VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 22, 2011) - Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman and CEO of Ivanhoe Mines (News - Market indicator)(NYSE:IVN)(NASDAQ:IVN) and Chairman of Altynalmas Gold, and David Woodall, President and CEO of Altynalmas Gold, today announced a 50% increase in Indicated Mineral Resources as part of an update of the NI 43-101 Mineral Resources for the Bakyrchik Deposit, which is part of the company's Kyzyl Gold Project in northeastern Kazakhstan. Ivanhoe Mines owns 50% of Altynalmas Gold.

Based on drilling results available to December 1, 2010, internationally recognized minerals industry consulting firm Roscoe Postle Associates Inc. (RPA) now estimates that the deposit contains 22.16 million tonnes of Indicated Mineral Resources grading 8.72 grams/tonne (g/t) gold, containing 6.2 million ounces of gold, and an additional 9.67 million tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources grading 7.43 g/t gold, containing 2.3 million ounces (Table 1). The reported Mineral Resources include Mineral Reserves previously disclosed on June 30, 2010.

Notes:

1. CIM Definition Standards have been followed for classification of Mineral Resources.
2. Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off of 3.0 grams per tonne gold.
3. Mineral Resources were estimated using an average long-term gold price of US$1,000 per ounce and an assumed recovery of 87%.
4. The Mineral Resource estimate uses drill hole data available as of December 1, 2010.
5. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
6. Totals may not add correctly due to rounding.

Altynalmas is continuing its drilling program designed to expand and upgrade the NI 43-101-compliant resources and reserves at the Kyzyl Project. A total of 78,020 metres were drilled during 2010 and an updated Mineral Resource estimate based on all 2010 drilling is expected in March 2011. An additional 25,000 metres are planned to be completed during 2011 on the recently enlarged Bakyrchik Mining Lease and a further 50,000 metres are planned to begin the delineation of the satellite deposits on the surrounding exploration licence.

Recently assayed significant drill intercepts of high-grade gold mineralization, which approximate true widths, included:

• 11 metres at 15.43 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 11 metres at 12.06 g/t gold in Lens 12; and,
• 18 metres at 6.15 g/t gold and 11 metres at 8.17 g/t gold in Lens 9.

A complete summary of recent drill results is included in accompanying tables.

Kyzyl Gold Project feasibility study proceeding on schedule

The Kyzyl Gold Project contains the Bakyrchik and Bolshevik gold deposits, as well as a number of satellite deposits.

A pre-feasibility study for the Kyzyl Project was completed in August 2010. The Bakyrchik Deposit's definitive feasibility study, which began in September 2010, is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2011.

"The increase in the Bakyrchik Mineral Resource base, particularly the 50% increase in Indicated Mineral Resources, bodes well for the estimation of Reserves in the upcoming feasibility study," Mr. Woodall said. 

"The expected improvement in the economics of the Kyzyl Gold Project, combined with the continuation of the very encouraging drilling results, should provide the basis for the commencement of construction in 2011 of a 1.5-million-tonne per year fluidized-bed roasting plant to process the project's refractory ores."

The gold deposits at the Kyzyl Gold Project consist of a series of mineralized lenses, or lodes, lying within a large shear zone. Gold mineralization is hosted within sheared carbonaceous sediments of the fault zones and principally is contained within sulphide mineralization occurring in association with quartz stockworks, which crosscut and parallel the foliation of the sediments.

Update on estimation of Bakyrchik Deposit's Mineral Resources

The Mineral Resources at the Bakyrchik Deposit are hosted in seven mineralized lenses located along the Kyzyl shear zone. Collectively, the lenses measure 2,400 metres along strike by 1,700 metres down dip, extending from surface to a depth of 1,000 metres. The reported Mineral Resources by lens at varying cut-off grades, as shown in Table 2, are inclusive of Mineral Reserves previously disclosed on June 30, 2010.

The Bakyrchik digital drill-hole database includes 2,372 historic holes totalling 658,954 metres of core plus 156 recent holes drilled by Altynalmas, totalling 62,591 metres of core. Both data sets were verified and validated by RPA and are acceptable to estimate Mineral Resources.

A set of cross-sections and plan views were interpreted to construct three-dimensional wireframe models of the mineralized lenses using the descriptive logs, a minimum grade of 3.0 g/t gold and a minimum thickness of 1.5 metres. More than 73% of the intersections have a true thickness of four metres or greater. Prior to compositing to two-metre lengths, high grades were cut to 35 g/t gold. Gold grade was estimated using ordinary kriging. Block size is five metres by five metres by five metres. Bulk density is 2.7 t/m³. Classification into the Indicated and Inferred categories was completed manually for each lens based on drill-hole spacing, gold grade continuity and geometric continuity.

Notes:

1. CIM Definition Standards have been followed for classification of Mineral Resources.
2. Mineral Resources are reported at a cut-off of 3.0 grams per tonne gold.
3. Mineral Resources were estimated using an average long-term gold price of US$1,000 per ounce and an assumed recovery of 87%.
4. The Mineral Resource estimate uses drill hole data available as of December 1, 2010.
5. Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
6. Totals may not add correctly due to rounding.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control – Altynalmas Drilling

Exploration core was drilled HQ size (63.5-mm-diameter core) using western drill strings. Triple tube HQ3 (61.1-mm-diameter core) was used within, and on the shoulders, of the mineralized zone. Assaying of most samples was completed at ALS Minerals, an independent ISO-credited laboratory in Vancouver, Canada, using fire assay fusion, followed by a gravimetric analysis procedure. A total of 205 samples located within the lens wireframe models were assayed at the mine laboratory using a fire assay method. These samples are from the more recent drilling and represent less than 2% of the total number of assays within mineralized wireframe models.

Quality assurance and quality control is independently monitored and audited by RPA with a quality-control program, which includes the use of matrix matched assay standard reference samples, blanks, duplicates, repeats and internal ALS Minerals quality-assurance procedures.

Qualified Person – Resource

The Mineral Resources for the Bakyrchik Deposit disclosed in this news release have been estimated by David Ross, P.Geo., an employee of RPA and independent of Ivanhoe Mines. Mr. Ross is a "Qualified Person" for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101. The Mineral Resources have been classified in accordance with CIM Definition Standards for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves, (December 2005). Mr. Ross has read and approved the contents of this news release as it pertains to the disclosed mineral resource estimate.

New Altynalmas drilling results continue to correlate well with Soviet-era results

The assay results from resource-upgrade drilling of Bakyrchik Deposit lenses 12, 9 and 1 are listed below in Tables 3, 4 and 5 respectively and also are shown on accompanying illustrations. Intersection widths in recent drilling on lenses 12 and 9 correlate well with the results of the earlier, Soviet-era drilling results. Drilling also produced some significantly higher grades, particularly in Lens 12. Recent drilling in the main Lens 1 area was focused on the periphery of the lens; as such, the widths and grades are lower than those previously released.

Initial exploration drilling results from the Globoki Log area, located on the Mining Lease immediately east of the main Bakyrchik Deposit, are presented in Table 4.

Notes:

1. Intersection assays are a composite of one-metre assays calculated from interval-weighted assays over the intersection length using a 2.0 g/t gold cut-off.
2. The included intervals are significantly higher in tenor and exceed 15.0 g/t gold within the 2.0 g/t gold cut-off intervals.
3. No high assay values have been cut.
4. Interval widths generally are equivalent to true widths.
5. The following recently assayed holes did not intersect significant mineralization:

Qualified Person – Disclosure

Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature in this release have been reviewed by David Woodall, Chief Executive Officer of Altynalmas Gold Ltd. and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines (News - Market indicator)(NYSE:IVN)(NASDAQ:IVN) is an international mining company with operations focused in the Asia Pacific region. Assets include the company's 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine development project in southern Mongolia; its 57% interest in Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources (TSX:SGQ)(HK:1878); a 62% interest in Ivanhoe Australia (ASX:IVA)(TSX:IVA), a copper-gold-uranium-molybdenum-rhenium exploration and development company; and a 50% interest in Altynalmas Gold Ltd., a private company developing the Kyzyl Gold Project in Kazakhstan.

Ivanhoe Mines' shares are listed on the New York, NASDAQ and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbol IVN.

Forward-looking statements

Certain statements made herein, including statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and statements of our beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking information and statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate," "could," "should," "expect," "seek," "may," "intend," "likely," "plan," "estimate," "will", "believe" and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. These include, but are not limited to, statements respecting Altynalmas Gold's planned exploration and development work; the planned drilling; and the timing for completion of the planned prefeasibility study.

All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Ivanhoe Mines' management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" elsewhere in the company's most recent MD&A. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.

This release contains references to estimates of mineral reserves and resources. The estimation of reserves and resources is inherently uncertain and involves subjective judgments about many relevant factors. The accuracy of any such estimates is a function of the quantity and quality of available data, and of the assumptions made and judgments used in engineering and geological interpretation, which may prove to be unreliable. There can be no assurance that these estimates will be accurate or that such mineral reserves and mineral resources can be mined or processed profitably. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.

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