International Minerals Reports Drill Results From Converse Project, Nevada, Including Gold Intercepts of 475m at 0.8 g/t and 145m at 1.1 g/t
SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (Marketwire) -- 07/05/11 -- International Minerals Corporation (TSX: IMZ) (SWISS: IMZ) reports drill results from its 100%-owned Converse gold project in northern Nevada, where IMZ anticipates completing a scoping study (Preliminary Economic Assessment) to evaluate the viability of a heap leach processing scenario by year-end 2011.
Highlights from IMZ's current core drill program include 475 meters ('m') at 0.8 grams per tonne ('g/t') and 145m at 1.1 g/t in drill hole CONV-003C. These drill intercepts indicate that higher-grade gold mineralization continues at depth below the previously-known mineralization identified in drilling campaigns carried out by other companies prior to IMZ's acquisition of Converse in February 2010.
Appendix 1: Drill Hole Location Map for Converse Property
Current Mineral Resources:
The Converse gold project, which is located in the prolific Battle Mountain/Cortez mineralized trend, is a skarn-type deposit and contains the following current independent mineral resource estimate at a cut-off of grade 0.27 g/t gold:
- 3.94 million ounces of gold in the Measured and Indicated resource categories, contained in 239 million tonnes at a grade of 0.51 g/t gold, comprised of:
- 3.44 million ounces in the Measured resource category, contained in 205 million tonnes at a grade of 0.52 g/t gold.
- 0.49 million ounces in the Indicated resource category, contained in 34 million tonnes at a grade of 0.46 g/t gold.
- 3.44 million ounces in the Measured resource category, contained in 205 million tonnes at a grade of 0.52 g/t gold.
- In addition there are 500,000 ounces in the Inferred resource category, contained in 32 million tonnes at a grade of 0.49 g/t gold.
Note: The mineral resource estimate has an effective date of October 26th, 2004 and was estimated and classified by Michael W. Kociumbas of Watts, Griffis and McOuat.
Current Drilling Program:
The total number of drill holes at the Converse project now totals 314 (312 by previous property owners and the two drill holes reported in this release) for a total of 63,713 m.
Drilling prior to IMZ's acquisition of the property generally reached depths of between 200m and 350m vertically (only one previous drill hole reached 450m). Many of the drill holes at the Converse deposit ended in mineralization and drill hole CONV-003C shows that mineralization does continue at depth. Additional drilling will be required to quantify the overall extent and tenor of this deeper mineralization.
IMZ's current drill program comprises five vertical core drill holes (totaling approximately 2,750m) and is designed to test the deposit at depth and to supply material for metallurgical testing for inclusion in the scoping study. The first two drill holes have been completed (with results reported in this release) and the remaining three core holes (each to approximately 550m) will be completed during the summer.
Significant assay results for the two core holes (totaling 1,097m) are shown in the Table below and drill hole locations are shown on the plan map in Appendix 1.
Converse Gold Project - Significant Drill Intervals (uncut average grades)
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Drill Hole Total Intersection
Number Depth (m) From-To (m) Intercept(m) Gold (g/t)
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CONV-001C 549 119-175 56 0.46
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includes 163-175 12 0.75
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186-206 20 0.71
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267-294 27 0.66
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CONV-003C 548 73-548 475 0.78
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73-99 26 0.57
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181-201 20 1.38
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227-372 145 1.05
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includes 267-370 104 1.30
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includes 329-355 26 1.73
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384-436 52 0.87
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447-548 101 1.00
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includes 507-536 29 1.27
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Notes:
1. Due to the complex and irregular shape of the mineralized zones at Converse, true widths of the mineralized intercepts cannot be determined at this time.
2. Drill hole CONV-003C - interval from 73m to 548m includes significant intervals of internal dilution.
3. Drill hole CONV-002C is currently being drilled and no results are available to date.
Selected rock sample composites have been sent to McClelland's Laboratory in Reno, Nevada for column testing intended to confirm the amenability of the Converse mineralization to gold recovery by heap leaching. Initial results from the metallurgical program are expected in the fall (Q3 2011) and will be included in a scoping study (Preliminary Economic Assessment) expected to be published in the fourth quarter of 2011.
About International Minerals
International Minerals is a silver-gold producer, explorer and developer with silver-gold production from its 40%-owned Pallancata Mine in Peru, the fifth largest primary silver mine in the world. Production at Pallancata in calendar year 2010 was approximately 10.1 million ounces of silver and 36,000 ounces of gold (on a 100% project basis).
In addition to the Pallancata Mine, IMZ also owns a 40% interest in the Inmaculada gold-silver project in Peru and majority or 100% ownership interests in development stage gold projects in Nevada (Goldfield and Converse) and Ecuador (Rio Blanco and Gaby).
IMZ also receives a 3% net smelter return royalty from Barrick Gold's Ruby Hill gold mine in Nevada, which produced approximately 80,000 gold ounces in 2010.
IMZ is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (since 1994) and the Swiss Stock Exchange (since 2002).
General
Sample preparation and analytical work for the Converse drilling program were carried out by ALS Minerals in Reno, Nevada, an ISO 9001:2008 certified laboratory which employs industry-standard analytical methods. As part of IMZ's QA/QC protocol, standard samples and blanks were inserted into the sample processing stream at a rate of one per 10 samples. Duplicate and alternate laboratory check samples also form part of this sampling protocol. The technical disclosure including drill results in this news release has been reviewed by IMZ's Qualified Person, Exploration Manager, Mark Cannuli.
To acess this news release from IMZ's website, please click this link:
http://www.intlminerals.com/newsreleases.php.
Cautionary Statement:
Some of the statements contained in this release are 'forward-looking statements' within the meaning of Canadian securities law requirements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding mineral resource estimates and planned preliminary economic assessment studies. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties such as: risks of estimating mineral resources, risks of timely completion of preliminary economic assessment and other technical studies and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's Renewal Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2010, which is available at www.sedar.com under the Company's name. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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