I-Minerals Pre-Feasibility Study of Its Bovill Kaolin Project Yields $150million After Tax NPV and 28% IRR
03 Janvier 2013 - 1:30PM
Marketwired Canada
I-Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE:IMA)(PINKSHEETS:IMAHF) ("the Company") is pleased
to announce estimated Indicated Mineral Resources of 5.7 million short tons and
the accompanying results of the Technical Economic Model (TEM) of its
Prefeasibility Study ("PFS") for its Bovill Kaolin-Halloysite-Quartz-K-Spar
Project (the "Bovill Kaolin Project"). Highlights of the TEM include:
-- $237 million Pre-Tax NPV; US$150 million After Tax NPV
-- 37% Pre-Tax IRR; 28% After Tax IRR
-- Initial Capital Cost of $66.0 and Total Life of Mine Capital costs $83.3
million
-- 5.7 million short tons of resources
-- 4.0 million short tons of reserves
-- 25+ year mine life with 0.39:1 strip ratio
-- 3 year estimated after tax payback
Statement of Mineral Resources
The Indicated Mineral Resources are reported in Table 1. No mining cut-off grade
is applied since all material within the pit design 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 Indicated Mineral Resources from the WBL Pit and
Middle Ridge areas (as of 18 December 2012)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Percent (%) Tons (000s)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total felds- Kaol- Halloy- felds- Kaol- Halloy-
Tons pathic inite site pathic inite site
(000s) Sand Clay Clay Waste Sand Clay Clay Waste
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5,690 75.6 13.8 2.8 7.8 4,302 785 159 444
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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 $236/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. 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.
Mineral Reserves are presented below in Table 2 and production highlights are
tabulated in Table 3.
Table 2: Statement of Probable Mineral Reserves, (as of 18 December 2012)
All figures thousands of tons
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total Quartz K-feldspar Kaolinite Halloysite
Tons Sand Sand Clay Clay
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3,995 2,243 897 709 147
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Table 3:Production Highlights
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------------------------------------------------------------
Parameter Value
------------------------------------------------------------
Average Annual Production Rate 208 kst
------------------------------------------------------------
Process Throughput Rate (nominal) 800 tons ore per day
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Stripping Ratio (waste:ore) 0.39
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Mine Life (market limited) 25+ years
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On an after-tax basis, technical-economics indicate an NPV6% of US$150 million
with an IRR of 28%. Payback will occur 3 years from the start of production.
Economic results are summarized below.
Table 4: Economic Results(1)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LoM Value LoM Value Unit Cost
(US$000s) (US$000s) (US$/ton
Description Pre-Tax Atfer-Tax product)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Revenue $943,000 $943,000 $236
Marketing ($4,000) ($4,000) ($1.00)
Royalties (5% sales) ($47,000) ($47,000) ($11.80)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gross Income $892,000 $892,000 $223
Mining Costs ($50,800) ($50,800) ($12.70)
Processing Costs ($204,200) ($204,200) ($51.10)
G&A Costs ($6,000) ($6,000) ($1.50)
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Operating Costs ($261,000) ($261,000) ($65.30)
Mine Capital ($1,100) ($1,100) -
Process Capital ($66,700) ($66,700) -
Tailings Capital ($11,800) ($11,800) -
Owner Capital ($3,700) ($3,700) -
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
LoM Capital ($83,300) ($83,300) -
Taxes ($190,400) -
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Subtotal Capital & Tax ($83,300) ($273,700) -
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----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CASH FLOW $357,300 $357,300 -
NPV6% $236,700 $150,000 -
IRR 37% 28% -
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(1) Differences 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 deposits of high quality K-feldspar, quartz, and
halloysite in the Western United States. This pre-feasibility study is
preliminary in nature.
"We are very pleased with the technical economic results of the Pre-feasibility
study and there is material latitude going forward to improve on these results,"
commented Thomas Conway, President and CEO of I-Minerals Inc. "There are large
areas of primary clay which have had insufficient drilling to be categorized as
indicated resources and these areas of inferred resources could not be included
in the pre-feasibility modeling. Additional drilling and metallurgical work
offers the prospects on not only increasing indicated resources of primary clay,
but should also lead to the discovery of additional high grade halloysite zones.
The detailed metallurgical work undertaken as part of the PFS process
demonstrated the halloysite was not uniformly distributed throughout the primary
clay. This resulted in the PFS halloysite resources being only about 150,000
tons whereas the inferred halloysite resource in the 2011 PEA was something
approaching 235,000 tons - yet the difference in after tax NPV is only about 3%.
The demand for our products has never been as strong as it is at present despite
the slow growing economy. We believe this is a testament to our products being
some of the highest quality available. Beyond the halloysite with incomparable
combination of aspect ratio and purity, chemically our K-spar is equal to or
better than the industry's best of the past which is no longer produced while
our ability to produce minimum 99.9% SiO2 purity quartz through flotation
processing leaves us incredibly well positioned. Some major industrial minerals
companies are taking notice - and why wouldn't they? This has the potential to
get very exciting."
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 4Q 2012
US dollars.
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.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
I-Minerals Inc.
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
604-684-0642 (FAX)
info@imineralsinc.com
www.imineralsinc.com
Encompass Communications Inc.
877-566-6592 or 604-630-0770
info@encompassinc.ca
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