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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 01/03/13 -- 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----------------------------------------------------------------------------5,690 75.6 13.8 2.8 7.8 4,302 785 159 444----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 HalloysiteTons Sand Sand Clay Clay---------------------------------------------------------------------------3,995 2,243 897 709 147---------------------------------------------------------------------------Table 3:Production Highlights------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Parameter Value------------------------------------------------------------Average Annual Production Rate 208 kst------------------------------------------------------------Process Throughput Rate (nominal) 800 tons ore per day------------------------------------------------------------Stripping Ratio (waste: ore) 0.39------------------------------------------------------------Mine Life (market limited) 25+ years------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
