New Balboa Discovery on Inmet's Cobre Panama Project Highlights Significant Exploration Upside for Higher Grades
TORONTO, CANADA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/08/11 -- Inmet Mining Corporation ('Inmet') (TSX: IMN) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Minera Panama S.A. (MPSA) has discovered a significant new higher grade mineralized zone, the Balboa deposit, on its Cobre Panama Project, located in central Panama.
Late in 2010, the focus of drilling on the project shifted from geotechnical and infill drilling to pure exploration. One of the first targets tested has resulted in the discovery of the Balboa deposit located 1,500 metres west of the currently known deposits. Since November, a total of 10 holes on approximate 200 metre centers have been drilled to explore the zone. Assay results have been received for seven holes and confirm the discovery of continuous quartz stockwork-hosted porphyry copper mineralization over an area of at least 750 by 600 metres. The zone is open to the west and north. Three of the drill holes have intersected sheeted quartz-bornite-chalcopyrite veins returning higher copper and gold grades than those encountered previously on the Cobre Panama property in over 40 years of exploration drilling.
The best intercept to date, hole CC-10-112, returned 1.24 % Cu, and 0.52 g/t Au over 101.4 metres from quartz-chalcopyrite stockworks. The zone occurred within a wider interval grading 0.58 % Cu, and 0.22 g/t Au over 382.9 metres. This hole is located 340 metres north of hole CC-10-111 which intersected a wide zone of sheeted quartz-bornite veins that assayed 0.92% Cu, and 0.4 g/t Au over 112.7 metres. (see list below for all intersections on Balboa received to date).
Jochen Tilk, President and CEO of Inmet commented, 'The Balboa discovery underlines our belief that Cobre Panama is an asset with exceptional exploration upside. We are excited about seeing that the potential for much higher grades are possible on the property. We will continue to explore Balboa and the numerous other untested targets on the property.'
The Balboa deposit was discovered while testing an area of low resistivity outlined during a recent geophysical survey. The zone is located 1,500 metres southwest of the Colina deposit but the geophysics indicates that it may be connected to the western extent of Colina which remains untested. A substantial tonnage could be present between the two deposits. The Balboa mineralization starts near surface and this implies that it could be mined with a low strip ratio but at generally higher copper and gold grades than the current mineral resources. The substantial resources and reserves defined on Cobre Panama already provide the potential to extend mine life or expand production capacity. Drilling on the discovery continues with two machines while work is underway to add more drill rigs over the coming months.
Table 1: Drillhole Collar Co-ordinates - Balboa Zone
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Hole Easting Northing Elevation Length (m) Dip Azimuth
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CC-10-106 532067 975658 194 494 -90 0
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CC-10-111 532173 975944 188 479 -90 0
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CC-10-112 532066 976277 142 536 -90 0
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CC-10-113 532493 976168 182 364 -90 0
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CC-10-114 532267 976133 178 503 -90 0
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CC-10-115 532365 975992 221 416 -90 0
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CC-11-001 532299 975762 208 413 -90 0
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CC-11-002 531867 976064 151 625 -90 0
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CC-11-003 531974 976501 119 626 -90 0
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CC-11-004 531858 976351 145 666 -90 0
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Table 2: Assay results - Balboa Zone (greater than 0.15 Cu cutoff)
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Interval
BHID From To (m) Cu % Mo ppm Au g/t
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CC10-106 84.2 292.7 208.5 0.28 22 0.04
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CC10-111 140.0 417.2 277.2 0.55 27 0.19
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CC10-112 75.1 458.0 382.9 0.58 9 0.22
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CC10-113 17.8 48.5 30.7 0.24 17 0.04
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CC10-114 22.3 450.6 428.3 0.39 24 0.15
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CC10-115 39.0 355.9 316.9 0.39 14 0.11
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CC11-001 14.0 103.8 89.8 0.30 19 0.03
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CC11-002 Assays
pending
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CC11-003 Assays
pending
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CC11-004 Assays
pending
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Weighted Average Grades 0.44 19 0.14
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Note: Intervals are core lengths
Table 3: Assay Results - Balboa Zone - High Grade Zones (greater than 0.5% Cu cutoff)
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Interval
BHID From To (m) Cu % Mo ppm Au g/t
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CC-10-106 361.2 367.6 6.4 2.94 2 2.06
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CC-10-111 170.3 283.0 112.7 0.92 5 0.40
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CC-10-112 337.9 439.3 101.4 1.24 11 0.52
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CC-10-114 162.0 225.5 63.5 1.00 2 0.67
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CC-10-115 110.6 146.6 36.0 0.85 1 0.26
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Weighted Average Grades 1.07 6 0.51
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Note: With the exception of hole CC-10-106 all of these high grade
intercepts are included within the broader intervals reported in
Table 2
Note: Intervals are core lengths
To view Figure 1: Plan Map and Figure 2: NW - SE Section, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/imnfig1and2.pdf.
Analyses
Drillcore samples from the Balboa zone were assayed at ALS Chemex Laboratories in Lima, Peru (ISO 9001:2000 Certified). Sample preparation is done at site. Duplicate and standard samples are inserted into the sample stream to provide quality control. Copper assays are by AAS after a four-acid digestion (HF-HNO3-HClO4-HCL). Gold analyses are by fire assay and AAS analysis on a 30 gram sample. Silver and molybdenum are included as part of a multi-element ICP-AES scan. Total sulphur is analyzed using a LECO induction furnace. Near-surface samples are analyzed for sequential copper to estimate the amount of leachable copper. Sulphuric, cyanide, and citric-acid soluble copper and residual copper values are reported for each sample.
Mr Colin Burge, P.Geo., Inmet Senior Geologist and on-site technical manager for MPSA and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the drill program and QA/QC procedures, reviewed and verified the information and is responsible for the technical content of this press release.
Core from the Balboa Discovery will be on display at the 2011 PDAC Core Shack (Minera Panama S.A.) on Tuesday, March 8, and Wednesday, March 9. The Core Shack will be held on Level 700, South Building of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Inmet invites all shareholders to visit the Core Shack and meet the Company's exploration team responsible for the discovery.
About Cobre Panama
The Cobre Panama project hosts measured and indicated mineral resources of 3.27 billion tonnes grading 0.36 percent copper, 0.06 grams per tonne gold and 0.007 percent molybdenum. These mineral resources include proven and probable mineral reserves of 2.14 billion tonnes grading 0.41 percent copper 0.07 grams per tonne of gold and 0.008 percent molybdenum. Mineral resources are quoted at a cut-off grade of 0.15 percent copper. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
We would expect Cobre Panama to produce 289,000 tonnes of copper and 108,000 ounces of gold per year (open pit) during the first 16 years of a 30 year mine life. Project details including estimated capital and operating costs may be found in the 2010 Cobre Panama Front End Engineering and Design Study Executive Summary, the March 31, 2010 Mina de Cobre Panama National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report and the project Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Executive Summary available at www.inmetmining.com.
Mineral resources were estimated by Robert Sim, P. Geo., of SIM Geological Inc. and Bruce Davis, Ph.D., Fellow of the AusIMM (FAusIMM), BD Resource Consulting Inc., both qualified persons under National Instrument 43-101.
Mineral reserves were estimated by William Rose, P.E., of WLR Consulting, Inc., a qualified person under National Instrument 43-101.
Mineral reserve estimates by classification
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million Cu Au Ag Mo
tonnes (%) (grams/tonne) (grams/tonne) (%)
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Proven 245 0.59 0.14 1.61 0.010
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Probable 1,897 0.39 0.06 1.41 0.007
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Proven and probable 2,143 0.41 0.07 1.43 0.008
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These are based on the following assumptions:
Metal prices Mining costs
Copper (Cu): US $2.00 per pound US $1.33 per tonne of material mined
Gold (Au): US $750 per ounce Milling and general and
Silver (Ag): US $12.50 per ounce administration costs combined
Molybdenum (Mo): US $12.00 per pound US $5.37 per tonne of ore milled
Mineral resource estimates by classification
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million Cu Au Ag Mo
tonnes (%) (grams/tonne) (grams/tonne) (%)
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Measured 261 0.56 0.13 1.5 0.009
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Indicated 3,010 0.34 0.06 1.2 0.006
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Measured and indicated 3,271 0.36 0.06 1.3 0.007
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Inferred 3,194 0.24 0.04 1.0 0.005
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Mineral resources include mineral reserves. Grades are estimated using
ordinary kriging with a nominal block size of 25 metres by 25 metres by 15
metres. Resources are limited inside a pit shell defined by a copper price
of US $2.30 per pound, the same operating costs used for reserves, and are
tabulated at a cut-off grade of 0.15 percent copper. Mineral resources that
are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. (from
NI 43-101 Report - May 3rd, 2010)
About Inmet
Inmet is a Canadian-based global mining company that produces copper, zinc and gold. We have interests in three mining operations: Cayeli (Turkey), Las Cruces (Spain) and Pyhasalmi (Finland). We also have a 100 percent interest in Cobre Panama, a development project in Panama.
This press release is also available at www.inmetmining.com.
Contacts:
Inmet Mining Corporation
Flora Wood
Director, Investor Relations
1 416 361 4808
Inmet Mining Corporation
Frank Balint
VP Corporate Development
1 416 860 3978
www.inmetmining.com