Commerce Resources Corp. www.commerceresources.com/s/Home2.asp (CCE– CDNX) is pleased to announce that it has retained International Metallurgical and Environmental: apatite, magnetite, and pyrochlore/ferrocolumbite concentrate. Several treatment options will be considered, including crushing and grinding tests, followed by gravity and flotation tests. Subsequent test work may include both hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical investigations for the production of a high quality Tantalum-Niobium product.

Detailed exploration of the Verity Carbonatite, including geochemical, mineralogical, and petrological work by Dr. Anthony Mariano (1979, 1982, 2001), has shown the dominant tantalum bearing phase at Verity to be pyrochlore, although confined areas with valuable element concentration, including “massive concentrations” (Mariano, 1982) of ferrocolumbite, fersmite and pyrochlore, are noted. The Verity Carbonatite contains an inferred resource of 3.06 Mt containing 196 g/t Ta2O5, 645 g/t Nb2O5 and 3.20 % P2O5 (McCrea, 2001).

The Fir Carbonatite, with the highest reported tantalum grades, is up to 75 m thick and near flat-lying. It has been intersected by four drill holes and traced (on surface) along strike length of about 400 m (McCrea, 2001). A resource for the Fir Carbonatite has yet to be delineated by an independent third party, in accordance with National Instrument 43-101.

At the Fir Carbonatite, the dominant tantalum-bearing phase is ferrocolumbite with lesser pyrochlore in a ratio of approximately 20 : 1 (columbite : pyrochlore) (Mariano, 1982).

Both the Verity and Fir carbonatites have potential for large tonnages with high grades of tantalum-niobium-phosphate. In addition, the carbonatites are well located with respect to infrastructure such as rail, roads and power.

Pyrochlores have been mined and processed for their niobium content from several carbonatites worldwide, including: Araxa (M.G., Brazil), Catalao I and II (Goias, Brazil), Fen (Norway), Luesche (DRC, Kivu Province), Niobec (Quebec, Canada), and Oka (Quebec, Canada). Pyrochlores that are treated by alumina-fusion, produce a high-value Ta / Nb product free of deleterious constituents. Dr. Mariano, on behalf of the company, is currently reviewing characteristics of processed tantalum bearing pyrochlores, such as those noted from the Fen Complex, Norway, which have a similar composition to those near Blue River, British Columbia.

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