TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - May 20, 2014) - Inspiration Mining Corporation (the "Corporation") (ISM.TO)(OI8.F) would like to provide an update as to its current operations at its Langmuir property.

The Corporation continues to move towards converting its claims in to a lease and is in the final phase of such process. Once the claims have been converted into leases, the claims will be treated as real estate wholly owned by the Corporation and will no longer be subject to any payments to the Government of Ontario.

In addition, the Corporation intends to begin the process of dewatering the existing ramp to the Langmuir No. 1 mine. The Langmuir No. 1 mine was actively producing until such time that it was closed in 1992 as a result of Timmins Nickel filing for bankruptcy. Prior to its closure, the Langmuir No. 1 mine produced in excess of 100,000 tonnes, grading over 2.2% nickel.

About Langmuir Property

The Langmuir Property consists of a number of generally continuous claim groups covering well over 11 square kms. The extensive nickel mineralization identified to date occurs at various zones, separated by in distances and in depth. To date the Corporation has completed approximately 90,000 meters of drilling.

Although additional zones of nickel mineralization of significance have been identified, the Corporation's exploration activities were focused on preparing its National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects compliant resource estimate report for the Langmuir North Deposit and the Langmuir No. 1 Deposit. (the "Micon Report") prepared by Micon International Limited ("Micon") in 2010. A copy of the Micon Report can be viewed under the Corporation's profile on the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com).

Based on the drilling completed at the time, the Micon Report identified two separate measured and indicated resource deposits:

The Langmuir North deposit lies in the extreme north-eastern area of what is referred to as the Langmuir Claims. An aggregate of 34,000 metres of drilling was completed in 170 drill holes at the Langmuir North location to a depth of 340 metres from surface. As the mineralization was still open at that depth, only the mineralization to that depth was considered in the technical reports published to this time. Notwithstanding that, the Micon Report notes that the full resource of the Langmuir North strike is not yet fully determined.

In the Micon Report, Micon concluded that, "On the basis of the exploration work completed to-date, Micon agrees with Inspiration's opinion that potential remains to locate additional nickel mineralization similar to that which has been outlined at the Langmuir North and Langmuir No. 1 deposits. Micon believes that the potential exists on the property to locate an additional 20-40 million tonnes of nickelbearing material at similar grades to those found at the Langmuir North and Langmuir No. 1 deposits. As well, Micon agrees that potential remains to locate additional concentrations of nickel mineralization similar to that which has been exploited at the Langmuir No. 1 mine at depth. It is to be stressed that the potential quantity and grade is conceptual in nature, that there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource of said tonnage and grade, and that it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource."

The Langmuir No. 2 deposit lies generally to the northeast of the existing but presently dormant Langmuir No. 1 mine (which is a distinctly different deposit than, and should not be confused with, the Langmuir No. 1 mine.)

The following is a general map of the Langmuir Claims, showing the approximate location of the Langmuir North and the Langmuir No. 1 deposits:

To view the map associated with this release, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/Langmuir%20map.pdf.

To delineate the higher grade deposit of the Langmuir No. 1 mine itself, the Corporation intends to undertake a two phase exploration process. The first phase will include the dewatering and, to the extent necessary, repair of the existing ramp which extends into the ore body of the mine with a view of extracting bulk samples of up to 60,000 tonnes. Under applicable law, bulk sampled ore can be milled and sold by the Corporation as part of its exploration and does not require the permitting otherwise necessitated in the mining phase. The Corporation currently has a tentative arrangement with the owners of the mill and flotation circuit located within a few kilometres of the Langmuir No. 1 mine.

Once the dewatering process is completed, the Corporation will also be able to commence underground drilling to target what it believes to be higher grade nickel deposits.

Mr. Randy Miller, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation, stated, "The Corporation continues to advance the Langmuir property with a view of better defining the deposits and exploring the additional exploration targets that can significantly increase the size of the mineralization on the property. The Corporation is committed to the further exploration of the property in order to fully explore and develop the full potential of the property to become a viable source for nickel in the future."

The Nickel Market

Over recent months, the price of nickel has steadily increased, recently reaching over $9.00 US per pound. That upward trend is the result of a number of factors. The most immediate cause has been Indonesia's ban on the export of unprocessed ore. As Indonesia is the world's largest nickel producer, producing roughly 25% of the world's supply of nickel, the impact of its ban has been dramatic. As reference, the impact of Indonesia's ban is similar to the effects if the Middle-Eastern countries (such as Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, etc.) collectively banned the export of their oil production at the same time.

In addition to Indonesia's ban, the price of nickel has also been impacted by the recent sanctions imposed by various countries on Russia, which is the world's second largest nickel producer, due to its actions in and surrounding the Crimea. The various sanctions have impacted Russia's ability to export nickel.

As a result of the Indonesia ban and the sanctions imposed on Russia, countries are now stocking nickel and searching for alternative sources of nickel which has resulted in the upwards trend on nickel prices. As there is no foreseeable end to the Indonesian ban or the sanctions imposed on Russia, the Corporation is confident that the nickel prices will experience a long term of price stabilization similar to 2011.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release

Forward Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "anticipated", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Inspiration is subject to significant risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements contained in this release. Inspiration cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward looking statements and Inspiration assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward looking statements contained in this release to reflect actual events or new circumstances.