Atocha Purchases Graphite Property in the Grenville of Quebec
March 20, 2012 ‐ Vancouver, British Columbia, CANADA – Atocha Resources (the Company), TSX.V – ATT reports the purchase of 25 claims (1,475 ha) with excellent graphite potential located in the Grenville sub‐ province of the Precambrian Shield in Quebec, an area where graphite is being produced at this time.
The Montpellier property is located approximately 30 km to the east of Montreal in the Ripon‐Hartwell‐ Suffolk townships of south western Quebec with good road access. The Grenville sub‐province is considered a highly favourable for graphite plus gold, silver, copper, nickel, PGE (platinum group element) and REE (rare earth element) mineralization.
There is reported historic diamond drilling (1965) in the Ripon township portion of the property. The drill logs noted graphite that was described as “unclean crystalline limestone containing pyroxene and graphite”. The Suffolk township claims also have reported graphite occurrences in drill core from the latter part of the 1960’s. In the drill logs the core was described as “Paragneiss has feldspar, quartz and graphite” and “grey gneiss has biotite, containing a little graphite.”
Pursuant to the terms of the agreement, Atocha Resources will pay $15,000 cash upon signing and issue 2,600,000 common shares upon TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX‐V") acceptance of the agreement. The Montpellier Property is not subject to any Net Smelter Royalty (“NSR”) or exploration work commitments. Finder’s fees of 250,000 shares are payable subject to TSX Venture Exchange acceptance.
The Montpellier property is located to the north of the Lochaber property of Soldi Ventures Inc. (TSX.V ‐ SOV) who announced on www.sedar.com on February 22, 2012 “on the property itself graphite was found to occur in large, irregular shaped masses of coarsely crystalline white limestone. The graphite occurs as a bed approximately 20 feet thick. The graphite grade was visually estimated to be approximately 15% with a high proportion of large flakes.”
GENERAL INFORMATION ON GRAPHITE
Natural graphite occurs in several forms: flake, amorphous and lump. Graphite has many important new applications including use in lithium ion batteries, fuel cells and nuclear and solar power that have the potential to significantly increase the demand for this critical element. There is between 10 and 30 times more graphite required by weight to produce a lithium‐ion battery than there is lithium. In addition, the recent discovery of a new material called graphene, which is derived from graphite, has also heightened interest. International research is now underway into a number of its potential applications including enhancing the speed and processing power of many modern electronic devices. This has also increased the interest in graphite. Meanwhile, global consumption of natural graphite has increased from ~600,000 tonnes (T) in 2000 to 1.2 M T in 2012. Demand has been increasing by approximately 5% per year since 2000 due to the ongoing modernization of China, India and other emerging economies, resulting in strong demand from traditional end uses such as the steel and automotive industries. Of the 1.2 million tonnes of graphite produced annually, approximately 40% is of the most desirable flake type. China, which produces about 73% of the world's graphite, is seeing production and export growth leveling and export taxes and a licensing system have been instituted. A recent European Commission study regarding the criticality of 41 different materials to the European economy included graphite among the 14 materials high in both economic importance and supply risk (Critical Raw Materials for the EU, July 2010). As a function of these fundamentals, demand for graphite and thereby prices, are expected to rise as electric vehicles and lithium battery technology continues to be adopted and graphite performs a greater role in new technological applications. Graphite prices have been increasing in recent months and over the last couple of years and prices for large flake, high purity graphite (+80 mesh, 0.2mm, 94‐97% Carbon) have more than doubled.
The Company cautions that neither it, nor the Qualified Person named below have verified the quality and accuracy of the historic information, which predates the introduction of National Instrument 43‐101, reported in this news release and cautions readers not to rely upon the information until confirmed by further work. The historic information was generated from sources believed to be reliable; however, they have not been confirmed.
Derrick Strickland P. Geo. is the Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43‐101 who has reviewed the technical information of this press release.
The Company would also like to announce the grant of two million options exercisable at $0.075 for a period of three years to Directors, Officers and Consultants of the Company.
Shareholders and Investors are encouraged to sign up to the Company mail list in order to receive timely updates. Please visit www.atocharesources.com or email [email protected] to add your contact details.
ABOUT ATOCHA
Atocha is a natural resources company engaged in the acquisition and exploration of mining/exploration properties, mainly for copper and precious metals. The Company has a 100% undivided interest in the McGillivray Property, located in the Kamloops Mining Division of British Columbia. The Company has an option to acquire a 100% undivided interest in the Atkinson (Detour Lake) gold project in Ontario. Atocha owns the Sol Riche and Tresor Nord/Sud REE properties in Montviel Township of Quebec, the Trove, Descouverte and Bijou gold properties in the Abitibi of Quebec and the Strike 101‐114 gold claims near Dawson City, Yukon.
For further information on Atocha, please refer to www.sedar.com.
For further information, please contact:
Marcy Kiesman, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 604.696.1111 Facsimile: 888.266.3983 E‐mail: [email protected] Website: www.atocharesources.com
Forward‐Looking Statement
This document may contain or refer to forward‐looking information based on current expectations, including, but not limited to timing of mineral resource estimates, future exploration or project development programs and the impact on the Company of these events. Forward‐looking information is subject to significant risks and uncertainties, as actual results may differ materially from forecasted results. Forward‐looking information is provided as of the date hereof and we assume no responsibility to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. For a detailed list of risks and uncertainties, as it relates to Atocha Resources Inc., please refer to the Company's Prospectus filed with SEDAR.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or adequacy of this release.