VR Reports New REE Intersections at Hecla-Kilmer, Confirms Apatite-Monazite REE Mineralogy from Initial Bulk Sample Results, and is Awarded a Third Ontario OJEP Critical Metals Exploration Grant

Press Release

October 17, 2023, Vancouver, B.C.: VR Resources Ltd. (TSX.V: VRR, FSE: 5VR; OTCQB: VRRCF), the “Company”, or “VR”, is pleased to report results for the recent, spring 2023 drill program as well as the initial results on mineralogy from the bulk sample extraction and beneficiation study for rare earth element mineralization (REE) at the company’s Hecla-Kilmer (“H-K”) project in northern Ontario.

REE critical metals were discovered at Hecla-Kilmer in the very first reconnaissance drill program in 2020, with 24 holes completed to-date, including the three from this spring as shown in Figure 1.

Broad intersections with carbonatite dykes and vein breccia were obtained in two of the three new drill holes. The composite intersection for hole 024 is shown in Table 1, the evolving assay table for all 24 holes completed to date at Hecla-Kilmer. Most importantly, hole 024 at Pike Zone intersected a series of six vein and vein breccia zones with > 1% TREO.

Mineralogy

Drill core from the entire intersection in Hole 013 was submitted in May to the SGS Lakefield laboratory in Ontario as a bulk sample for a mineralogical, beneficiation and metallurgical study. SGS is a recognized world leader in mineralogical and metallurgical studies on REE mineral systems. The intersection includes:

• 361 m @ 0.96 % TREO⁽¹⁾ of which 20% are PMREO⁽²⁾ within

461 m @ 0.85 % TREO + 0.13% Nb2O5, starting at bedrock surface, and including: o 39 m @ 2.01 % TREO within 66.6 m @ 1.57 % TREO with 20% as PMREO.

• The hole ended with 2 m @ 2.84 % TREO and 1.1 g/t gold.

The new mineralogy data are from TESCAN Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA) analyses. Eight initial representative samples spanning the 361 metres of REE mineralization were crushed, sorted and analyzed with TIMA for elemental and mineral mapping of grains ahead of beneficiation studies.

Initial results indicate that 80% of REEs are contained within the phosphate mineral apatite, with the remainder hosted in monazite, a phosphate, and parisite-synchysite, fluorocarbonates, which themselves occur most commonly as fine grained inclusions in apatite. The results underscore the volume potential for REEs at Hecla-Kilmer based on the sheer breadth of phosphate intersections containing REE as shown on the satellite image in Figure 2.

The new REE mineralogy from the bulk sample is consistent with previous data:

• Figure 3. The strong correlation between P205 and %PMREO in ICP-MS geochemical data from >1,500 geochemical samples from all 24 drill holes completed to date.
• Figure 4. On-site, XRF and SWIR scanning of whole drill core in 2021 showed the correlation between TREO and P2O5 in the near-surface mineralization in Hole 004.

The new REE mineralogy from the bulk sample does not change from surface to depth at Pike Zone:

• Figure 5. Drill core photo and QEMSCAN image of hydrothermal apatite-monazite-magnetite-pyrochlore with REE minerals at the top of Hole 004, near bedrock surface at Pike Zone.

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