International Minerals And Hochschild Boost Inmaculada

VANCOUVER — International Minerals (IMZ-T) upped the resource count at its 51%-owned Inmaculada gold-silver project in Peru, a joint venture with Hochschild Mining (HOC-L).

Indicated resources now stand at 1.2 million tonnes grading 3.9 grams gold per tonne and 122 grams silver per tonne, for 154,000 oz. gold and 4.9 million oz. silver. Inferred resources add 4.7 million tonnes averaging 3.4 grams gold and 147 grams silver, for an additional 512,000 oz. gold and 22.1 million oz. silver.

The new estimate boosted the tonnage and confidence of the Inmaculada resource considerably; it previously stood at just 3.7 million inferred tonnes grading 4 grams gold and 139 grams silver. The deposit is hosted in a zone with a strike length of more than 1,500 metres and a vertical reach of 300 metres that has now seen 84 core holes totalling some 25,000 metres. In mid-January, International Minerals announced additional drill results not included in the resource estimate, including 3.5 metres grading 37.1 grams gold and 270 grams silver and 6.2 metres averaging 22.4 grams gold and 156 grams silver.

The Inmaculada project, in southern Peru near Cuzco, is near both of its joint-venture owners’ existing mines. Hochschild’s Selene-Explorador silver-gold mine sits 30 km to the northeast, and the Pallancata mine, another International Minerals and Hochschild joint venture, is 40 km to the north.

At Inmaculada, International Minerals has the option of increasing its 51% stake to 70% by completing a feasibility study.

The 270-sq. km Inmaculada property hosts both low-and highsulphidation epithermal mineralized systems, with precious metals hosted in veins, breccias and disseminations within volcanic host rocks. Hochschild built a network of access and drilling roads as part of its exploration efforts between 1998 and 2004.

International Minerals recently acquired the Inmaculada mine through an all-stock acquisition of Ventura Gold that closed in mid-January. The takeover saw outstanding Ventura shares converted to International Minerals shares at a ratio of 10 to 1.

A total of 13.7 million International Minerals shares were issued in the deal. Former Ventura Gold shareholders now own 13% of the 106.5 million International Minerals shares outstanding.

International Minerals is also in the midst of a takeover of Metallic Ventures Gold (MVG-T) that is expected to close this quarter. Metallic signed on to the takeover in November, but the deal is still subject to shareholder approval, which will be sought at a meeting on Feb. 22. The deal will see International Minerals pay US$24 million in cash and 8.5 million in common shares to Metallic shareholders, as each Metallic share will be exchanged for US46.16¢ and 0.1635 International Minerals shares.

In accepting International Minerals’ takeover offer, Metallic had to terminate a prior agreement with Solitario Exploration & Royalty (SLR-T), which required paying a break fee of US$2.2 million. Solitario had offered US29.8¢ and 0.327 shares for each Metallic share, an offer Metallic board deemed inferior to the International Minerals’ offer.

Metallic’s main assets are two gold projects in Nevada, known as Converse and Goldfield, and a 3% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on Barrick Gold’s (ABX-T, ABX-N) Ruby Hill mine, also in Nevada. The Converse project hosts one of the largest undeveloped gold deposits in Nevada, currently pegged at 239 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.51 gram gold and 2 grams silver, for a total of 3.9 million oz. gold and 15.3 million oz. silver. The smaller Goldfield property is home to 28.7 million measured and indicated tonnes grading 1.16 grams gold, for roughly 1 million oz. gold.

Metallic’s NSR on the Ruby Hill mine has been paying out between US$3-US$4 million each year. Metallic has roughly US$12 million in cash.

On news of the increased Inmaculada resource, International Minerals’ share price gained 4¢ to close at $4.35. The company has a 52-week trading range of $2.66 -$4.70.