John Macken, President and CEO of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:
IVN)(NYSE: IVN)(NASDAQ: IVN), and Doug Kirwin, Executive
Vice-President, Exploration, today announced additional details of
the exploration drilling at the company's Oyu Tolgoi Project in
Mongolia that has discovered a new zone of high-grade gold and
copper mineralization, which has characteristics of the earlier
high-grade discoveries at the Hugo Dummett and Southwest Oyu
deposits.
The Oyu Tolgoi mineralized structural corridor, as currently
defined, now has a total strike length in excess of 20 kilometres -
encompassing Oyu Tolgoi in the centre and more recent extensions to
the south and north onto the joint Ivanhoe-Entree agreement
area.
The latest discovery is highly significant because it indicates
that there is a strong probability of an additional gold-rich
copper deposit between the previously discovered Heruga Deposit and
the Southwest Oyu Deposit. An objective of the ongoing drilling is
to establish whether there is a continuous, high-grade mineralized
connection between the major Oyu Tolgoi desposits to the north and
the more recently discovered Heruga Deposit to the south.
The discovery, which is open to expansion in all directions, is
within Ivanhoe Mines' 100%-owned Oyu Tolgoi Mining Licence. It is
located in the three-kilometre gap between the Heruga Deposit,
which was discovered on the joint Ivanhoe-Entree licence area in
2007, and Ivanhoe's 100%-owned Southern Oyu deposits that were
delineated by Ivanhoe's earlier exploration between 2001 and
2005.
Deep diamond drilling on a section 1.5 kilometres north of the
Heruga Deposit and 1.5 kilometres south of the Southwest Oyu
Deposit targeted a gradient-array Induced Polarization (IP)
chargeability anomaly that extends from Heruga to Southwest Oyu.
Zones of high-grade copper and gold mineralization were intersected
over a distance of 369.3 metres grading 0.83 g/t gold, 0.53%
copper, and 64 ppm molybdenum (1.09% copper equivalent). This
included an intersection of 78.3 metres grading 2.13 g/t gold,
0.82% copper and 126 ppm molybdenum (2.24% copper equivalent)
between 2258 and 2336.3 metres downhole. In addition, this also
included a sub-interval of 16.3 metres grading 4.70 g/t gold, 1.56%
copper and 168 ppm molybdenum (4.64% copper equivalent).
Visit www.ivanhoemines.com for pictures of the drill core and
maps and sections of the new discovery.
POTENTIAL FOR MAJOR NEW GOLD-RICH COPPER DEPOSIT
"Based on the high gold and copper grades, as well as the high
gold-to-copper ratio encountered, and the style and tenor of the
porphyry mineralization, this drillhole could indicate the
discovery of a major new gold-rich copper deposit at Oyu Tolgoi
comparable in importance to the Hugo Dummett or Southwest Oyu
deposits," said Mr. Kirwin. "Clearly, this newly discovered
gold-rich copper porphyry highlights the potential for the largely
untested zone between Heruga and the Southern Oyu deposits. The
high gold-to-copper ratios are considered to be very
significant."
OTD1484, the first hole drilled in this section, intersected
carbonaceous sediments that typically are 200-300 metres above
mineralization, then passed through a major fault at 830 metres and
back into cover rocks to the final depth of 1507 metres. The second
hole in the section, OTD1487, and its continuation, OTD1487A, were
designed to intersect mineralization 500 metres below the
carbonaceous sediments in OTD1484. Weakly mineralized quartz
monzodiorite was intersected in the downhole interval from 1423
metres to 1963 metres, before passing through a major fault and
into conglomerate that typically directly overlies mineralization.
High-grade copper and gold mineralization then was intersected over
approximately half of the 358-metre interval to the end of the
hole, with the rest of the interval occupied by later,
unmineralized dykes and weakly mineralized post-mineral intrusions.
The hole was terminated in high-grade mineralization at a downhole
depth of 2336.3 metres (a true depth of 2068 metres below surface)
due to drilling difficulties.
OYU TOLGOI CORRIDOR MAY BE SINGLE ZONE OF PORPHYRY
MINERALIZATION
From the Heruga Deposit in the south, the Oyu Tolgoi mineralized
structural corridor now extends north by northeast through the Oyu
Tolgoi deposits to the lower-grade copper-gold porphyry occurrence
at Ulaan Khud, or Airport North Zone, located approximately 10
kilometres north-northeast of the Hugo Dummett Deposit. In
addition, the corridor has been well-defined by the regional
gradient-array IP surveys conducted by Ivanhoe's geophysical team
led by consulting geophysicist, Grant Hendrickson, P.Geo.
"Based on the geophysics, our recent exploration successes at
Heruga and this latest discovery hole, we believe that the Oyu
Tolgoi structural corridor may represent one single zone of
porphyry mineralization, cut by later faults, dykes and
post-mineral intrusions," Mr. Hendrickson said.
Assay results from hole OTD1487A are summarized in the table below.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hole From To Interval Au Cu Mo CuEq
Number (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (%) (ppm) (%)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
OTD1487A 1967 1978 11 0.04 0.12 19 0.16
1978 1994 16 0.09 1.55 38 1.63
1994 2028 34 0.02 0.06 8 0.07
2028 2126 98 0.96 0.88 115 1.56
2126 2258 132 0.32 0.14 12 0.35
2258 2336.3 78.3 2.13 0.82 126 2.24
----------------------------------------------------------------------
including 2320 2336.3 16.3 4.70 1.56 168 4.64
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Overall Hole 1967 2336.3 369.3 0.83 0.53 64 1.09
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copper equivalencies were calculated using the following metal prices
and formula.
(Au equals USD650/oz, Cu equals USD1.35/lb, Mo equals USD10/lb).
(CuEq equals Cu%+((Aug/t x 18.98)+(Moppm x 0.01586))/29.76)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Quality Assurance and Quality Control
Dr. David Crane, R.P.Geo., Ivanhoe Mines' Mongolia Exploration
Manager, a member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists and
a qualified person as required by NI 43-101, supervised the
preparation of the information in this news release.
SGS Mongolia LLC prepared the split core at the project site and
assayed all samples at its facility in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Ivanhoe's QA/QC program is monitored by independent consultant Dr.
Barry Smee, P.Geo., and managed on site by Dale A. Sketchley,
M.Sc., P.Geo. In-house, matrix-matched copper-gold-molybdenum
standards and blanks are inserted at the sample preparation lab at
the project site for quality control monitoring of the assay
data.
Ivanhoe Mines shares are listed on the Toronto, New York and
NASDAQ stock exchanges under the symbol IVN.
Forward-Looking Statements - This news release contains
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are
statements which relate to future events such as Ivanhoe's intent
to continue drilling at the Oyu Tolgoi Project. In some cases, you
can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as
"may", "should", "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes",
"estimates", "predicts", "potential" or "continue" or the negative
of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements
are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks,
uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our
industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results,
levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or
implied by these forward-looking statements. While these
forward-looking statements, and any assumptions upon which they are
based, are made in good faith and reflect our current judgment
regarding the direction of our business, actual results almost
always will vary, sometimes materially, from any estimates,
predictions, projections, assumptions or other future performance
suggested herein. Readers are referred to the sections entitled
"Risk Factors" in Ivanhoe Mines' periodic filings with Canadian and
US Securities Commissions.
Contacts: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Bill Trenaman Investor Relations
(604) 688-5755 Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Bob Williamson Media (604)
688-5755 Website: www.ivanhoemines.com
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