UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of report (Date of earliest event
reported): January 6, 2015
INTERNATIONAL TOWER HILL MINES LTD.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified
in Charter)
British Columbia, Canada |
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001-33638 |
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N/A |
(State or Other Jurisdiction |
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(Commission |
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(IRS Employer |
of Incorporation) |
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File Number) |
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Identification No.) |
1177 West Hastings Street, Suite 2300, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
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V6E 2K3 |
(Address of Principal Executive Offices) |
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(Zip Code) |
Registrant’s telephone number,
including area code: (604) 683-3332
(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed
Since Last Report.)
Check the appropriate box below if the
Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions
(see General Instruction A.2. below):
o Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
o Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
o Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
o Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
Item 7.01 Regulation FD Disclosure.
On January 6, 2015 International Tower Hill
Mines Ltd. (the “Company”) reported on the progress made toward optimization of the Livengood Gold Project, Alaska
as well as the Company’s plans for metallurgical, field and engineering work for 2015. A copy of the press release is furnished
as Exhibit 99.1 hereto.
Item 9.01 Financial Statements and Exhibits.
(d) Exhibits.
Exhibit
No. |
Description |
99.1 |
Press release of the Company, dated January 6, 2015, regarding the Livengood Gold Project, Alaska. |
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
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International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. |
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(Registrant) |
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Dated: January 7, 2015 |
By: |
/s/ Thomas Irwin |
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Name: |
Thomas Irwin |
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Title: |
President and Chief Executive Officer |
Exhibit Index
Exhibit
No. |
Description |
99.1 |
Press release of the Company, dated January 6, 2015, regarding the Livengood Gold Project, Alaska |
Exhibit 99.1
International Tower
Hill Mines Announces Progress on Livengood Gold Project Optimization and Establishes Work Plans for 2015
VANCOUVER, Jan. 6, 2015
/CNW/ - International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. ("ITH" or the "Company") - (TSX: ITH) (NYSE-MKT: THM) today announces
the progress made to date toward optimization of the Livengood Gold Project (Project), an outstanding project in a favorable jurisdiction
that remains highly leveraged to the price of gold. The 2014 work has developed an improved production schedule, as compared to
the feasibility study that was summarized in the September 4, 2013 NI-43-101 report (September 2013 Study), and generated detailed
work plans for 2015. The work plans will include additional metallurgical tests and engineering and focus on all aspects of the
Project, including confirmation of the flow sheet and optimizing the operating costs. Once defined, these operating costs (OPEX)
will then be used to evaluate and optimize the project configuration and capital costs (CAPEX), including determination of the
optimum scale for the Project.
Tom Irwin, CEO, said "We
have more work to do, but I am pleased with the progress we made this year and believe 2015's work plans and optimization efforts
will allow us to bring the best project forward to prepare for permitting."
Findings from 2014
Work
During 2014, in addition
to the mine production scheduling and detailed metallurgical test work review, power supply alternatives were reviewed to determine
how changing energy supply dynamics might impact the Project assumptions regarding electrical generation. Construction and operations
camp alternatives were reviewed to better define the costs of supporting the manpower requirements for the Project. The Company
has also continued to advance environmental baseline work in support of future permitting in order to better position the Project
for a construction decision when warranted by market conditions.
Production Scheduling
Work completed by Metal
Mining Consultants Inc. of Denver, Colorado (MMC) utilizing Maptek Vulcan MineModeller, WhittleTM Pushback Optimizer
and Minemax Scheduler has resulted in revised production schedules for the Project at throughputs ranging from 11,250 to 90,000
tonnes/day. At the 90,000 tonnes/day case (the same throughput as in the 100,000 ton/day case used in the September 2013 Study),
the revised production schedule is shown in Table 1.
Table
1: MMC Optimized Production Schedule at 90,000 tonnes/day
|
Total |
Year 1 |
Year 2 |
Year 3 |
Year 4 |
Year 5 |
Year 6 |
Year 7 |
Year 8 |
Year 9 |
Year 10 |
Year 11 |
Year 12 |
tonnes |
386,788,771 |
26,600,000 |
33,300,000 |
33,300,000 |
33,300,000 |
33,300,000 |
33,300,001 |
33,300,000 |
33,300,000 |
33,300,002 |
33,300,000 |
31,312,355 |
29,176,413 |
Au g/tonne |
0.77 |
0.90 |
0.84 |
0.92 |
0.84 |
0.77 |
0.77 |
0.75 |
0.77 |
0.66 |
0.78 |
0.53 |
0.66 |
recovered Au oz |
7,723,552 |
648,202 |
755,582 |
816,570 |
723,421 |
681,598 |
649,977 |
652,601 |
645,759 |
562,343 |
631,929 |
444,959 |
510,611 |
As an estimate of the
potential scope of this improvement, importing this revised production schedule into the financial model used in the September
2013 Study would result in an increase in the NPV5% @ $1500/oz. gold of US $305M.
MMC also completed an
evaluation of the overall pit slope sensitivities at 40, 45, and 48 degrees. Again, as an estimate of the potential scope of this
change, integrating 45 degree slopes into the mine plan for the first five years, then reverting to the design slopes used in the
September 2013 Study and importing the resulting operating costs into the financial model used in the September 2013 Study, would
result in an additional increase in the NPV5% @ $1500/oz. gold of US $95M.
Metallurgical Review
As a result of the detailed
metallurgical review, the estimated recovery obtained from Rock Type 9 Main Volcanics has been re-evaluated and, based on the feasibility
test work, is estimated to be 78.8% as compared to the 84.1% used in the September 2013 Study. To illustrate the potential effect
of this, incorporating this recovery change into the financial model used in the September 2013 Study would result in a decrease
in the NPV5% @ $1500/oz. gold of US $183M.
Note that while the mine
design, production schedule, and recovery concepts described above will be carried forward and incorporated into future engineering
studies of the Project, the actual effect of these concepts on the Project may ultimately turn out to be different than suggested
above.
Head Grade
A review of the feasibility
study metallurgical test work metal balances has been completed by the Company and AMEC E&C Services, Inc. of Reno, Nevada.
This review determined that the observed calculated head grades from the 250-300kg composite samples of the five primary rock types
of the Livengood deposit processed by SGS Vancouver during 2012 and 2013 met or exceeded the drill assay grades used to project
the Project reserve grade by a ratio of 1.00 to 1.43, depending on rock type, as shown in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Composite
Sample Assay Based on ALS Drill Core Assays vs. Calculated Head Grade
Sample |
Percent
of Reserve
(see note 1) |
ALS
Composite
Assay g/mt |
SGS
Calculated
Head g/mt |
SGS/ALS
Ratio |
RT4 Optimization Composite |
14 |
0.74 |
0.94 |
1.27 |
RT5 Optimization Composite |
28 |
0.78 |
0.79 |
1.02 |
RT6 Optimization Composite |
18 |
0.79 |
0.85 |
1.08 |
GR(RT7UBL) |
0 |
0.93 |
0.93 |
1.00 |
GR(RT7BL) |
12 |
0.73 |
1.05 |
1.43 |
RT7 May 2013 Tailings Test Composite |
N/A |
0.76 |
1.03 |
1.36 |
RT9 Optimization Composite |
25 |
0.97 |
1.03 |
1.06 |
Note 1 - based on September 2013 Study |
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As described below in
the 2015 work plan, further test work is underway in an attempt to provide additional confirmation of this analysis. While it is
not certain that the results of this work will be sufficient to justify a change in deposit resource grade to be used for any future
financial analysis, if the head grades observed to date can be validated by further test work, it will, at a minimum, provide confirmation
that the Project resource has been modelled conservatively. As an estimate of the potential scope of this improvement, if the higher
head grade as represented by the SGS/ALS ratio was incorporated into the financial model used in the September 2013 Study, it would
result in an increase in the NPV5% @ $1500/oz. gold of $892M.
2015 Metallurgical,
Field, and Engineering Work Plan
Due to the potential importance
of the 2014 head grade evaluation to the Project, a significant multi-phase metallurgical test work program is already underway
in an attempt to validate the observed higher calculated head grades. For subsequent phases of this program, bulk samples of several
thousand kilograms of each of the major rock types have been selected and are being prepared for shipment. The objectives of the
2015 metallurgical test program are to:
| · | Optimize the gravity circuit |
| · | Optimize the grind size and power consumption |
| · | Optimize the reagent consumption |
| · | Optimize the leach retention time |
| · | Confirm the overall recoveries by rock type |
| · | Provide additional confirmation of the Project head grades. |
Review of the feasibility
test work to date indicates that there is a potential that further optimization of the parameters noted above could result in CAPEX
and OPEX reductions for the Project. However, until this multi-phase metallurgical program has been completed, there can
be no assurance that the head grade differences observed to date, or the potential process optimizations and cost savings opportunities
identified, will in fact be realized.
Field work will be conducted
in 2015 to advance the environmental baseline and to evaluate alternatives for fresh water supply with potential to reduce Project
costs.
Once the test work and
field work is completed and the process costs are better defined, these costs will then serve as input to an engineering phase
that will evaluate and optimize the project configuration and CAPEX and OPEX, including determining the optimum scale for the Project,
any of which may be different than that assumed in the September 2013 Study.
About the Livengood
Gold Project
For full details with
respect to the assumptions underlying the current reserve and resource estimates and feasibility economic analysis for the Livengood
Gold Project, see the technical report entitled "Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Livengood Gold
Project, Feasibility Study, Livengood, Alaska," dated September 4, 2013, and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR
or on the Company's website.
Qualified Person
Chris Puchner (CPG 07048),
a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this
news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Puchner is not independent of ITH, as he is the Chief Geologist of the
Company and holds common shares and incentive stock options.
About International
Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
International Tower Hill
Mines Ltd. controls 100% of the Livengood Gold Project that contains 15.7M oz. of gold (807 MT at 0.61 g/t) measured & indicated
and 4.4M oz. (266 MT at 0.52 g/t) inferred, all at a 0.30 g/t gold cutoff, located along the paved Elliott Highway, 70 miles north
of Fairbanks, Alaska.
On behalf of
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
(signed) Thomas E.
Irwin
Chief Executive Officer
Cautionary Note
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press
release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements")
within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact,
included herein, including statements with respect to the ability of the Company to optimize and/or enhance the base case as set
out in the Feasibility Study for the Livengood Project, including with respect to OPEX and CAPEX, the potential changes to the
Project NPV5% @ $1500/oz gold and the magnitude thereof (which are given only as examples to illustrate the potential scope thereof),
including the potential for higher head grades, the ability of the Company to potentially include the results of the optimization
process in a new or updated feasibility study or any future financial analysis of the Project, the ability of the Company to carry
forward and incorporate into future engineering studies of the Project the mine design, production schedule, and recovery
concepts described above, the potential for the Company to carry out an engineering phase that will evaluate and optimize the project
configuration and CAPEX and OPEX, including determining the optimum scale for the Project, the ability of the Company to advance
the Livengood Project, the potential for the Company to make a construction decision, whether when warranted by market conditions
or at all, the potential for market conditions to be such that they warrant the making of a production decision, the potential
development of any mine at Livengood, business and financing plans and business trends are forward-looking statements. Information
concerning mineral reserve/resource estimates and the economic analysis thereof contained in the feasibility study also may be
deemed to be forward-looking statements in that it reflects a prediction of the mineralization that would be encountered, and the
results of mining it, if a mineral deposit were developed and mined. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable,
it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by
words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate, proposed, planned, potential and similar expressions,
or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements
by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in
forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, variations in the nature, quality and
quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce
or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities,
the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth,
to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed
in the Company's Annual Information Form filed with certain securities commissions in Canada and the Company's annual report on
Form 10-K filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), and other information released
by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may
be accessed via www.sedar.com and its United
States public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sec.gov,
and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical report filed with respect to the Company's Livengood
property.
Cautionary Note
Regarding References to Resources and Reserves
National Instrument
43 101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") is a rule developed by the Canadian Securities Administrators
which establishes standards for all public disclosure an issuer makes of scientific and technical information concerning mineral
projects. Unless otherwise indicated, all resource and reserve estimates contained in or incorporated by reference in this news
release have been prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 and the guidelines set out in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy
and Petroleum (the "CIM") Standards on Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves, adopted by the CIM Council on November
27, 2010 (the "CIM Standards") as they may be amended from time to time by the CIM.
United States shareholders
are cautioned that the requirements and terminology of NI 43-101 and the CIM Standards differ significantly from the requirements
and terminology of the SEC set forth in the SEC's Industry Guide 7 ("SEC Industry Guide 7"). Accordingly, the Company's
disclosures regarding mineralization may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by companies subject to SEC Industry
Guide 7. Without limiting the foregoing, while the terms "mineral resources", "inferred mineral resources",
"indicated mineral resources" and "measured mineral resources" are recognized and required by NI 43-101 and
the CIM Standards, they are not recognized by the SEC and are not permitted to be used in documents filed with the SEC by companies
subject to SEC Industry Guide 7.
Mineral resources which
are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability, and investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any
part of a mineral resource will ever be converted into reserves. The preliminary assessments on the Livengood Project are preliminary
in nature and include "inferred mineral resources" that have a great amount of uncertainty as to their existence, and
are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized
as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that such inferred mineral resources at the Livengood Project will ever be realized.
Further, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of the inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher resource category.
Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of a feasibility study or prefeasibility study,
except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource exists or is economically
or legally mineable.
The SEC normally only
permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves" as in-place
tonnage and grade without reference to unit amounts. The term "contained ounces" is not permitted under the rules of
SEC Industry Guide 7. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition of a "reserve" differs from the definition
in SEC Industry Guide 7. In SEC Industry Guide 7, a mineral reserve is defined as a part of a mineral deposit which could be economically
and legally extracted or produced at the time the mineral reserve determination is made, and a "final" or "bankable"
feasibility study is required to report reserves, the three-year historical price is used in any reserve or cash flow analysis
of designated reserves and the primary environmental analysis or report must be filed with the appropriate governmental authority.
This news release is
not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
SOURCE INTERNATIONAL TOWER
HILL MINES LTD.
For further information:
Contact Information: Rick Solie, Manager - Investor Relations, E-mail: rsolie@ithmines.com,
Direct line: 907-328-2825, Toll-Free: 1-855-428-2825
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