Rare Element finishes mapping, sampling, IP at Sundance

Dr. Donald Ranta reports

RARE ELEMENT RESOURCES-NEWMONT GOLD VENTURE MAKES PROGRESS WITH 2008 EXPLORATION PROGRAM AND PROVIDES FINANCIAL POSITION UPDATE

Rare Element Resources Ltd.'s Sundance gold exploration project, which is a joint venture between Paso Rico (USA) Inc., a subsidiary of Rare Element Resources, and Newmont North America Exploration Ltd., a subsidiary of Newmont Mining Corp., has completed additional geologic mapping, geochemical sampling and an expanded induced polarization (IP) survey.

The Newmont exploration team has made substantial progress in the 2008 program, including movement toward gaining exploration permits for a larger drilling program on Rare Element's Wyoming property.

Using a combination of the new geological, geochemical and geophysical data, the exploration targets have been enhanced and better defined.

Exploration data are being compiled, and detailed plans are being formulated for the 2009 exploration program.

Newmont manages the gold exploration for the Sundance project. Exploration work for 2008 was designed to build on the successful 2006-2007 exploration programs and to establish a more detailed understanding of the project area geologic setting.

Twenty-six drill holes had been completed by Newmont on joint-venture ground in 2006-2007, and permitting and the environmental assessment have progressed smoothly, such that the plan of operation, allowing an expanded drilling program on up to 200 acres of disturbance, is expected to be approved in late 2008 or early 2009.

Interpretation of the mapping, sampling, drilling and geophysical survey results to date has prompted an increasing focus on major structural zones through the Taylor target and through the Carbon target, as well as the gold target in the East Taylor bowl, which may be a major centre for igneous and hydrothermal activity.

The East Taylor bowl is a topographic low centrally located between the surrounding Taylor target, the Carbon target and the Bull Hill rare-earth-element target.

A renewed emphasis on finding high-grade gold mineralization within the Sundance property prompted a review of historical drill holes having better grade mineralization. This type of gold mineralization provides the basis for a comparison of potential deeper high-grade veins at Sundance with those of the Cripple Creek system, which had produced nearly 20 million ounces of gold from deep high-grade veins.

High-grade gold samples have been found at the Sundance project both in surface rocks and in drill holes with the following historical drill holes, intercepts and assay results being representative of this type of mineralization*:

• Drill hole S-33: 15 feet at 7.97 grams per tonne gold (0.233 ounce per ton)*;
• Drill hole S-35: five feet at 33.94 grams per tonne gold (0.991 ounce per ton);
• Drill hole S-60: five feet at 10.32 grams per tonne gold (0.301 ounce per ton);
• Drill hole S-81: 20 feet at 5.78 grams per tonne gold (0.169 ounce per ton);
• Drill hole S-84: 10 feet at 4.79 grams per tonne gold (0.140 ounce per ton);
• Drill hole SU 96-4: 15 feet at 4.69 grams per tonne gold (0.137 ounce per ton).

(*) The drill results above are historical and were prepared before the introduction of National Instrument 43-101 -- Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. They may not be relied upon until they are confirmed using methods and standards that comply with those required by National Instrument 43-101. Neither the company nor its employees treat these data as adequate to help define a current mineral resource as defined under National Instrument 43-101, nor do they rely upon them for evaluation purposes; however, these data are used to guide exploration as the Sundance venture develops information to support a current mineral resource estimate in accordance with the requirements of National Instrument 43-101.

Dr. Donald E. Ranta, PhD, PGeo, serves the board of directors of the company as an internal, technically qualified person. Technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Dr. Ranta and has been prepared in accordance with Canadian regulatory requirements that are set out in National Instrument 43-101.

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