EMC Appoints John Thompson to Lead Development of Nyngan Scandium Project, Australia

TSX: EMC

www.emcmetals.com

VANCOUVER, March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - EMC Metals Corp. (the "Company" or "EMC") (TSX: EMC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. John Thompson as Vice President of Project Development for EMC in Australia. Mr. Thompson brings to EMC the necessary depth and experience to guide the continued development and construction of the Nyngan Scandium Project in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, as that project moves towards the final feasibility stage.

Mr. Thompson's mining career spans 41 years in senior management roles with Utah Development Company, BHP (now BHPBilliton), Newcrest Mining, and QGX, managing and developing mineral projects in Australia, New Zealand, Mongolia and the United States. Mr. Thompson was responsible for the overall development of Newcrest Mining's Cadia Hill mine, in NSW, which included reserve definition, management of engineering teams that designed both the mine and processing plant facilities, the final feasibility study, and the environmental impact statement (EIS) on the project. More recently, as VP Project Development for QGX, Mr. Thompson delivered the Preliminary Assessment Report, Pre-Feasibility Study, and EIS on the Baruun Naran coking/thermal coal project in the South Gobi, Mongolia. John has held numerous other leadership roles in the mining industry, including four Mine/General Manger roles in coking coal, gold, and titanium/iron sands operations and a General Manager position at Newcrest overseeing 5 operating gold businesses in Australia.

John has a BS degree in Mining and Petroleum Engineering from the University of Queensland, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, and is a Qualified Person (QP) for NI 43-101 purposes.

Mr. George Putnam, CEO of EMC commented:

"We are very pleased to have John join our team to manage EMC's efforts to develop the Nyngan Scandium project, in Australia. His successful management of the development of the Cadia Hill gold mine for Newcrest will prove particularly useful and relevant to this assignment, as the location, environmental conditions and project stage are very similar to Nyngan. John has extensive experience with professional engineering firms as well as outsourcing consulting and design services which will be directly applicable as well. John will be located in Australia, where he will be well placed to coordinate the feasibility study, governmental permitting and environmental work on our project, scheduled for completion in Q1 2012."

About EMC Metals

EMC Metals is focused on application of its in-house and patented mineral recovery technologies to deliver value in specialty metal and rare earth projects. EMC's high priority development opportunity is the Nyngan Scandium Joint Venture with Jervois Mining Limited of Melbourne, Australia. The Nyngan Scandium Project has a National Instrument ("NI") 43-101 measured and indicated resource estimate of 12 million tonnes, grading 261ppm Sc, based on a cut-off grade of 100ppm Sc ("NI 43-101 Technical Report on Nyngan Scandium, Jervois Mining Limited, Nyngan, New South Wales, Australia", March 25, 2010). In July 2010, EMC released highlights of an independent engineering study prepared by Roberts & Schaefer Co. (now owned by KBR), estimating capital costs for a processing facility of US$56M, and estimating unit processing costs under US$300/kg for Sc(2)O(3). The Company is currently doing metallurgical test work on the Nyngan resource material, to define and refine flow sheet studies, recovery estimates and capital cost estimates for the project.

EMC also holds two tungsten assets; the Springer Tungsten property in Nevada, USA and the Fostung Tungsten project in Ontario, Canada. Both tungsten assets have NI 43-101 compliant resource estimates, and the full reports are available on the Company website and on SEDAR. The Springer tungsten asset is a fully permitted, established underground mine and milling facility with a 1,200tpd throughput capability to produce a high grade scheelite (WO(3)) concentrate product. The Springer mine and mill are not currently in operation, although recent tungsten price increases have made the asset both economic and attractive to restart. The Company also holds the Carlin Vanadium property, near Carlin, Nevada, with a recently released NI 43-101 inferred resource estimate of 25.4 million tonnes, grading 0.5% V(2)O5, based on a cut-off grade of 0.30%, or 289 million lbs of total contained V(2)O5 ("NI 43-101 Technical Report on Resources, EMC Metals Corp., Carlin Vanadium Project, Carlin, Nevada", April 30, 2010).

Technical information in this news release has been reviewed by Gilles R. Dessureau, M.Sc. P.Geo a Qualified Person for the purposes of NI 43-101. Mr Dessureau is a Professional Geologist employed by EMC Metals.

No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. This press release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. There are numerous risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and EMC's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and are expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice. Except as required by law, EMC assumes no obligation to update forward-looking information should circumstances or management's estimates or opinions change.

SOURCE EMC Metals Corp.