news Mr. Robert Bell reports
INV METALS INITIATES DRILLING AT LOMA LARGA PROJECT IN ECUADOR (AKA QUIMSACOCHA)
INV Metals Inc. has initiated its first drill program at the Quimsacocha gold project located in Ecuador and it has renamed its Quimsacocha project, acquired from Iamgold Corp. in 2012 (see INV Metal's Nov. 14, 2012, news release), the Loma Larga gold project.
Robert Bell commented: "We are pleased to announce that the company commenced drilling at Loma Larga in late March following a lengthy and detailed review of all available data from previous work on the project. The data review was very successful in identifying numerous high-priority targets on the property that have potential to significantly add to Loma Larga's global gold resource and to discover new gold deposits on the property. The company plans to drill an initial program of 6,000 metres exploring for extensions and possible stacked gold lenses above and below the known gold mineralization and for new discoveries elsewhere on the property. In addition, a limited amount of drilling will be conducted to obtain core samples for additional metallurgical testing."
The company believes that the known resource remains open in several directions and has identified a number of potential extensions to the current indicated mineral resource estimate of 3.3 million ounces of gold within 32.6 million tonnes grading 3.2 grams per tonne gold, 22 grams per tonne silver and 0.20 per cent copper (see below for more details). The deposit appears to be open to the north where several historic intersections, approximately 150 metres to the north of the resource, could represent a continuation of the deposit. These intersections are not included in the current resource estimates and include 4.8 grams per tonne gold over 8.3 metres, 15.0 grams per tonne gold over 3.9 metres, 7.4 grams per tonne gold over 1.5 metres and 4.6 grams per tonne gold over 3.3 metres (1).
A crosscutting northwest-southeast structure has been identified on surface by geological mapping. This structure hosts intense silica alteration in outcrop over a 450-metre strike length, beginning about 200 metres northwest of the Loma Larga deposit. In addition to the positive surface indications, there are several mineralized drill intersections not included in the current resource estimates, including 5.6 g/t gold over 11.2 metres and 5.7 g/t gold over 38.1 metres, including 31.3 g/t gold over 3.7 metres (1).
In addition, the data review indicated a potential for multiple stacked lenses above and below the known resource. The concept of stacked lenses is supported by the presence of a number of high-grade intersections above the defined resource, including 8.4 g/t gold over 30.7 metres, 12.9 g/t gold over 13.6 metres and mineralized intersections approximately 75 metres below the known deposit, including 16.8 g/t gold over 9.1 metres and 3.0 g/t gold over 4.1 metres (1), separated by a horizontal gap of 375 metres with no previous drilling.
The company's highest-priority target that could represent a new deposit on the property is Loma Larga West, a 1.2-kilometre-long north-northwest-trending zone parallel to and west of the known resource. It has a magnetic-low signature similar to that over the Loma Larga deposit and positive drill indications at both ends of the magnetic anomaly.
(1) Drill intersections range from negligible g/t gold to those shown in this news release. The potential quantity and grade of the drill intersections are conceptual in nature, there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource, and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
Please go to the company's website for pertinent figures and diagrams relating to this news release.
Loma Larga property, Ecuador
In November, 2012, INV Metals successfully completed the purchase of a 100-per-cent interest in Iamgold Ecuador SA, which holds a 100-per-cent interest in the Loma Larga property, from Iamgold and various subsidiaries.
The Loma Larga deposit is a high-sulphidation epithermal gold-copper-silver deposit with a high-grade core of 2.1 million ounces grading 6.3 grams per tonne gold, surrounded by a lower-grade shell hosted by volcanic flows and volcaniclastics for a total indicated mineral resource estimated at 3.3 million ounces gold within 32.6 million tonnes grading 3.2 g/t gold, 22 g/t silver and 0.20 per cent copper, with an inferred mineral resource estimated at 200,000 ounces gold within 2.3 million tonnes grading 2.2 g/t Au, 27 g/t Ag and 0.22 per cent Cu, both at a net-smelter-return cut-off value of $22 (U.S.) per tonne, equivalent to approximately a 0.4 g/t gold cut-off. The deposit is a flat-lying north-south-striking cigar-shaped body, which is considered to be amenable to both open pit and underground mining scenarios. The mineralized zone hosting the resource has a strike length of approximately 1,600 m north-south by 120 m to 400 m east-west and is up to 60 m thick beginning approximately 120 m below surface. (See the company's National Instrument 43-101 technical report titled "Technical Report on the Quimsacocha Project, Azuay Province, Ecuador," dated July 18, 2012, by Wayne Valiant, Katharine Masun and John Postle, all qualified persons as defined under National Instrument 43-101, which is available on the company's website and the company's profile on SEDAR.)
Robert Bell, PGeo, of INV Metals, is a qualified person as such term is defined in National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the technical information and data related to the project included above.
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