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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -
May 17, 2010) - Imperial Metals Corporation (TSX:III) reports the
updated mineral reserve and mineral resource estimates for its wholly
owned Mount Polley open pit copper/gold mine located in central British
Columbia.
The Mount Polley reserve and resource estimate has been updated as of
January 1, 2010 and incorporates open pit mining from the Southeast,
C2, Pond, Boundary and Springer pits. Reserves are 40.5 million tonnes
of 0.318% copper, 0.282 g/t gold and 0.606 g/t silver. The current
reserve provides for a mine life to the fourth quarter of 2015 and
contains 284 million pounds of copper and 367 thousand ounces of gold.
The stripping ratio on the remaining reserve is now less than 2 to 1.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mount Polley Proven and Probable Reserves (1) March 2010 update based on January 1, 2010 topography -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade Contained Metal ---------------- ---------------------- Copper Gold Tonnes Copper Copper Gold Stripping (lbs) (oz) Ore Eq % g/t Ratio 000's 000's -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total 40,498,052 0.498 0.318 0.282 1.8 284,251.7 367.3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Released in 2009 Annual Information Form dated March 30, 2010.
In addition to the updated Mount Polley
reserve there are 167.7 million tonnes of mineral resources in the
measured and indicated category, and 3.66 million tonnes of mineral
resources in the inferred category. For three of the zones where
underground mining is being considered, a resource category including
only blocks with a mill head value (MHV) of over $40.00/tonne and
$80.00/tonne have been included. MHV is the total value of the
recovered metals in one tonne of mill feed, minus all costs excluding mining.
These costs include milling, concentrate transportation, smelting and
refining costs.
A 500 metre long ramp is currently being collared in the Wight pit. The
ramp will be used to further explore and access the 517,066 tonnes
grading 2.45% copper, 1.50 g/t gold and 14.00 g/t silver of measured
and indicated resource in Boundary/Zuke zone.
Resource values were identified by summing all blocks that fall outside
of the economic pit and having a block grade greater than 0.25 copper
equivalent. The copper equivalent was calculated using relative
recovery and metal price for copper, gold and silver. The resources
were classified as inferred, indicated and measured based on three
items: minimum number of drill holes used in the estimate; minimum
number of composites; and the maximum distance to the nearest
composite.
The parameters used in the updated Mount Polley resource are based on
revised pit designs and the current Mount Polley production schedule.
The current pit designs were based on US$2.75 copper, US$950.00 gold,
US$12.00 silver and $1.05 CDN/US exchange rate.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mount Polley: Resource by Zone Excluding Pit Reserves (i) (resource values based on 0.25 Copper Equivalent Cut-Off) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Grade Contained Metal ------------------ ------------------------ Cop- Cop- Sil- Copper Gold Silver Tonnes per per Gold ver (lbs) (oz) (oz) Zone Ore Eq % g/t g/t 000's 000's 000's -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boundary/Zuke -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 3,711,373 0.824 0.595 0.372 3.109 48,677.5 44.4 371.0 including MHV greater than $40.00/Tonne 517,066 3.363 2.450 1.500 13.993 27,929.5 24.9 232.6 including MHV greater than $80.00/Tonne 295,329 4.631 3.433 1.996 17.780 22,351.7 19.0 168.8 Inferred 20,728 0.496 0.365 0.213 1.453 166.9 0.1 1.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Northeast -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 20,819,548 0.708 0.566 0.210 3.972 259,985.3 140.7 2,658.6 including MHV greater than $40.00/ Tonne 3,063,499 1.425 1.156 0.392 8.476 78,091.4 38.6 834.8 including MHV greater than $80.00/Tonne 222,831 2.503 2.031 0.687 15.009 9,977.9 4.9 107.5 Inferred 2,296,482 0.433 0.341 0.142 1.873 17,269.3 10.5 138.3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Springer -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 79,640,594 0.491 0.303 0.297 0.347 531,834.4 759.7 888.8 Inferred 411,954 0.405 0.235 0.267 0.256 2,136.1 3.5 3.4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Junction -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 16,900,421 0.437 0.291 0.232 n/a 108,366.3 126.1 n/a Inferred 32,643 0.381 0.244 0.219 n/a 175.7 0.2 n/a -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bell -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 10,538,533 0.416 0.232 0.234 n/a 54,004.3 79.1 n/a Inferred 828,312 0.372 0.236 0.174 n/a 4,309.6 4.6 n/a -------------------------------------------------------------------------- C2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 13,135,522 0.418 0.214 0.326 n/a 61,884.6 137.6 n/a -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Southeast -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 19,475,055 0.431 0.164 0.417 1.080 70,311.2 260.9 676.4 Inferred 70,105 0.425 0.226 0.310 0.869 349.8 0.7 2.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pond -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indicated 3,449,455 0.673 0.476 0.287 5.423 36,200.8 31.8 601.4 including MHV greater than $40.00/Tonne 583,248 1.573 1.144 0.622 13.903 14,707.1 11.7 260.7 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total Resource -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Measured + Indic- ated 167,670,501 0.506 0.317 0.293 1,171,264.5 1,580.5 n/a including MHV greater than $40.00/ Tonne 4,163,813 1.686 1.315 .562 9.921 120,728.0 75.2 1328.2 including MHV greater than $80.00/ Tonne 518,160 3.716 2.830 1.433 16.588 32,329.6 23.9 276.3 Inferred 3,660,224 0.416 0.302 0.168 24,407.3 19.7 n/a -------------------------------------------------------------------------- n/a silver assay values not significant in this zone (i) Proven and Probable Reserves are not included in these resource values
The ore reserves and resources were
calculated and verified by Art Frye, Mine Operations Manager, Mount
Polley Mining Corporation, and Greg Gillstrom, P. Eng., Geological
Engineer, Imperial Metals Corporation, the designated Qualified Person
as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Gillstrom and Mr. Frye
have reviewed the contents of this release.
Exploration Update
Drilling was initiated in late January and has been ongoing at
Junction, Springer, WX, Boundary, Pond and Southeast zones with focus
on exploration and definition of near pit resources. Exploration
drilling also took the first major step to test high priority anomalies
from the 2009 Titan geophysical survey. Drilling on the Titan anomalies
provided confidence that major geologic features can be identified
using the technique and has led to development of additional
exploration targets, including a potential faulted offset of the Pond
zone at the Ace zone.
Pond zone drilling targeted skarn hosted mineralization below the Pond
pit which was initiated in the fall of 2009. Highlights of the drilling
include drill hole PZ10-55 which returned 90.0 metres grading 1.23%
copper and 0.60 g/t gold and included a higher grade 15.5 metre section
grading 3.73% copper and 2.09 g/t gold. Drill hole PZ10-58 returned
13.3 metres grading 1.93% copper and 0.39 g/t gold at 147.5 metres, and
PZ10-52 returned 12.2 metres grading 4.25% copper and 1.26 g/t gold
including 5.7 metres of 8.34% copper and 2.22 g/t gold. The Pond zone
appears to be structurally terminated at the south end but work is now
underway to predict the offset location of a potential continuation of
that zone. The 2009 geophysical survey is playing a key role in that
predictive targeting and thus far has proven to be an effective
technique to reveal major geologic breaks which had not been previously
well defined.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pond Total Interval Interval Interval Drill Length from to Length Copper Gold Silver Hole # (m) (m) (m) (m) % g/t g/t PZ10-52 384.3 283.9 296.1 12.2 4.25 1.26 34.37 including 290.3 296.1 5.7 8.34 2.22 65.1 PZ10-55 326.4 147.5 237.5 90.0 1.23 0.60 13.9 including 213.9 229.4 15.5 3.73 2.09 44.9 PZ10-58 325.2 147.5 160.8 13.3 1.93 0.39 29.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
New drilling at the Boundary zone includes
two holes drilled from surface to follow up on the 2009 success,
including ND10-102 which intersected 111.4 metres grading 0.97% copper
and 0.70 g/t gold, including 10.3 metres of 1.51% copper and 1.64 g/t
gold and 31.4 metres grading 2.33% copper and 1.46 g/t gold. Also a
near horizontal hole was collared at the north end of the Wight pit, to
provide geotechnical information for the planned 500 metre decline
ramp. Drilling in this area will include underground drilling from the
decline when it is complete, and surface drilling on the west side of
Boundary zone.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boundary Total Interval Interval Interval Drill Hole Length from to Length Copper Gold # (m) (m) (m) (m) % g/t ND10-102 395.3 210.0 321.4 111.4 0.97 0.70 including 210.0 220.4 10.3 1.51 1.64 including 290.0 321.4 31.4 2.33 1.46 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Junction zone is currently a high priority
target at Mount Polley due to its proximity to the Springer pit. Drill
hole JZ10-46 was collared 240 metres north of the planned northern rim
of the Springer pit and intersected 109.1 metres of 0.19% copper and 0.28
g/t gold, including 40.1 metres grading 0.25% copper and 0.51 g/t gold,
both intervals starting at 139.9 metres depth. These intercepts are
particularly intriguing in that the gold to copper ratio is high
relative to values normally observed at Springer. This zone discovered
in 2009 now has a 16.9 million tonne measured and indicated resource
and will be an area of focus for exploration in 2010.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Junction Total Interval Interval Interval Drill Hole Length from to Length Copper Gold # (m) (m) (m) (m) % g/t JZ10-46 249.0 139.9 249.0 109.1 0.19 0.28 including 139.9 180.0 40.1 0.25 0.51 JZ10-47 394.4 365.0 392.5 27.5 0.33 0.13 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
The WX zone, like the Junction, is also a
high priority target due to proximity to the Springer pit. Located
directly south of Springer, the WX has returned intercepts of relative
good grades, and a notable high gold to copper ratio. Drill hole
WX10-03 includes 160.0 metres grading 0.24% copper and 0.37 g/t gold,
including 14.2 metres grading 0.52% copper and 1.25 g/t gold. Near
depth at 345.0 metres drilling returned 7.5 metres grading 0.33% copper
and 1.86 g/t gold.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------- WX Total Interval Interval Interval Drill Hole Length from to Length Copper Gold # (m) (m) (m) (m) % g/t WX10-03 380.1 50.0 210.0 160.0 0.24 0.37 including 158.3 172.5 14.2 0.52 1.25 and 345.0 352.5 7.5 0.33 1.86 --------------------------------------------------------------------------
Exploration
drilling is expected to continue with two drill rigs for the rest of
the 2010 exploration season. Imperial will continue to conduct mapping,
trenching and other supportive exploration techniques to aid in the
generation of new drill targets. A drill plan map is available on the
Company's website.
Steve Robertson, P.Geo. is the designated Qualified Person as defined
by National Instrument 43-101 for the exploration programs. Samples for
the diamond drilling reported at Mount Polley were analyzed at the
Mount Polley mine laboratory and Acme Analytical Laboratories in
Vancouver. A full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates
was maintained for all samples submitted to the labs. The porphyry and
breccia related deposits at Mount Polley are irregular in shape and
true thicknesses have not been estimated.
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