Intrepid firms up Kamila resource (March 15, 2005)

Intrepid Minerals (IAU-T) has cut significant silver and gold while drilling the resource at its Kamila zone, one of several targets on its Casposo project, in northwestern San Juan province, Argentina.

Three holes cut the Aztec vein resulting in grades as high as 4.2 grams gold and 1,530 grams silver per tonne over one metre. The two other holes cut 1-2.8 grams gold and 181-209 grams silver over widths of 2.7-7.7 metres.

The Inca vein was cut in two holes: one graded 2.5 grams gold and 1,100 grams silver per tonne, whereas the other graded 0.6 gram gold and 197 grams silver per tonne; both intercepts had a width of 3 metres.

Two holes cut the B vein: one hit 6.5 grams gold and 25 grams silver per tonne over 1.5 metres, the other cut the B North vein hitting 3.5 metres grading 5.6 grams gold and 39 grams silver per tonne.

Two holes failed to hit significant mineralization.

In the first quarter of this year, 1,660 metres were drilled, primarily to test extensions of the resource within the Kamila pit. A total of 16,600 metres has been drilled on the Kamila zone (about one half of that by previous owner Battle Mountain Gold) and this has been entered into a block model to estimate a resource.

At mid-March, 2005, the Kamila open pit indicated resource stood at 1.5 million tonnes grading 5.76 grams gold and 140 grams silver per tonne, for a contained gold-equivalent of 355,700 oz. The inferred resource was 535,000 tonnes grading 2.3 grams gold and 69 grams silver per tonne, or 55,400 gold-equivalent oz.

These estimates used a 1.3 grams gold-equivalent per tonne cut off. Gold-equivalent was estimated at one oz. gold for each 77 oz. silver. A gold price of US$400 per oz. and a silver price of US$6 per oz. were used, along with recovery rates of 94% for gold and 81% for silver.

Grades were capped at 40 grams gold and 500 grams silver per tonne for the Aztec vein and 30 grams gold and 900 grams silver for the Inca vein. The B vein was capped at 35 grams gold and 500 grams silver per tonne.

The Aztec vein has an average true width of 8 metres; the Inca and B veins each average 5 metres. About 85% of the proposed open pit contained-oz.-resource, and almost 73% of the defined tonnage, is in the indicated category.

A resource estimate of the high grade zones within the Kamila pit was calculated using a 1.3 gram gold-equivalent cut off, and capping gold values at 110 grams and silver at 1,700 grams per tonne. The indicated resource totalled 226,000 tonnes grading 19.2 grams gold and 432 grams silver per tonne, or a contained gold-equivalent of 180,400 oz.

Speaking at the Prospectors and Developers Association Convention, Intrepid Minerals’ president, Laurence Curtis, referred to the Kamila zone, which is contained within a 600-metre-area, and said that “sometimes, small is significant.”

“There are not too many deposits in Latin America that are open-pittable that carry this grade,” Curtis said. “At this time next year, we expect to be well on our way to the Kamila feasibility.”

During the next few months drilling will continue, and various reconnaissance targets will be tested. Other vein systems have been found on surface; one of these may change the outline of the proposed Kamila pit.

Kamila is within an east-southeast-trending deformation zone, which extends over at least 3.5-km and has a width of 500 metres.

Intrepid holds 19 properties within 50 km of the Casposo property, covering an area of 800 sq.-km. Casposo is 20 km from the mining community of Calingasta.

The company is also working on the San Cristobal project in El Salvador and has joint-ventured with BHP Billiton (BHP-N) to look for silver-rich base metal deposits in eastern Canada.