Twister
10 years ago
NEWS...snooze; "...about a year from a full feasibility..."
I-Minerals Updated Pre-Feasibility Study of its Bovill Kaolin Project Yields $212 million After Tax NPV and 30.5% IRR.
Vancouver, B.C. (June 3, 2014) - I-Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: IMA; OTCQX: IMAHF) ("the Company") is pleased to announce that further to its press release of May 14, 2014 wherein the Company announced Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources of 11.2 million short tons of Kaolin-Halloysite-Quartz-potassium feldspar ("K-Spar") bearing primary clay on its Bovill Kaolin Project (the "Bovill Kaolin Project"), SRK has now provided the accompanying results of the Technical Economic Model (TEM) of the Updated Prefeasibility Study ("PFS"). The Bovill Kaolin Project is a strategically located long term resource of high purity quartz, K-spar, halloysite and kaolin formed through the weathering of a border phase of the Idaho Batholith causing all minerals to be contained within a fine white clay--sand mixture referred to as "primary clay." The Bovill Kaolin Project is located within 5 kilometers of state highways with electricity and natural gas already at the property boundary. Highlights of the TEM include:
US$330 million Pre-Tax NPV; US$212 million After Tax NPV
38.2% Pre-Tax IRR; 30.5% After Tax IRR
Initial Capital Cost of $72.7 million and Total Life of Mine Capital costs $90.8 million
11.2 million short tons of resources
6.9 million short tons of reserves
25+ year mine life with 0.69:1 strip ratio
3 year estimated after tax payback
Statement of Mineral Resources
The Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources are reported in Table 1. No mining cut-off grade is applied since all material within the pit design that does not report to tailings can be mined for a profit. Three mineral products are included in the resource: feldspathic sand, a combination of potassium feldspar ("K-spar") and quartz, kaolinite clay and halloysite clay:
Table 1: Statement of Measured and Indicated Mineral Resources from the WBL Pit and Middle Ridge areas, (as of 20 April 2014)*
Percent (%) Tons (000s)
Tons
(000,000s) Quartz &
K-Spar Sand Kaolinite
Clay Halloysite
Clay Waste Quartz &
K-Spar Sand Kaolinite
Clay Halloysite
Clay Waste
Measured 3.3 76.0 13.0 4.5 7.0 2,505 417 148 222
Indicated 7.9 74.4 15.6 2.7 7.3 5,902 1,239 215 579
Total 11.2 75.0 14.8 3.2 7.1 8,407 1,656 363 801
* Note that values presented here have been rounded to reflect the level of accuracy.
Results of the Pre-Feasibility Study
The PFS assumed a weighted average price of primary clay products - halloysite, kaolin, metakaolin, quartz and K-spar - of $255/ton as supported by market studies completed by I-Minerals, preliminary studies being undertaken by a European company specializing in halloysite research, and a market study conducted by a major international marketing and research firm. If all of the known Mineral Resource eventually convert to Mineral Reserves, the project mine life could potentially expand to 40 years; however initial indicative economics were performed assuming a 25 year market for primary clay products. Mineral Reserves are presented below in Table 2 and production highlights are tabulated in Table 3.
Table 2: Statement of Mineral Reserves, (as of May 30, 2014) All figures thousands of tons*
Reserve Million Tonnes Halloysite Grade Kaolin Grade Sand Grade
Kelly Hump
Proven 1.9 4.5% 12.6% 76.4%
Probable 1.1 5.6% 14.3% 72.9%
Kelly South
Proven 0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Probable 1.4 1.4% 21.6% 69.9%
Middle Ridge
Proven 0.8 6.4% 11.9% 74.6%
Probable 1.6 4.2% 12.1% 76.0%
WBL
Proven 0 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Probable 0.9 2.2% 15.3% 75.2%
* Note that values presented here have been rounded to reflect the level of accuracy.
Table 3: Production Highlights
Parameter Value
Average Annual Plant Production Rate 275 kst
Process Throughput Rate (nominal) 800 tons ore per day
Stripping Ratio (waste:ore) 0.69
Mine Life (market limited) 25+ years
The reserves of primary clay are under a shallow layer of overburden generally less than 20 feet. Initial pits are limited to depths of approximately 75 feet. Given the physical properties of the primary clay, no drilling or blasting is required. The process flow sheet includes wet screw classification and screen separation of the halloysite -- kaolinite clay fraction -from the quartz -- K-spar sand fraction. The clay fraction is separated into kaolinite and halloysite using -hydrocylone-, centrifuge, and differential flotation techniques to yield +90% halloysite products. After tertiary grinding, the quartz and K-spar in the sand fraction are separated using standard wet flotation and dry rare earth magnetic separation techniques. Employing up to three stage flotation, quartz purities with less than 200 PPM of total impurities have been produced without the use of any acid leaching techniques.
On an after-tax basis, technical-economics indicate an NPV6% of US$212 million with an IRR of 30.5%. Payback will occur 3 years from the start of production. Economic results are summarized below.
Table 4: Economic Results1
Description LoM Value
(US$Ms)
Pre-Tax LoM Value
(US$Ms)
Atfer-Tax Unit Cost
(US$/ton
product
Gross Revenue $1,270.4 $1,270.4 $254.79
Marketing (5.0) (5.0) ($1.00)
Royalties (5% sales) (63.5) (63.5) ($12.74)
Gross Income $1,201.9 $1,201.9 $241.05
Mining Costs (50.4) (50.4) ($10.10)
Processing Costs (295.1) (295.1) ($59.18)
G&A Costs (7.2) (7.2) ($1.43)
Operating Costs ($352.6) ($352.6) ($70.72)
Mine Capital (1.4) (1.4) -
Process Capital (69.3) (69.3) -
Tailings Capital (14.1) (14.1) -
Owner Capital (6.1) (6.1) -
LoM Capital ($90.8) ($90.8) -
Taxes (262.5) -
Subtotal Capital & Tax ($90.8) ($353.4) -
CASH FLOW $758.4 $495.9 -
NPV6% $330.7 $212.7 -
IRR 38.2% 30.5% -
1Differences in totals and subtotals are due to rounding, and are not material to the results presented.
The technical economics results for the PFS and its supporting Mineral Resource estimate presented in this press release was completed by SRK Consulting (US) Inc. ("SRK") in Lakewood, Colorado. Tetra Tech ("TT") in Denver, Colorado was commissioned by the Company to complete design of the Proposed Tailings Facility (PTF). HDR, Inc. (HDR) in Boise, Idaho was commissioned by the Company to aid in permitting and environmental issues. Roberts & Schaefer ("R&S"), a KBR Company, was commissioned to complete the design for the planned processing and product packaging facilities.
Dr. Bart Stryhas constructed the geologic model and resource estimation results reported herein. He is responsible for the resource estimation methodology and the resource statement. Dr. Stryhas is a Qualified Person (QP) and is independent of the issuer applying all of the tests in Section 1.4 of NI 43-101. Valerie 0bie (QP) completed the reserve estimation reported herein and is responsible for the economic assessment.
I-Minerals' Bovill Kaolin Project is a pre-feasibility level mining venture located in north-central Idaho. The mineral reserves delineated from the primary clay represent the largest confirmed deposits of high quality K-feldspar, quartz, and halloysite in the Western United States. This pre-feasibility study is preliminary in nature.
"Fundamental changes in the K-spar market have compelled us to expand the production as compared with our maiden Prefeasibility Study, results from which were announced in January 2013," stated Thomas Conway, President & CEO of I-Minerals Inc. "To meet the increased demands in the K-spar market in the Updated PFS we are modelling production on a 24 hours per day seven days a week basis ("24/7") as compared with the Maiden PFS production rate of 24/5. Capital costs are up only modestly (about 7.6 million) as compared with the Maiden PFS to reflect increases in Owners Cost which now includes items such as the cost of a full feasibility that were not included in the maiden PFS. First year's sales were also reduced from Life of Mine averages to reflect the realities of ramping up production. The impacts of lower year 1 revenue and increased initial costs probably shaved a few points off the IRR and several million of the NPV as compared with the assumptions utilized in the Maiden PFS. Nonetheless the Updated PFS has yielded very robust results as highlighted by a NPV almost three times higher than the CAPEX and a payback of just over 3 years. "
Mr. Conway continued "Given the limited options currently available to K-spar customers we are very confident in our K-spar pricing assumptions and have materially discounted the pricing on the incremental tonnages of halloysite and quartz sold at volumes in excess of 24/5 levels. With the PFS milestone achieved we are about a year from a full feasibility on the Bovill Kaolin Deposit, with great strides already having been made in the associated permitting process. All told, we are very pleased with the results of the Updated PFS and recognize there may be opportunities to further improve upon the results as we push forward with the full feasibility study."
The NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report is being completed by SRK, TT, HDR and R&S and will be filed on SEDAR (at www.sedar.com) in its entirety as required. All values presented in this press release are in US imperial units and Q2 2014 US dollars.
I-Minerals Inc.
per: "Thomas M. Conway"
Thomas M. Conway,
President & CEO
Contact:
I-Minerals Inc.
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
Email: info@imineralsinc.com
Or visit our website at www.imineralsinc.com
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
This News Release includes certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. Actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of the following factors, among others: changes in the world wide price of mineral market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risk associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and uncertainty of access to additional capital.
http://www.imineralsinc.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=656777
Twister
10 years ago
I-Minerals Completes Core Evaluations; Data Sent to SRK to Begin Resource Calculation
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwired) -- 03/27/14 -- I-Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: IMA)(OTCQX: IMAHF) (the "Company") announces that it has now completed the evaluation of the pertinent drill core from the 2013 drilling program and has submitted the resulting data to SRK for resource modelling, mine planning, and reserve calculations. Results from approximately 1700 samples derived from the 167 holes from the two principle resource areas, Middle Ridge and Kelly's Hump, have been submitted to SRK. The program to drill these two principle areas at close-spaced centers was designed in collaboration with SRK to have the resource defined in sufficient detail that a measured resource may be calculated.
The drill hole lithologic data, the hole coordinates, all the material balances information and Scanning Electron Microscopy ("SEM") photographs were sent to SRK for the resource modelling. A mine engineer for SRK will take the resource model and put together a mine plan in which reserves of quartz, K-spar, kaolinite and halloysite are calculated. Completion of the mine plan and the Technical Economic Model (the "TEM") is expected to take about 30 to 45 days with the full NI43-101 compliant prefeasibility report filed within 45 days of the release of the TEM results.
In determining resources and reserves for the Bovill Kaolin Project, tonnages for quartz, K-feldspar, kaolinite, and halloysite must be calculated, the first step of which is screening to determine the weight of the material that is retained on a 325 mesh screen and the weight of that which passes through the screen. Quartz and K-spar are part of the oversized material that is retained on the screen, while the kaolinite and halloysite bearing clay fraction passes through the screen. In the laboratory, a series of decants of the clay fraction are performed in order to determine weights of the two resulting fractions: one that contains mostly kaolinite and one that contains mostly halloysite. These fractions are dried, weighed and mounted for evaluation using SEM photomicrographs to verify the occurrence of halloysite. Approximately 1700 core intervals have been tested in the laboratory with about 20,000 SEM being taken.
The basic separation process undertaken on the bench scale for the purpose of mineral estimation is similar to that which will be utilized in a commercial production environment. The coarse K-spar- quartz fraction remaining on top of the screen will go to the flotation circuit to separate the quartz and K-spar. The clay material that passes through the screen will go to the clay circuit that will concentrate a kaolinite product and a halloysite product through hydrocyclone and differential flotation processing.
"The work of preparing a sample for SEM photography of every drill core interval to be included in the PFS has been a very tedious and time consuming process that has resulted in the continuous employment of up to 20 University of Idaho students," stated Thomas Conway, President and CEO of I-Minerals Inc. "Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the staff this phase is now completed to fit the parameters for pit design and we look forward to the estimation of the resource which we believe will represent one of the largest high purity quartz, K-spar, halloysite and kaolin deposits known. Having four high value paying minerals provides a unique and diversified opportunity."
As noted in the Company's August 15, 2013 press release, the January 2013 Prefeasibility study assumed that defined halloysite reserves were only sufficient to support about 10 years of halloysite production. Expectations are that the recent drilling in the Kelly's Hump area which has been the subject of the above noted SEM work is expected to increase halloysite reserves up to about 20 years when the Prefeasibility study is updated and therefore improve upon the project's already robust economics.
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for I-Minerals Inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About I-Minerals
I-Minerals is developing multiple deposits of high purity-high value halloysite, quartz, potassium feldspar and kaolin at its strategically located Helmer-Bovill property in western Idaho. A 2013 Prefeasibility Study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. highlights the potential of the Helmer-Bovill property: after tax NPV6 of $150 million; 28% IRR; 3 year payback and $67 million initial CAPEX; $84 million CAPEX including life of mine sustaining capital over the 26 year mine life. Ongoing development work is focused on upgrading the probable reserve to a proven reserve as the Company moves through the feasibility process towards production.
I-Minerals Inc.
Thomas M. Conway, President & CEO
This News Release includes certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. Actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of the following factors, among others: changes in the world wide price of mineral market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risk associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and uncertainty of access to additional capital.
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
Contacts:
I-Minerals Inc.
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
info@imineralsinc.com
www.imineralsinc.com
http://finance.boston.com/boston/news/read?GUID=26796913
Twister
12 years ago
I-Minerals Receives Excellent Halloysite Testing Results
Vancouver, B.C. - June 26, 2012 - I-Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: IMA) (the "Company") announces that further to the Company's press release of June 19, 2012 wherein the Company announced it had engaged DURTEC GmbH of Neubrandenburg Germany ("DURTEC") to undertake a series of tests to determine if the basic characteristics of the halloysite produced from the Bovill Kaolin deposit can be improved through additional processing, I-Minerals has received the DURTEC report that clearly demonstrates trace levels of deleterious elements found in the halloysite can be materially reduced and the brightness of the halloysite product can be significantly improved.
DURTEC was provided with a basic halloysite product prepared by Ginn Mineral Technologies of Sandersville, Georgia using a standard wet separation technology. Key attributes of the basic halloysite product included:
> 90 % less than 2 um (microns)
free of crystalline silica
low levels of deleterious heavy metals
high aspect ratio (the ratio of the length of a tube to the diameter).
DURTEC, under the supervision of Dr. Joachim Schomburg, undertook two series of testing. The first tests were designed to improve the brightness of the halloysite by removing as much of the natural occurring iron content as possible. The iron, which average 1.2 % across a small sample set, may have resulted in the halloysite product having a relatively low average GE Brightness of 70.8. The second testing objective was to remove as much of the other heavy metals as possible. Earlier work by DURTEC indicated I-Minerals' halloysite contained one of the lowest levels of initial trace elements as compared with five halloysite products tested and therefore had a preferential starting point in efforts to achieve a pure product. Several commonly used techniques for were tested including special chemical bleaching, calcination and magnetic separation with the following results:
Chemical Bleaching
A selective mixture of acid agents for bleaching resulted in brightness's up to 90% being achieved together with a strong reduction of heavy metal contents to below detection limits:
As Pb Cd Hg
<5 ppm <20 ppm <0,2ppm <0,1ppm
Scanning Electron Microscopy("SEM") work indicated this technique had no impact on the halloysite crystal structure or the tube morphology.
Calcination
Calcination can be used for improvement of whiteness at different temperature steps:
Temperature step
(heating rate 10K/min,30 min held) L-value
750°C 73
1000°C 83
1100°C 84
1200°C 82
The calcined halloysite nanotube ("HNT") material is expected to be similar to various Metakaolin products, often used in paper and rubber industry.
Magnetic Separation
Dry powder magnetic separation (field strength 18k Gauss) did not remove enough of the iron to materially improve the whiteness. Future test work will include wet High Gradient Magnetic Separator (HGMS) evaluations using Eriez equipment. The wet HGMS work is expected to provide better results.
This initial work clearly demonstrates the halloysite from the Bovill Kaolin deposits generally responds well to the various techniques utilized to improve the brightness and reduce the trace levels of heavy metals. These different processing techniques demonstrate that a range of HNT-products can be prepared from the Helmer-Bovill clay deposits that can be used in a range of different applications including ceramics, plastics and polymers, and life science applications including cosmetics and possibly pharmaceutical carriers. Multiple markets services by a diversified HNT product portfolio offer greater sales volumes and the more pure products offer opportunities in the high value life sciences markets.
"I have worked with halloysite from many of the known deposits around the world and the results from this latest round of testing add further support to my belief that I-Minerals' halloysite can be further processed to yield one of the best halloysite products available," stated Dr. Joachim Schomburg, President DURTEC GmbH
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for I-Minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
"These results support our believe that the mineral products from the Bovill Kaolin deposit are high purity high value products, stated Thomas Conway President and CEO of I-Minerals Inc. "Our earlier work has demonstrated we can produce a best in class K-spar product and high purity quartz products through standard flotation and now we believe we can produce one of the best halloysite products available based on aspect ratio, purity and other considerations."
I-Minerals Inc.
per: "Thomas M. Conway"
Thomas M. Conway,
President & CEO
Contact:
I-Minerals Inc.
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
Email: info@imineralsinc.com
Or visit our website at www.imineralsinc.com
Encompass Communications Inc.
877-566-6592 or 604-630-0770
Email: info@encompassinc.ca
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
This News Release includes certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. Actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of the following factors, among others: changes in the world wide price of mineral market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risk associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and uncertainty of access to additional capital.
http://www.imineralsinc.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=533272
Twister
12 years ago
I-Minerals Files 43-101 / highlights
Vancouver, B.C. (January 19, 2011) -- i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA; Pink Sheets: IMAHF) (“the Company”) has filed a National Instrument 43-101 technical report regarding the Preliminary Economic Analysis ("the PEA”) on its Bovill Kaolin Deposit ”( the "Project”) located in north central Idaho. A summary of the technical report was announced on December 5, 2011. The Study was compiled by SRK Consulting (US) Inc. ("SRK”) who also completed the Mineral Resource estimation. Tetra Tech (“TT”) was commissioned by the Company to complete environmental, geotechnical, and site reclamation engineering and design. Roberts & Schaefer (“R&S) was commissioned to complete the design for the planned processing and product packaging facilities. Values for the mineral products used in the economic analysis were provided by Charles Rivers Associates and Durtec GmbH. The technical report has been filed on SEDAR and I-Minerals’ website.
Highlights of the Study Include:
· US$155 million After Tax NPV
· 29% IRR
· Total Life of Mine Capital costs $64.8 million
· 38.4 million short tons of resources
· 50+ year mine life with 0.26:1 strip ratio
· 3 year estimated payback (2 years net of expected loss carry forward)
Dr. Bart Stryhas constructed the geologic and resource model. He is responsible for the resource estimation methodology and the resource statement. Dr. Stryhas is independent of the issuer applying all of the tests in Section 1.4 of NI 43-101.
The Inferred Mineral Resource of 38.4 million short tons is based upon a cut-off grade of 20% clay and represents the largest deposits of high quality feldspar, quartz, kaolin and halloysite in the Western United States. The primary clay material has estimated mass percentages as follows: halloysite (6.6%), kaolin (16.7%), quartz (29.7%) and k-spar (13.0%) yielding a weighted average product price of US$240 per ton. Resources can support a mine life of well in excess of 50 years; however initial indicative economics were performed assuming a 25+-year market for primary clay products. The PEA is preliminary in nature and includes inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable such resources to be categorized as mineral reserves, and there is no certainty that the preliminary assessment will be realized.
The Company has subsequently completed a 66 drill hole program and is undertaking detailed metallurgical work to confirm halloysite and kaolin content. Once completed, the metallurgical results will be folded into a pre-feasibility study along with a re-assessment of the capital and operating cost estimates. As part of the re-assessment of capital and operating costs the Company will look at alternate locations closer to the proposed mine site for the mill facility and tailings storage.
The Company is making significant progress in the marketing of its minerals. A pilot plant run has been completed yielding over 4,000 pounds of quartz products. Portions of this material is currently being fine ground for delivery to prospective customers in a variety of industries including specialty lighting and solar glass for melt tests and other testing. Durtec GmbH has provided halloysite samples to a number of major international corporations for testing in green energy technologies, plastics and polymers, cosmetics and other life sciences applications. Testing by a variety of prospective customers has demonstrated I-Minerals can readily produce an industry leading k-spar product.
“Marketing of the mineral products is the critical element for the success of every industrial minerals project,” commented Thomas Conway President and CEO of I-Minerals Inc. “With the strong progress we have made over the past year we have got the interest of many prospective customers and the high purity of our quartz has caused several new customers to seek us out. All of the incremental work we complete only furthers our confidence that the Bovill Kaolin Deposit offers the Company exceptional opportunities.”
I-minerals inc.
per: “Thomas M. Conway”
Thomas M. Conway,
President & CEO
Twister
12 years ago
Pilot plant begins production of high-purity quartz products.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA)(Pink Sheets: IMAHF) (the "Company") has been advised by Mineral Research Laboratory at North Carolina State University that the pilot plant commissioned to manufacture quartz products is in operation. The objective of this pilot plant work is to make quartz products of different purities for testing in a variety of quartz consuming markets.
Over the past six years MRL has completed several phases of flotation- based metallurgical work on material from Kelly's Basin, WBL Tailings and the sand fraction from the WBL Area of the Bovill Kaolin primary clay deposits successfully creating feldspar products through floating the feldspar and sinking the quartz. The current pilot plant will take the quartz "sunk" during prior metallurgical work and regrind and float it to create higher value quartz products. As noted in the Company's press releases of July 28, 2011 and earlier, i-minerals can create a high purity quartz product (>99.95% SiO2) through multistage flotation.
Approximately 8000 lbs of raw quartz product from prior metallurgical work will be processed. This material will be ground to less than 50 mesh and processed through flotation. It is expected that a minimum of 1000 lbs of Quartz 1 product (1 float lower purity); 1500 lbs of Quartz 2 product (2 float medium high purity); and 300 lbs of Quartz 3 product (3 float high purity) will be produced. Earlier metallurgical work has returned the following results:
Product
Purity (%SiO2)
BK Quartz B - 30 mesh
99.730%
BK Quartz 1 - 50 mesh
99.965%
BK Quartz 2 – 50 mesh
99.970%
BK Quartz 3 – 50 mesh
99.972%
The Company's marketing efforts have generated demand for quartz samples for testing and having samples of the various products readily available is beneficial to the marketing process. In particular, several customers both in North America and Asia have requested Quartz 2 and Quartz 3 samples for melt tests to see how the products react when heated to the liquid form. These samples can be quite large – as much as 50 lbs each. Satisfactory completion of the melt tests would indicate i-minerals quartz products could be used in high value applications and markets and have a positive impact on future revenue streams and therefore project economics.
Assuming the pilot plant runs smoothly it should take approximately 2 weeks to process the quartz stock piles. Subsequent fine grinding of some of the quartz products will also be performed to accommodate certain customer requirements. Samples would be sent to customers shortly thereafter, with melt test results made available to the Company in Q1 2012
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for i-minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals' Helmer Bovill property, located in northwestern Idaho that hosts multiple high value industrial mineral deposits including high purity quartz (>99.95% SiO2) that can be produced through a standard flotation process, halloysite that has an industry leading combination of aspect ratio and lowest levels of trace elements and potassium feldspar that has some of the highest alkalis of k-spar products currently available. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications. Economic assessments of both the Kelly's Basin feldspar-quartz deposit and the Bovill Kaolin Deposits are ongoing. While additional assessment work is required to fully assess the economic viability of the Bovill Kaolin Deposits, a January 2011 Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") based upon limited, widely spaced drilling over large areas demonstrated robust economic metrics and indicated the Bovill Kaolin Deposits may represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America.
i-minerals inc.Per: "Thomas M. Conway"Thomas M. Conway,President & CEO
Contact:
Barry Girling
Encompass Communications Inc.
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
604.630.0770
Email: info@imineralsinc.com
Or visit our website at www.imineralsinc.com
info@encompassinc.ca
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
This News Release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results
SOURCE i-minerals inc.
Dobie Lama
13 years ago
These mining stocks take years to go from exploratory drilling to production.
I-MINERALS BEGINS DRILLING OF BOVILL KAOLIN DEPOSITS TO UPGRADE HALLOYSITE RESOURCE
Vancouver, B.C. September 29, 2011 - i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA) (the “Company”) announces that further to the Company’s press release of December 1, 2010 wherein it announced the calculation of an inferred resource together with the results of a Preliminary Economic Analysis (the “PEA”) on the Company’s Bovill Kaolin deposit, in-fill drilling has commenced with the objective of upgrading portions of the inferred resource to an indicated resource. As noted in the December 1, 2010 press release, previous drilling had resulted in an inferred resource contained of 38.4 million tons of primary clay in four areas: WBL, Middle Ridge, Kelly’s Hump and Scablands. The current drill program will focus on drilling the WBL and Middle Ridge areas at 200-foot centers such that the primary clay contained in these deposits may be upgraded to an indicated resource. SRK Engineering (USA) inc. has provided collar locations for the 66 drill holes (21 holes at WBL and 45 holes at Middle Ridge) required to upgrade both deposits. The PEA contemplated the primary clays would be mined at a rate of about 900 ton per day. This mining rate, if applied to the inferred resource of 8.9 million tons as estimated by SRK for the WBL and the Middle Ridge areas only, would support a minimum of 28 years of mining activity.
Over the past 6 months the Company has made substantial progress in optimizing a simple metallurgical separation of the kaolin and the halloysite such that the concentrations of halloysite and kaolinite can be estimated in a more timely fashion. Material balances are then calculated and the kaolinite and halloysite samples photographed at the University of Idaho using a high powered Scanning Electromagnetic Microscope to confirm the success of the separation. Over 400 samples from historic drill holes have been processed to separate the clay fraction. Over half these samples will be tested for halloysite/kaolinite contents. This testing will allow the identification of halloysite-rich sections and the calculation of halloysite and kaolinite resources. This drilling and testing will also calculate resources for quartz and K-feldspar.. Halloysite content varies both from hole to hole as well as within a given hole. Halloysite content is estimated to range from trace levels up as high as 13%.
“Now that we have defined a process to accurately estimate our halloysite vs. kaolinite content in a comparatively timely fashion we can confidently advance the primary clay deposits that comprise our Bovill Kaolin Project,” stated Thomas Conway President and CEO of i-minerals inc. “Work completed to date at Ginn Mineral Research and Durtec indicates we have a premium quality halloysite with a better aspect ratio (ratio of length to diameter of the tube) and lower levels of trace elements when compared to halloysite deposits from around the world and at the end of the resource calculation we will have a strong estimate of how many tons of this premium halloysite product are contained within the WBL and Middle Ridge portions of the Bovill Kaolin Project.”
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person (“QP”) for i-minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About i-minerals inc.
Dobie Lama
13 years ago
More delays.
Incorporation of Optimization Strategies to Reduce Capital and Operating Costs expected to Delay Release of Feasibility Study Results about 90 Days
Vancouver, B.C. (August 22, 2011) -- i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA; US OTC: IMAHF) (“the Company”) i-minerals announces that it has elected to postpone the completion of the feasibility study on the Kelly’s Basin feldspar-quartz deposit to incorporate a number of recently identified optimization strategies that are expected to materially reduce capital costs from the currently estimated levels. These strategies include:
relocation and redesign of the transload facility wherein mineral products are loaded for rail transport,
redesign of the quartz flotation circuit from a three float process to a two float process,
utilization of a high-density pneumatic pumping systems technology for materials handling, and
incorporation of the results from the recently completed drill program will allow for an upgrade of the reserve to proven reserve from probable reserve
Incorporation of these strategies into the milling process is expected to reduce operating costs below levels estimated in the prefeasibility study primarily through lower electricity and reagent consumption as well as a small reduction in required manpower. The Company’s engineering consultants Roberts & Schaeffer are actively working on the design improvements. Several alternate transload facility sites have been located with a preferred site identified. The net impact of these changes as more fully described below is expected to delay the completion of the feasibility study up to 90 days or possibly more, but result in lower operating costs and significant capital cost savings as compared with current estimates.
Relocation of Transload Facilities
The prefeasibility study contemplated locating the transload facility on the banks of the Snake River just across the Idaho State border at the Port of Wilma in Washington. Geotechnical work completed on this site in June 2011 indicated the site was underlain by unconsolidated fill material. Results of this work indicated the combination of building rail access, and constructing the process facility to grind and store hundreds of tons of mineral products required significant volumes of gravel, steel and concrete not contemplated in the prefeasibility study. As a result, the cost of these construction materials significantly increased the capital costs associated with the transload facility when compared with the prefeasibility estimates.
The Company has identified a number of alternate sites for the transload facility. One site has an existing rail siding, which reduces costs as no construction of a rail bed is necessary and this site is very well situated making it the preferred location. This preferred site is currently vacant and initial discussions with the owner are scheduled for the week of August 22. In an effort to further reduce costs, the Company plans to shift the custom grinding and primary storage to the mine operations at Bovill and as a result only tertiary storage together with rail loading capabilities is required at the new transload site. Servicing the rapidly growing Pacific Rim markets can still be easily accomplished by filling sea containers with mineral products at Bovill and loading containers onto barges at existing Lewiston area facilities.
Improvement of Quartz Flotation Process
Based upon recent analytical work completed at Dorfner Anzaplan (“Dorfner”) a specialty quartz testing laboratory in Germany and noted in the Company’s press release of July 28, 2011, the Company can make a high purity quartz through a standard flotation process. When the chemistry of the two-float quartz product (303.92 parts per million (“ppm”) of impurities or 99.953% pure SiO2) is compared with the chemistry of the three-float quartz product (279.57 ppm of impurities or 99.956% pure SiO2) there is no material increase in the purity generated through the third float. Reducing the quartz production process down to two floats from three reduces the capital requirements including the footprint of the operation, which reduces the associated building costs such as steel and concrete. Recoveries will also increase somewhat given there would be no loss associated with the third float.
Materials Handling
The initial materials handling process contemplated in the feasibility study was bucket elevators with one located at the Bovill operations and the second at the transload facility. The amended plan for the transload facility does not include a bucket elevator and Roberts & Schaeffer has recommended the Company pursue high-density pneumatic pumping systems. The cost savings associated with such system are twofold: the pneumatic pumping systems have a materially lower initial capital cost and the associated building costs such as cement and steel are lower given there is no need to support the elevator structure.
Upgrade of Reserves
The November 2010 Prefeasibility Study defined the mineral reserve at Kelly’s Basin as being a probable reserve of 9.946 million tons of ore containing 4.774 million tons of sodium feldspar and 1.79 million tons of quartz. As noted in the Company’s press release of July 14, 2011 the completion of an additional 33 drill holes yields drill spacing supportive of the calculation of a proven reserve. Optimization of the feasibility study creates sufficient time for Company to receive the analytic results from the recent drill program and present the recalculated reserve as a proven reserve rather than a probable reserve as it is currently defined.
Operating Costs
Reducing the quartz flotation circuit from three banks of cells to two banks of flotation cells is expected to reduce power and reagent consumption. Further operating cost reductions in the flotation process may be achievable through reducing the number of electric motors by using one larger motor to power two flotation cells rather than two motors. The redesigned transload facility requires less labor to operate and there is a less than corresponding increase in Bovill area labor. The expected impact of the changes is operating costs that are forecast to be lower than those estimated in the prefeasibility study.
“Like most other companies actively completing feasibility studies on resource projects we have encountered cost escalation as compared with the costs forecast in the prefeasibility study completed just a year or so ago,” commented Thomas Conway, president and CEO of i-minerals inc. “Given there were solutions identified for a number of the areas that experienced cost escalation, we have elected to postpone the completion of the feasibility study in an effort to optimize its results. The savings we have identified so far are not immaterial and could total many millions of dollars. These capital cost savings, taken together with opportunities to improve operating costs warrants the relatively short delay to facilitate the optimization of the production process.”
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is the Qualified Person (“QP”) for the Helmer-Bovill project under NI 43-101. He oversees the quality control and quality assurance program and the construction of all samples for metallurgical analysis and reviews all analytical results prior to public release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that hosts Kelly’s Basin feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study. . High purity quartz (>99.95% SiO2) can be produced through a standard flotation process. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co (“SRK”), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. Preliminary exploration work on occurrences of primary clay deposits has identified variable concentrations of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar. The Company commissioned SRK to complete and initial assessment of the primary clay deposits through a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “PEA”) which is based upon limited, widely spaced drilling over large areas. While additional assessment work is required to fully assess the economic viability of the deposits, the PEA yielded a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48% and indicated these primary clay deposits may represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology
Dobie Lama
13 years ago
HIGH PUREQUARTZ PRODUCT PRODUCED FROM BASIC FLOTATION OF PRIMARY CLAY MATERIAL
Vancouver, BC, (July 28, 2011) -- i-minerals inc. (TSX.V:IMA , US OTC: IMAHF) announces it has received initial results from Dorfner Anzaplan (“Dorfner”) a specialty quartz testing laboratory in Germany. Dorfner’s initial work included a detailed analysis of the quartz product derived from the primary clay material from the Company’s Bovill Kaolin Project. The material was first processed at Ginn Mineral Research in Sandersville, Georgia, wherein the clay fraction (kaolin + halloysite) was separated from the sand fraction (feldspar + quartz). The sand fraction was then sent to Minerals Research Laboratory at North Carolina State University (“MRL”) where four quartz products were created using a multiple flotation techniques: a 30 mesh one float product (“2011 F1 30”); a finer grind 50 mesh one float product (“2011 F1 50”); a 50 mesh two float product (“2011 F2 50”) and a 50 mesh three float product (“2011 F3 50”). Dorfner completed analysis of each of the four samples with the results as follows:
2011 F1 30
2011 F1 50
2011 F2 50
2011 F3 50
total impurities (ppm)
1742.07
355.57
303.92
279.57
SiO2 purity
99.730%
99.944%
99.953%
99.956%
High pure quartz products have total impurities less than 500 parts per million (“ppm”) or greater than 99.95% SiO2. All of the 50 mesh products tested by Dorfner reported total impurities of 356 ppm or less. The purity levels achieved after the single and second float are some of the best results achieved to date. At least 80% of impurities are attributable to Al+K+Na indicating there is likely trace amounts of feldspar in the quartz product.
High pure quartz products are used in a variety of applications including solar glass, specialty chemicals manufacturing, and optical applications including fibre optics. Various applications required different specifications for total element content. i-minerals is undertaking additional analysis for less common elements to confirm the quartz product is acceptable into a variety of markets and applications.
The company has commissioned Dorfner to undertake a series of leach testing to see how much further the trace elements can be reduced.
With these results we have now produced high pure quartz from both the granitoid ores of our Kelly’s Basin deposit and the primary clay from the neighboring Bovill Kaolin project,” commented Thomas Conway, President and CEO of i-minerals inc. ”To have achieved this level of purity through basic flotation leaves the company well positioned to be a low cost producer of high purity quartz products and naturally we are all very encouraged with these results.”
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is the Qualified Person (“QP”) for the Helmer-Bovill project under NI 43-101. He oversees the quality control and quality assurance program and the construction of all samples for metallurgical analysis and reviews all analytical results prior to public release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that hosts Kelly’s Basin feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study. . High purity quartz (>99.98% SiO2) can be produced through a standard flotation process. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co (“SRK”), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. Preliminary exploration work on occurrences of primary clay deposits has identified variable concentrations of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar. The Company commissioned SRK to complete and initial assessment of the primary clay deposits through a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the “PEA”) which is based upon limited, widely spaced drilling over large areas. While additional assessment work is required to fully assess the economic viability of the deposits, the PEA yielded a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48% and indicated these primary clay deposits may represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications.
Twister
13 years ago
IMAHF/IMA News: Drilling to upgrade 20 years production...
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA — i-minerals inc. (TSX VENTURE: IMA)(PINK SHEETS: IMAHF) ("the Company") announces that drilling is underway to upgrade the first 20 years of production under the mine plan to proven reserves from the current probable reserves (please refer to the Kelly's Basin Prefeasibility Study available on our website at www.imineralsinc.com). As noted in the Company's March 9, 2011 press release SRK Consulting (US) Inc. ("SRK") of Denver, Co has provided collar locations for fifteen relatively short drill holes, (approx. 150 feet) which would be sufficient to upgrade the first 10 years of the mine plan to proven reserves. Rather than limit the proven reserves to 10 years with the balance remaining probable reserve, the Company has elected to drill a total of 33 holes to upgrade a larger reserve with a mine life of 20 years to the proven category. The infill drilling will not be completed and assays received in time for incorporation into the Feasibility Study which remains on track for completion on or about August 15, 2011. Whether the Company uses probable or proven reserves will not impact the feasibility level assessment of the economic viability of the Kelly's Basin deposit, but the upgrade to proven reserves will facilitate the raising a portion of the capital costs through debt instruments such as state revenue bonds as mine life of the proven reserve will be greater than the repayment period of the bonds.
President and CEO Thomas Conway noted, "This small program is a simple series of in-fill holes, samples from which will be sent for whole rock analysis to confirm the grade and thickness of the Kelly's Basin ore body currently categorized as a probable reserve. Strong progress is being made on the permitting process as well and we remain in schedule for submission of the permitting documentation and the beginning of the review and approval process on or about August 15 as well."
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for i-minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that hosts Kelly's Basin feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study.. High purity quartz (greater than 99.98% SiO2) can be produced through a standard flotation process. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co ("SRK"), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. Preliminary exploration work on occurrences of primary clay deposits has identified variable concentrations of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar. The Company commissioned SRK to complete and initial assessment of the primary clay deposits through a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") which is based upon limited, widely spaced drilling over large areas. While additional assessment work is required to fully assess the economic viability of the deposits, the PEA yielded a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48% and indicated these primary clay deposits may represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications.
i-minerals inc.
Thomas M. Conway, President & CEO
This News Release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Twister
13 years ago
IMAHF/IMA...DURTEC GmbH to study halloysite markets and applications
http://www.imineralsinc.com/s/NewsReleases.asp?ReportID=464276
i-minerals teams up with DURTEC GmbH to study halloysite markets and applications.
Vancouver, B.C. -- June 27, 2011 - i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA) (the "Company") announces it has entered into a two part consulting agreement with DURTEC GmbH. The first part of the agreement is a detailed market study that will identify both tradional uses for halloysite as well as prospective markets at the research and development stage that rely on the unique charactersitics of the nano-scale tubular shape of halloysite. Halloysite, which is also referred to as"Halloyste Nano Tubes" or "HNT"can be added to a wide range of applications to improve the performance of the basic product. These applications include , functional fillers for paper, plastics, paints, as a mineral absorber in clean technology for gas / air treatment, renewable energy such as biomass cleaning and as a time release agent in Life Sciences applications such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices and animal feed.
Upon the successful completion of the market research phase of the agreement, DURTEC will start a laboratory research phase that will test i-minerals halloysite in some of the applications identified during the first phase of the work. Initial test work by DURTEC indicated i-minerals halloysite had the lowest levels of selected trace elements of four halloysite products tested and the highest aspect ratio (the ratio of length of a nanotube to diameter). This combination of the low trace elements and high aspect ratio makes for a superior halloysite product and may provide strong advantages in some high value applications.
About DURTEC GmbH
DURTECH GmbH is a research firm founded in 1990 and located in Neubrandenburg, Germany. It is headed by Dr. Joachim Schomburg who has over 35 years of experience in a range of mineral research and innovation projects. Dr. Schomburg and DURTEC have authored more than 80 scientific papers including life sciences and nanotechnology applications. DURTEC is a leader in mineral-based applications for Nanotechnology and Clean Technology and a developer of a related portfolio of patents. For more information http://www.durtec-gmbh.de/
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that hosts Kelly's Basin feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co ("SRK"), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. Preliminary exploration work on occurrences of primary clay deposits has identified variable concentrations of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar. The Company commissioned SRK to complete and initial assessment of the primary clay deposits through a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") which is based upon limited, widely spaced drilling over large areas. While additional assessment work is required to fully assess the economic viability of the deposits, the PEA yielded a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48% and indicated these primary clay deposits may represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications.
i-minerals inc.
Per: "Thomas M. Conway"
Thomas M. Conway,
President & CEO
Contact:
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
Email: info@imineralsinc.com
Or visit our website at www.imineralsinc.com
Encompass Communications Inc.
604.630.0770
info@encompassinc.ca
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS NEWS RELEASE.
This News Release includes certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. Actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of the following factors, among others: changes in the world wide price of mineral market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risk associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and uncertainty of access to additional capital.
Twister
13 years ago
IMAHF News...
May 4, 2011 (Marketwire) --
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 05/04/11 -- i-minerals inc. (TSX VENTURE:IMA)(PINK SHEETS:IMAHF) ("the Company") announces it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire an undivided 100% interest in two State of Idaho mineral leases in Latah County Idaho. The two leases cover a total area of 320 acres and are contiguous with other mineral leases held by the Company. Consideration payable is US$10,000 and the issuance of 50,000 shares. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval including that of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") and securities issued will be subject to the policies of the Exchange.
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for i-minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that hosts Kelly's Basin feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co ("SRK"), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. Preliminary exploration work on occurrences of primary clay deposits has identified variable concentrations of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar. The Company commissioned SRK to complete and initial assessment of the primary clay deposits through a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") which is based upon limited, widely spaced drilling over large areas. While additional assessment work is required to fully assess the economic viability of the deposits, the PEA yielded a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48% and indicated these primary clay deposits may represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications.
i-minerals inc.
Thomas M. Conway, President & CEO
Twister
13 years ago
I-minerals closes on private placements...
Vancouver, B.C. (April 29, 2011) i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA) ("i-minerals" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the closing of a brokered private placement through Canaccord Genuity Corp. ("Canaccord" or the "Agent"), and a non-brokered private placement (collectively, "the Offering"), as originally announced on January 19, 2011 and as amended on March 22, 2011.
The brokered portion of the Offering consisted of the sale of 12,000,000 Units at a price of $0.25 each, for aggregate subscription proceeds of $3,000,000, each Unit consisting of one common share and one Warrant, with each Warrant entitling the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.40 until April 29, 2013.
In connection with the closing of this brokered private placement, the Company paid Canaccord a commission of $240,000 and has issued to Canaccord the following securities to Canaccord:
(a) 1,200,000 Agent's Warrants, each entitling Canaccord to purchase one common share at a price of $0.25 until April 29, 2013; and
(b) 450,000 Corporate Finance Units, each consisting of the same securities comprising the Units disclosed above.
The non-brokered portion of the Offering consisted of the sale of 8,000,000 Units at a price of $0.25 each, for aggregate subscription proceeds of $2,000,000, each Unit having the same terms as the Units being sold pursuant to the brokered private placement. A company controlled by a director of i-minerals subscribed for a total of 5,220,000 of these Units.
All of the securities issued in connection with the closing of the Offering, including the securities issued to Canaccord, are subject to a hold period in Canada until August 30, 2011.
The funds raised pursuant to the Offering will be used to advance the Helmer-Bovill Project and for general working capital purposes.
Dobie Lama
13 years ago
Thursday March 10, 2011, 9:00 am EST
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - 03/10/11) - i-minerals inc. (TSX-V:IMA - News)(PINK SHEETS:IMAHF - News) ("the Company") has been advised by Minerals Research Laboratory at North Carolina State University ("MRL") bench scale flotation testing of a feldspathic sand sample derived from the primary clay is underway. The feldspathic sand fraction is the residual portion of primary clay after the kaolinite - halloysite clay fraction has been removed. MRL will utilize a triple flotation process for upgrading the quartz product similar to that used during previously test work on the Kelly's Basin granitoid ores. This earlier flotation work yielded a quartz product with total trace elements of approximately 117 parts per million ("ppm"), which aside from titanium levels of about 12 ppm, meets all high pure quartz product market specifications (total trace elements less than 300ppm). At present, i-minerals has identified a number of high value market applications that are tolerant of titanium at the 12 ppm levels. The purpose of this round of metallurgical work is to determine whether there is lower initial titanium levels in the quartz derived from the primary clays. Should the current flotation work indicate lower initial levels of titanium, samples will be sent to an internationally recognized specialty laboratory in Europe for leach testing to see if the quartz can be further upgraded to ultra high purity quartz (total trace elements less than 30 ppm). Ultra high purity quartz products can command prices of several thousand dollars per ton.
With respect to the Kelly's Basin feasibility, the Company has received from SRK Consulting (US) Inc. ("SRK") a series of collar locations for 15 additional drill holes. The purpose of these drill holes is to upgrade the first 10 years of production under the mine plan to proven reserves from the current probable reserves (please refer to the Kelly's Basin Prefeasibility Study available on our website at www.imineralsinc.com). The holes are all relatively short, generally about 150 feet and should take about 18 days to complete once drilling is underway. The higher classification of reserve will facilitate raising a portion of the capital costs through debt instruments such as state revenue bonds as the repayment period of the bonds will be parallel to the defined proven resource. Subject to the completion of the current financing, the feasibility study on Kelly's Basin should be completed on or before August 15, 2011.
Tetra Tech Environmental, the primary environmental consultant has provided a detailed permitting schedule. Subject to the completion of the current financing the Section 404 Wetlands Permit Application, Section 401 Clean Water Act requirements, DEQ Air Quality and other permit applications are expected to be submitted on or before August 15, 2011. The draft National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") Environmental Assessment ("EA") is expected to be submitted to the Army Corps for review and comment on or before August 15, 2011.
President and CEO Thomas Conway noted, "In the few weeks I have been president of i-minerals I have completed a thorough review of the projects and related production plans and have met with all major consultants to the company: SRK, Roberts & Schaeffer and Tetra Tech. This baseline work has been satisfactorily completed by these well regarded engineering firms. I believe the development schedule at Kelly's Basin had unnecessarily fallen off schedule and the initial assessment of the primary clay deposits unduly delayed. My mandate as CEO is to complete the feasibility and submit all permitting applications on Kelly's Basin on or before August 15, 2011. Successful completion of the feasibility and permitting process as scheduled will allow the Company to begin to pursue the funding of capital costs for the Kelly's Basin deposit towards the end of the year. We also need to gain a better understanding of our primary clay deposits, which driven by the indications of very large volumes of halloysite offers great potential. To this end we are planning on completing a phase two drill program and prefeasibility study prior to year end. I am confident with the closing of the recently announced financing we can meet these objectives and begin to unlock the significant value of these deposits. As a company we need to work harder to make the investment community more aware of our company and the significant value of its deposits as our market value does not reflect the valuations calculated in our recent prefeasibility study and PEA."
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for i-minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that host two deposits of high value industrial minerals. Kelly's Basin is a feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co ("SRK"), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. The primary clay deposits which contain a mixture of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar were the subject of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") also by SRK which calculated a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48%. While additional assessment work needs to be completed, the PEA indicates the primary clay deposits represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications.
i-minerals inc.
Thomas M. Conway, President & CEO
This News Release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Contact:
Contacts:i-minerals inc.Barry Girling877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573604-684-0642 (FAX)info@imineralsinc.comwww.imineralsinc.comEncompass Communications Inc.604-630-0770info@encompassinc.ca
1iftrue
13 years ago
Dob, so true and so funny, pump pump pump pump, if I keep saying it enough I think I will get the habit of pumping down so others will have to pump with me, LOL, I sure know some posters have got it down to a science. Thanks for the suggestion, we could go to school together, you don't mind if I cheat off of you and Doub, do you?
Mr. Zen
13 years ago
i-minerals inc.: Feasibility, Permitting and Metallurgical Work Update
- Flotation Testing of feldspathic (feldspar - quartz) sand fraction derived from primary clay underway
- SRK designs 15 hole drill program on Kelly's Basin to upgrade first 10 years of production to Proven Reserve from Probable Reserve
- Permitting on schedule for submittal of draft Environmental Assessment to the US Army Corps of Engineers on or before August 15, 2011.
I-MINERALS INC.Related Quotes
IMA.V 0.2850 0.00
Thursday March 10, 2011, 9:00 am EST
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - 03/10/11) - i-minerals inc. (TSX-V:IMA - News)(PINK SHEETS:IMAHF - News) ("the Company") has been advised by Minerals Research Laboratory at North Carolina State University ("MRL") bench scale flotation testing of a feldspathic sand sample derived from the primary clay is underway. The feldspathic sand fraction is the residual portion of primary clay after the kaolinite - halloysite clay fraction has been removed. MRL will utilize a triple flotation process for upgrading the quartz product similar to that used during previously test work on the Kelly's Basin granitoid ores. This earlier flotation work yielded a quartz product with total trace elements of approximately 117 parts per million ("ppm"), which aside from titanium levels of about 12 ppm, meets all high pure quartz product market specifications (total trace elements less than 300ppm). At present, i-minerals has identified a number of high value market applications that are tolerant of titanium at the 12 ppm levels. The purpose of this round of metallurgical work is to determine whether there is lower initial titanium levels in the quartz derived from the primary clays. Should the current flotation work indicate lower initial levels of titanium, samples will be sent to an internationally recognized specialty laboratory in Europe for leach testing to see if the quartz can be further upgraded to ultra high purity quartz (total trace elements less than 30 ppm). Ultra high purity quartz products can command prices of several thousand dollars per ton.
With respect to the Kelly's Basin feasibility, the Company has received from SRK Consulting (US) Inc. ("SRK") a series of collar locations for 15 additional drill holes. The purpose of these drill holes is to upgrade the first 10 years of production under the mine plan to proven reserves from the current probable reserves (please refer to the Kelly's Basin Prefeasibility Study available on our website at www.imineralsinc.com). The holes are all relatively short, generally about 150 feet and should take about 18 days to complete once drilling is underway. The higher classification of reserve will facilitate raising a portion of the capital costs through debt instruments such as state revenue bonds as the repayment period of the bonds will be parallel to the defined proven resource. Subject to the completion of the current financing, the feasibility study on Kelly's Basin should be completed on or before August 15, 2011.
Tetra Tech Environmental, the primary environmental consultant has provided a detailed permitting schedule. Subject to the completion of the current financing the Section 404 Wetlands Permit Application, Section 401 Clean Water Act requirements, DEQ Air Quality and other permit applications are expected to be submitted on or before August 15, 2011. The draft National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") Environmental Assessment ("EA") is expected to be submitted to the Army Corps for review and comment on or before August 15, 2011.
President and CEO Thomas Conway noted, "In the few weeks I have been president of i-minerals I have completed a thorough review of the projects and related production plans and have met with all major consultants to the company: SRK, Roberts & Schaeffer and Tetra Tech. This baseline work has been satisfactorily completed by these well regarded engineering firms. I believe the development schedule at Kelly's Basin had unnecessarily fallen off schedule and the initial assessment of the primary clay deposits unduly delayed. My mandate as CEO is to complete the feasibility and submit all permitting applications on Kelly's Basin on or before August 15, 2011. Successful completion of the feasibility and permitting process as scheduled will allow the Company to begin to pursue the funding of capital costs for the Kelly's Basin deposit towards the end of the year. We also need to gain a better understanding of our primary clay deposits, which driven by the indications of very large volumes of halloysite offers great potential. To this end we are planning on completing a phase two drill program and prefeasibility study prior to year end. I am confident with the closing of the recently announced financing we can meet these objectives and begin to unlock the significant value of these deposits. As a company we need to work harder to make the investment community more aware of our company and the significant value of its deposits as our market value does not reflect the valuations calculated in our recent prefeasibility study and PEA."
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person ("QP") for i-minerals inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About i-minerals inc.
i-minerals holds ten minerals leases in northwestern Idaho that host two deposits of high value industrial minerals. Kelly's Basin is a feldspar-quartz deposit that is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study. A pre-feasibility study completed by SRK Consulting (USA) Inc. of Denver Co ("SRK"), calculated a NPV of $61 million and an IRR of 19%. The primary clay deposits which contain a mixture of kaolinite, halloysite, quartz and feldspar were the subject of a Preliminary Economic Assessment (the "PEA") also by SRK which calculated a NPV of $95 million and an IRR of 48%. While additional assessment work needs to be completed, the PEA indicates the primary clay deposits represent the largest deposit of halloysite in North America. Halloysite is a unique tubular shaped alumina-silicate mineral often referred to as a halloysite nanotube which is being increasingly used in nanotechnology applications.
i-minerals inc.
Thomas M. Conway, President & CEO
This News Release may contain forward-looking statements based on assumptions and judgments of management regarding future events or results that may prove to be inaccurate as a result of risk factors beyond its control, and actual results may differ materially from the expected results.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Contact:
Contacts:i-minerals inc.Barry Girling877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573604-684-0642 (FAX)info@imineralsinc.comwww.imineralsinc.comEncompass Communications Inc.604-630-0770info@encompassinc.ca
Mr. Zen
13 years ago
i-minerals inc.: Thomas M. Conway Appointed President & CEO
i-minerals inc. (TSX VENTURE: IMA)(PINK SHEETS: IMAHF) (the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Thomas M. Conway as President and CEO of the Company. Mr. Conway replaces Roger A. Kauffman who has resigned these positions for personal reasons but will continue as a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman (non-executive).
Mr. Conway holds a B.S.-Mining Engineering (University of Minnesota) and attended Harvard Business School's Executive MBA program. He is a results-oriented executive with 20 years of diverse experience largely with Newmont Mining Corporation ("Newmont") in operations, general management, environmental affairs and risk management. His experience covers domestic and international assignments in open pit and underground operations where he has a record of enhancing operations through improved cost control and productivity innovations, while maintaining safety and environmental standards.
Highlights of Mr. Conway's successful career at Newmont included his role of Vice President Risk Management where he developed corporate risk management strategies relating to health and safety, environmental, internal audit and legal aspects of mining operations. His operational experience included Vice President / General Manager Carlin Operations where he was responsible for a 2 million ounce per year operation with 1,600 salaried and hourly employees; and Vice President / General manager Minera Yanacocha where under his guidance Yanacocha expanded annual gold production from 300,000 ounces to 1.2 million ounces in 3 years. Mr. Conway also served as assistant General Manager at Yanacocha where he was responsible for the start-up - ahead of schedule and under budget - of two metallurgical plants and three open pit mines. Mr. Conway has a strong understanding of the permitting process through time served as Manager, Environmental Affairs Carlin Operations, where he was responsible for compliance and permitting, and negotiations with the EPA and the State of Nevada regulators.
Management of i-minerals thanks Mr. Kauffman for his contributions towards advancing the Company's mineral assets and looks forward to his continued participation in his new role as Chairman.
In an unrelated matter, BV Natural Resources, a company controlled by Allen Ball, a director of the Company, has agreed to advance the Company up to $750,000 in one or more installments. It is intended that the funds advanced shall represent an advance against the Company's planned non-brokered private placement, assuming that each of the private placements as announced on January 19, 2011 closes as announced.
i-minerals inc.
Barry Girling, Director
This News Release includes certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. Actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of the following factors, among others: changes in the world wide price of mineral market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risk associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and uncertainty of access to additional capital.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
Contacts:
i-minerals inc.
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
info@imineralsinc.com
www.imineralsinc.com
Encompass Communications Inc.
877-566-6592 or 604-630-0770
info@encompassinc.ca
wald
13 years ago
Last PPS: $0.32
Issued & Outstanding: 39,850,242
Conversion of Debentures: 2,715,285
Warrants: 12,318,481
Options: 2,480,000
Fully Diluted: 57,364,008
The new financing will increase the issued and outstanding by
13,333,334 shares and a like number of 2 year warrants priced at C$ 0.40
The immediate cash inflow should be near C$ 4,000,000.
Right?
How far should that take us?
Dobie Lama
13 years ago
-minerals announced Brokered Private and Non-Brokered Private Placements
Vancouver, B.C. (January 19, 2011) i-minerals inc. (TSX.V: IMA) (“i-minerals� or the “Company�)
has agreed to terms on two private placements: a brokered private placement through Canaccord Genuity Corp. and a non-brokered private placement with Company Insiders, both of which bear identical terms. With respect to the first private placement, the Company has engaged Canaccord Genuity Corp. (“Canaccord� or the “Agent�) on a brokered private placement to raise up to $ 2 million through the sale of units (“Units�) on a commercially reasonable efforts basis. Each Unit will be priced at $0.30 and will consist of one common share and one share purchase warrant, with each warrant to entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share at a price of $0.40 for a period of two years from closing. The Company has also granted Canaccord an overallotment option, pursuant to which it will have an option to solicit the sale of additional Units to raise gross proceeds of up to an additional $1 million, exercisable at any time in whole or in part until 48 hours prior to closing (the “Overallotment Option�).
The second private placement will also be for up to $2 million though the sale of units, with each unit having the same terms as the Units being sold pursuant to the brokered private placement. Insiders of the Company will participate in this second private placement.
The funds raised pursuant to the offering will be used to advance the Helmer-Bovill Project and for general working capital purposes.
i-minerals inc.
Per: “Roger Kauffman�
President & CEO
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act�) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.
Contact:
Barry Girling
Encompass Communications Inc.
Dobie Lama
13 years ago
Halloysite, a naturally occurring aluminosilicate nanotube, has been undeservedly forgotten. Halloysite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4•2H2O) is a two-layered aluminosilicate, with a predominantly hollow tubular structure in the submicron range and chemically similar to kaolin1,2. The neighboring alumina and silica layers, and their waters of hydration, curve and form multilayer tubes (Figure 1) due to a packing disorder. Halloysite is an economically viable material that can be mined from the corresponding deposit as a raw mineral.2 As for most natural materials, the size of halloysite particles varies within 1-15 microns of length and 10-150 nm of inner diameter, depending on the deposits. In our research, we use halloysite G produced by Atlas Mining, Nanoclay Technology Division and available from Sigma-Aldrich (Aldrich Prod. No. 685445). This material has an average tube diameter of 50 nm and inner lumen diameter of 15 nm (Figure 1). Typical specific surface area of this halloysite is 65 m2/g; pore volume of ~ 1.25 mL/g; refractive index 1.54; and specific gravity 2.53 g/cm3.
Yes, IMAHF has one of the largest deposit of halloysite and it can be open pit mined.
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Renee
1 year ago
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