VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Feb 18, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) — PUGET VENTURES INC. (CA:PVS 0.21, 0.00, 0.00%) announced today that it has completed an agreement with Benton Resources Corp. (CA:BTC 0.57, -0.02, -3.39%)  (“Benton”) to purchase an undivided 100% interest in eight claims in the Rex Lake area which form part of the Company’s flagship Werner Lake cobalt Project, in North Western Ontario. Puget previously held an option to earn a 60% interest in the Rex Lake claims.

The Rex Lake claims host a known zone of copper-silver mineralization which has returned drill intercepts of 23.9m (metres) grading 1.02% Cu and 15.1gpt (gram per tonne) combined precious metal (interpreted as silver by Eastern Smelting and Mining, 1956) and 1.17% Cu and 9.5gpt Ag over 29.5m (Falconbridge, 1980) in historic shallow drilling. More recent drilling and surface work has indicated the presence of ultramafic-hosted Copper-Nickel mineralization on the property over widths in excess of 20 metres.

Puget will complete the purchase of a 100% interest in the Rex Lake claims by making a single $30,000 cash payment to Benton and issuing to Benton 1.55 million shares of Puget within 5 days of TSXV approval of the transaction. A 1% NSR will also be reserved to Benton on the Rex Lake claims and on any claims subsequently acquired by Puget within a 2.0 kilometre area of influence of the Rex Lake claims.

Puget is currently conducting a 4000 metre diamond drill program targeting extensions to its 100% owned Werner Lake historic cobalt deposit With today’s acquisition Puget now has 100% ownership of all lands in a 60 kilometre length of the Werner Lake Greenstone Belt, save the tailings from the former Gordon Lake Mine. The Belt, which hosts six known zones of Cobalt-Copper, Nickel-Copper and Cobalt mineralization and includes two past producing mines.

The Qualified Person for this release is Toby Hughes, P.Geo, P.Geo.

About Puget Ventures Inc. (www.pugetventures.com)

Puget Ventures Inc. is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange. Puget controls 100% of its lands in the Werner Lake Mineral Belt in Northwestern Ontario which includes, including the advanced stage Werner West Cobalt deposit formerly one of Canada’s only primary cobalt producers. Puget is also currently exploring the Trout Bay copper-zinc property in Red Lake, Ontario.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information: The statements made in this News Release may contain certain forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ from the Company’s expectations. Certain risk factors may also affect the actual results achieved by the Company.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of any offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The shares offered will not be and have not been registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”) and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

High-performance magnet producers in the US are calling on the government to unite federal agencies in tackling a perceived looming rare earth metals “supply crisis”.

This follows the decision by Arnold Magnetics to sell one of its Chinese businesses to invest in rare earth production in a venture with Chevron oil offshoot, Molycorp Minerals, in the US. Arnold also plans to increase magnet production in Europe (Metal Powder Report, February 2010).

….read more HERE