VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / October 8, 2024 / Rockland Resources Ltd. (the "Company" or "Rockland") (CSE:RKL) is pleased to announce it has received drill permits for its Beryllium Butte Project located in Juab County, Utah.

Initial drilling will be focused on the Saddle Target where past sampling returned continuous chip samples from outcrop over 25.5m averaging 1,142 ppm Beryllium ("Be"), with a higher-grade portion returning 2,423 ppm Be over 6.13m. The Saddle Target is interpreted to have strong similarities with the Miocene Spor Mountain Formation that hosts beryllium deposits currently in production. Associated values of rubidium and cesium are strongly anomalous in the Saddle Target area and are useful pathfinder metals.

Figure 1. Location of the Saddle Zone Target within the Beryllium Butte Project, showing close proximity to Materion Corp.'s Spor Mountain Mine.

Rockland CEO Mike England states: "With the need and applications for beryllium rising rapidly we are excited to get back to work on our Beryllium Butte Project in Utah which is located in close proximity to the world's largest producer of beryllium. We feel we are in the right place at the right time!"

Saddle Target

The Saddle Target is interpreted to have strong similarities with the Miocene Spor Mountain Formation that hosts beryllium deposits currently in production at the Spor Mountain mine, located 30 kilometres east of the property. The prospective beryllium-bearing tuff breccia unit has a limited subcrop/outcrop exposure, measuring 60 by 75 metres, overlain by alluvium/colluvium cover to the west, and younger volcanic tuffs to the north and east.

About Beryllium

Beryllium is a high-value, essential, light metal with wide applications in the aerospace, computer, telecommunications, electronics, medical, satellite and defence sectors and is considered a critical mineral by the US government. Beryllium on the Beryllium Butte Project occurs as the mineral bertrandite, which is also mined from the Spor Mountain open-pit operations, by Materion Corp. (NYSE: MTRN). Showings of bertrandite mineralization are rare in the USA, with the prospects on the Beryllium Butte Project representing only the second documented occurrence in Utah (Critical Minerals of Utah, Circular 120, Utah Geological Survey, 2020).

Bertrandite is the most important commercial beryllium mineral, found in over 75% of mining operations, extracted from ores containing 0.3-1.5% beryllium. At Materion's Spor Mountain and on Rockland's Beryllium Butte Project, bertrandite is found replacing layers and lenses within rhyolite flows and tuffs and associated fault breccias that exhibit extensive argillic alteration. The Spor Mountain operations are the largest source of beryllium in the United States.