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Update on Tilemsi Phosphate Project
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Suite 515, 475 Howe Street
Vancouver, BC, Canada V6C 2B3
Tel: 604-689-2882 Website: www.greatquest.com
Fax: 604-684-5854 Email:
September 14, 2010
Update on Tilemsi Phosphate Project
VANCOUVER, BC -- Victor Jones, Chairman of Great Quest Metals Ltd.
(TSXV:
GQ; Frankfurt: GQM), provides this update on the Tilemsi Phosphate Project
in Mali, as plans proceed in anticipation of receipt of permits from the
Ministry of Mines.
The 737 sq km project includes two contiguous
concessions held by Great Quest and is prospective for phosphate rock.
Preliminary geological examination over several decades indicates the
presence of phosphate mineralization and its potential use as fertilizer.
Exploration work by Great Quest and reconnaissance by the Malian company
holding the northern concession (see GQ News Release June 23, 2010) have
provided encouraging results.
Exploration Permit Process
The Company is in regular contact with the Ministry of Mines, informing the
ministry of its plans for a multiphase drilling and exploration program.
This work would commence as soon as the required documents are executed by
the Ministry of Mines, in accordance with Malian mining law.
Both the
Company and its Malian partner company in the Tilemsi project have submitted
applications for the Convention dEtablissement, a thirty year entitlement
to mineral exploration and development under which specific minimum
exploration work performance is set out in an agreement with the Company,
known as the Arrte.
These permits enable the Company to proceed with
drilling and other exploration field work on its Tilemsi Project
concessions, targeting the phosphate rock.
Referred to as Phosphate Naturel
du Tilemsi (PNT), limited past production indicates the rock to be a direct
application natural fertilizer suitable for use in Mali.
Mali has indicated
its intent to expand agriculture and encourage investment in supporting
infrastructure.
It currently imports all of its fertilizer used for food
and textile crops.
As I travel to Mali, I look forward to the celebration of the 50th
anniversary of the formation of Mali as an independent state, and the
recognition of the contribution that mining has made to the Malian economy
over that time said Victor Jones, our Malian Director, Mamadou Keita,
played an important role in mining development in Mali and Great Quest
intends to expand its exploration activities on the Tilemsi phosphate
project and on its gold concessions.
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GQ Logo
News Release
September 14, 2010
Page Two
Mali Fertilizer Market Initiative
The Company plans to initiate a contract with Dr.
Lamine Traor, a member of
the Companys Phosphate Advisory Committee and researcher with the Rural
Economy Institute of Mali.
Discussions with the Rural Economy Institute
indicate a strategic interest in expanding both the area of agricultural
land fertilized and the average annual amount applied, to boost food and
other crop production.
Success of the PNT program will maximize regional
benefits from production from this area of phosphate mineralization by
providing a usable local product with negligible beneficiation costs.
Servicing the Mali and regional markets is the first part of a strategy
which includes direct shipping of phosphate rock for conventional products
on the world market.
This initiative targets the cost effective use of PNT
as a direct application fertilizer.
The goal is to define the forms of
commercial PNT fertilizers most suitable for the various soils and crops in
Mali and neighbouring countries including Niger, Burkina Faso, and Senegal.
Concessions
The Company holds 88% of the Tin Hina concession acquired in 2009 and a 97%
interest in the Tarkint Est, the concession just north and contiguous with
the Tin Hina concession.
An initial sampling and mapping program on a hill
within the Tin Hina concession, reported September 3, 2009, took samples
from the exposed phosphate rock along the east and south sides of a hill
over a distance of 6,870 meters.
Analysis of these samples found 5.11 to
33.05% P2O5 and averaged 24.50% P2O5.
The thickness of the layer of
phosphate rock observed ranged from 0.40 to 1.7 meters.
The P2O5 occurs
mainly in the mineral apatite.
The Tarkint Est concession covers several
potential phosphate occurrences, including the Chanamaguel, Tagit NOuerane
and Tin Siriden phosphate zones noted in earlier studies.
About the Tilemsi Phosphate Project
The Tilemsi Phosphate project is a drilling stage project covering an area
of 737 sq km just north and east of the towns Gao and Bourem, situated on
the Niger River.
Detailed exploration plans for the project are nearing
completion, including compilation of prior reports.
The work will include
analysis of recent remote sensing data, further field reconnaissance and
drilling.
The objective is to begin to define the extent of the phosphate
rock horizons within the concessions to enable a resource estimate in
compliance with National Instrument 43-101.
Significant existing and
planned agricultural and infrastructure investment by foreign entities in
Mali indicate a growing interest in the potential for Malis agricultural
sector.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF GREAT QUEST METALS LTD.
Victor J.E.
Jones
Victor J.E.
Jones
Chairman
12g3-2(b) Exemption #82-3116
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