has been directly involved in the discovery, development and/or tender of some of the most successful mining deals in recent years, including Energy Metals ($1.4B), Corriente Resources Inc. ($650M), Potash One Inc. ($450M) and International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. ($800M).

Chief Properties

Rodeo de los Molles - San Luis Province, Argentina

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The Rodeo de los Molles rare earth element/uranium project is on a property that consists of 8 minas, totaling 6,000 ha. The property is located approximately 300 km southwest of the City of Cordoba and 200 km northeast of the city of San Luis in the San Luis Province of Argentina.  There are 13.2 and 33 kW power lines within 8 km of the property and the climate allows work year round.

In 1992, predating the NI 43-101, a historical resource was prepared on the deposit showing a historical geological resource of 5.6 Mt at 2.1% Total Rare Earth Oxide and 0.025 U308. However, the Company cautions that the resource estimate was prepared before the introduction of NI 43-101, and is therefore historical in nature and the Company is not treating such resource as a current resource under NI 43-101.  Investors are further cautioned that a qualified person has not yet completed sufficient work to be able to verify the historical resource, and therefore they should not be relied upon. The Company considers the historical resource estimate relevant as a guide to establish a NI-43-101 resource at the Rodeo de los Molles Rare Earth Project.

The Company reports that three representative rock-chip samples collected from the outcropping mineralization returned assays ranging from 7.4 to 35.5% TREO and 0.15% to 0.92% U3O8. A fourth sample, collected from an apparently unmineralized outcrop, returned a value of 0.11% TREO and 12.1 ppm U, thereby highlighting the potential for the expansion of the known deposit. The outcropping mineralization remains open to depth and in all directions.

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A representative suite of REE-bearing samples from the La Juli zone

Management

Henk Van Alphen - President, CEO and Director

Henk has been in the mining business for 23 years. First as an exploration contractor then as President of Pacific Rim Mining. Henk laid the foundation for Pacific Rim and Corriente Resources becoming successful South American based resource companies. Henk was also instrumental in Cardero Resource Corp's entrance into South America.

Scott Heffernan, M.Sc., P.Geo. - Vice President - Exploration
Scott is a registered professional geologist (AB) with 15 years of well-rounded experience, having worked with governmental surveys and both major and junior exploration and mining companies throughout the America's. Most recently, Scott spent four years with Equity Exploration Ltd., a highly reputable, Vancouver-based geological consulting and contracting firm specializing in turn-key geological and project management. While with Equity, he directed exploration that led to several significant discoveries of gold and polymetallic mineralization such as the porphyry-related Tide property and most recently was managing Fronteer Gold's (formerly Fronteer Development Group) Wernecke IOCG exploration in north-central Yukon.

Scott holds a Bachelor Degree (Geology) from the University of Alberta and completed his Masters Degree (Geological Sciences) with the Mineral Deposit Research Unit (MDRU) and the Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research at the University of British Columbia.

Paul Matysek - Director
Mr. Matysek is the former President and CEO and a co-founder of Energy Metals Corporation (NYSE Arca: EMU, TSX: EMC). Under Mr. Matysek's stewardship, Energy Metals Corporation, a pure uranium mining and development company, was recently acquired by Uranium One Inc. in a deal valued at over one billion dollars.  More recently Mr. Matysek was CEO of Potash One Inc. which was also bought out in a deal valued at $450 million.

With more than 25 years' international experience, Mr. Matysek is a recognized entrepreneur, specializing in developing resource-based companies from conception to production, and has held senior management and/or director positions with several natural resource exploration and development companies, including First Quantum Minerals Ltd., First Majestic Silver Corp. and Dundarave Resources Ltd. Mr. Matysek has been instrumental in the acquisition and development of a number of significant precious metal and base-metal properties and has been involved in raising over $200 million dollars for various exploration and development projects since 1999.

The Honorable Maurice F. Strong, P.D., O.C., LL.D. - Director
Mr. Strong, a Canadian, has been working for over 30 years at senior levels in business, government and international organizations and now spends most of his time in China.

His current appointments include: Chairman, Cosmos International Group; Vice-Chairman, Chicago Climate Exchange; Chairman, International Advisory Board, CH2M HILL Companies; Honorary Professor, Peking University (Beijing); and Visiting Professor, University of Ottawa (Canada).

Some of Mr. Strong's past appointments include: Under Secretary General and Special Advisor to the Secretary General of the United Nations; Senior Advisor to the President, World Bank; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Hydro; Member, International Advisory Board, Toyota Motor Corporation

Mr. Strong is a Member of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada.

Jeffrey A. Pontius, M.Sc., B.Sc. - Director
Mr. Pontius has over 28 years of geological experience and possesses a distinguished track record of successful discoveries that includes three precious metal deposits. Significantly, during 1989-1996, as the Exploration Manager of Pikes Peak Mining Company (a subsidiary of NERCO Mineral Co. and Independence Mining Company), Mr. Pontius managed the large district scale exploration program that resulted in the discovery of the Cresson Deposit at Cripple Creek, Colorado, containing over 5 million ounces of gold. While working as Exploration Manager, he developed an integrated exploration program which focused on both surface bulk mineable and underground high grade target types.

Mr. Pontius spent the past seven years at AngloGold Ashanti (USA) Exploration Inc. (AngloGold), starting as Senior US Exploration Manager and becoming North American Exploration Manager and also a Director of Anglo American (USA) Exploration Inc. Mr. Pontius was also a member of the regional business development team and provided technical and strategic support for AngloGold's acquisition program.

During his last four years as US Exploration Manager, Mr. Pontius led the exploration team that spent US$ 10 million developing an extensive database and acquiring all of the AngloGold Alaskan mineral projects that were recently vended into International Tower Hill Mines Ltd., a public company trading on the Toronto and New York AMEX Stock exchanges and currently valued at $800 million.

Michael Bartlett - Director

Mr. Bartlett is also President and Chief Executive Officer of Indico Technologies Corporation; President of Leisure Capital & Management Inc., a company which specializes in the pre-development, start-ups in innovative strategic, conceptual, economic and financial solutions from 1989 to present.

James M. Dawson - Director
JJim has been the president of Dawson Geological Consultants Ltd., a private geological consulting company, since 1985. He is a registered professional engineer with 40 years of hands-on fieldwork experience examining, exploring and evaluating a wide range of geological and mineralized settings around the globe, with a particular emphasis on Latin America.

As a partner with Kerr, Dawson & Associates Ltd. from 1972 to 1985, Mr. Dawson participated in the discovery of the Blackdome mine, Frasergold and Taurus properties in British Columbia, and the Big Horn mine in Arizona. Mr. Dawson was also part of the original Pan Ocean team, which made the discovery of the Lac Cinquante uranium deposit in 1975.

Mr. Dawson is also currently a director of Minefinders Corp. and Kivalliq Energy Corp.

Rare Earth Advisory Board

Mr. Alastair Neill, P.Eng., MBA
Mr. Alastair Neill, a leading expert in rare earth elements, is the former Vice-President/General Manager, Rare Earth Division, and Vice-President, Business Development, for AMR Technologies Inc. (now Neo Material Technologies Inc.) and currently holds the position of Executive Vice President for Dacha Strategic Metals Inc. Mr. Neill brings over 15 years of direct rare earth experience with downstream end-users in Korea, Japan, Europe and North America and with suppliers in China.  He holds a master of business administration from York University and a bachelor of engineering in material science from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Anthony (Tony) Mariano
With over 50 years of field- and laboratory-based experience, Dr. Mariano is the global authority on the mineralogy, geochemistry and geology of REE deposits. Throughout his extensive career as a consulting geologist, Dr. Mariano has been involved with the research and development of the majority of the world's significant REE projects (e.g. Molycorp's Mountain Pass deposit and Lynas Corporation's Mt.Weld deposit) and currently serves as an advisor to several companies developing advanced REE projects such as Rare Element Resources Ltd. and Tasman Metals Ltd. Dr. Mariano received his PhD in Geology from the University of Boston and his main area of expertise is the mineralogy, petrography, geochemistry and metallurgy of REE systems.

Dr. Raul Lira
Dr. Raul Lira is the foremost expert on the REE mineralization and geology of Argentina and is credited with the discovery and the early stage development of Wealth's Rodeo de los Molles Rare Earth deposit. Dr. Lira has dedicated over 25 years to research and teaching focused on the genesis and discovery of mineral deposits. In addition to serving as an independent consultant to South American governmental agencies and mining companies such as BHP Billiton, he currently holds positions as Professor of Economic Geology (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba) and Independent Researcher (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones y Tecnicas de la República Argentina - CONICET). Dr. Lira received his PhD in Geological Sciences from the Universidad Nacional de Cordóba and his main area of expertise is the mineralogy, petrology, geochemistry and metallogenesis of felsic calc-alkaline and alkaline igneous systems


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