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Great Quest Receives the Important Convention dEtablissement on its Two Phosphate Concessions
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Suite 515, 475 Howe Street
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Tel: 604-689-2882 Website: www.greatquest.com
Fax: 604-684-5854 Email:
January 12, 2011
Great Quest Receives the Important Convention dEtablissement on its Two
Phosphate Concessions
VANCOUVER, BC Victor J.E.
Jones, Chairman of Great Quest Metals Ltd.
(TSXV: GQ; Frankfurt: GQM), announces that two important permits have been
issued in respect of the Tin Hina and Tarkint Est phosphate concessions by
the Malian Minister of Mines, Abou B.
Traore.
The permits, known as the
Convention dEtablissement (CE), were issued January 12 to the respective
Malian holding companies and cover 737 sq km, in Eastern Mali.
The permits
represent a critical step toward embarking on a multi-phase drilling and
exploration program on target areas within both the Tin Hina and Tarkint Est
concessions.
Planned Exploration Program
The first stage of exploration for the Tilemsi phosphate project is an
extensive drilling program of shallow holes required to establish an initial
NI 43-101 mineral resource in the area.
The phosphate rock in the
concessions appears to occur in one extensive bed, within an Eocene sequence
of flat-lying sedimentary rock, which dips gently to the west.
Drilling
will concentrate on the phosphate layer within the hills in the area
adjacent to the valleys where erosion has occurred.
The initial drilling
target will be the Alfatchafa hill.
Concurrent with this, Great Quest
geologists will carry our reconnaissance work to test the grade and
thickness of the P2O5 mineralization in several other hills to determine the
priority for further drilling.
The field program will be preceded and
assisted by a remote sensing analysis and detailed map production.
Alfatchafa Target
The first target will be the Alfatchafa hill where the phosphate horizon was
sampled by the Company in June, 2009.
In that program, 26 grab samples were
taken from exposures of rock over a distance of 6,870 m along the east and
south sides where the bed of phosphate rock occurs.
Results of the analyses
of these samples ranged from 5.11 to 33.05% P2O5 and averaged 24.50% P2O5.
The thickness of the zone of phosphate rock, where observed, ranged from
0.40 to 1.7 m and the P2O5 occurs mainly in the mineral apatite.
Great
Quest plans to drill holes on 250 metre centers, or 16 per sq km.
Pitting
near some of the holes will be used to confirm the grade of P2O5 and
thickness of the bed intersected in those holes.
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News Release
January 12, 2011
Page Two
Additional Targets
The detailed mapping and remote sensing will assist the definition of other
target areas and extent of exposure of phosphate mineral apatite on other
hills, such as the Tin Hina, Tin Behouki and the Chanamaguel and Tagit
NOuerane hills.
The Company is also reviewing all available reports on
work in the area.
Property Ownership
Great Quest acquired the Tin Hina concession through direct application to
the Government of Mali.
It is held by a Malian company owned 88% by Great
Quest Metals.
Under the terms of the agreement on the Tarkint Est
concession, to earn a 97% interest, subject to a 3% carried net profit
interest, Great Quest must pay approximately $200,000 over a 3 to 4 year
period.
With the Convention dEstablissement now in effect the Company will
also apply for the Arrte de Miniere for each concession, which provides
important tax benefits during exploration.
We are very pleased to receive these permits which move us closer to
drilling and exploring for phosphate, said Mamadou Keita, Director and VP
Exploration based in Bamako, Mali, and this further demonstrates the
commitment of the Ministry of Mines to the mining industry and the
importance of a domestic source of phosphates for the Malian agricultural
sector.
Mali currently imports 100% of its fertilizer.
Discussions with
the Malian Rural Economy Institute indicate a strategic interest in
expanding the areas and production from its agricultural land.
This renewed
emphasis on expanding the Mali agricultural sector, where important
infrastructure investments for irrigation are already being made, aligns
with global concerns for agricultural production and fertilizers, including
phosphates.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
OF GREAT QUEST METALS LTD.
Victor J.E.
Jones
Victor J.E.
Jones
Chairman
For additional information please contact:
12g3-2(b) Exemption #82-3116
Investor Relations:
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