International Minerals adds ounces to Converse

Vancouver – International Minerals (IMZ-T) has reported a 27% increase in measured and indicate gold ounces at its Converse project in Nevada.

The project is now estimated to host 331 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.48 gram gold for 5.15 million contained oz. gold, plus 32 million inferred tonnes grading 0.44 gram gold for a further 440,000 oz. gold.

The resource update comes seven years after the previous resource estimate, completed when Metallic Ventures Gold held the property in 2004. Along with a 27% increase in contained gold, the update shows a 3% decrease in the gold grade, and a 56,000 oz. drop in the inferred category.

The company used a 0.27 gram gold cut-off grade for all categories, a metal price of US$1,200 per oz. gold and an assumed recovery rate of 50-60%.

The resource was based on roughly 207 holes over 49,500 metres of drilling, while the company has completed a total of 314 holes for 64,000 metres at the project.

The latest drill results from Converse include 475 metres grading 0.8 gram gold from 73 metres depth, including a 101-metre intercept grading 1 gram gold from 447 that shows the deeper potential of the deposit.

International Minerals president and CEO Steve Kay stated that “the results so far from the deep drilling completed below the base of historical drilling shows strong potential to significantly increase the size of the deposit in the future.”

International Minerals acquired the project along with Metallic Ventures itself in 2010 for US$24 million cash and 8.5 million shares of International Minerals. Along with the Converse project, the company acquired a 3% net smelter return royalty on Barrick Gold‘s (ABX-T, ABX-N) Ruby Hill mine that produced 80,000 oz. gold last year, and the advanced Goldfield project in Nevada.

The company has a 40% stake in the Pallancata silver-gold mine in Peru that produced 10.1 million oz. silver and 36,000 oz. gold last year, with Hochschild Mining (HOC-L) controlling the rest. International Minerals also has a 40% interest in the Inmaculada gold-silver project in Peru and holds 100% ownership of the Rio Blanco and a potential 100% ownership of the Gaby project, both in Ecuador.

International Minerals’ share price closed at $7.17 on the day the resource update was released after market close. The company has a 52-week share price range between $4.25 and $8.22 and 120.4 million shares outstanding.