International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. ("ITH" or the "Company") -
(TSX: ITH)(NYSE Amex: THM)(FRANKFURT: IW9) is pleased to announce
the start of the first phase of its planned 50,000 metre 2010
exploration drill program at Livengood Gold Project, Alaska. The
initial phase of this program is the 2010 Winter drilling program,
which focuses primarily on the expansion of the Southwest and
Western parts of the Money Knob deposit containing the highest
grade portion of the deposit discovered to date. In addition, the
highly prospective area between the Sunshine and Core Zones will be
infill drilled (Figure 1) during the Winter program.
The Winter 2010 program utilizes four drills, which will operate
24 hours a day until the middle of April, targeting the completion
of over 20,000 metres of core and reverse circulation drilling. The
results from the Winter drill program will be included in a
resource update scheduled for the end of the second quarter of
2010.
To view Figure 1 please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/ith24a.pdf
Effective January 1, 2010, the Company has amended its existing
Livengood project lease with the Alaska Mental Health Land Trust
(AMHLT) to increase the leased fee simple land by approximately 25
square kilometres. With this major expansion of the lease, the
Livengood project now covers approximately 70 square kilometres,
which includes additional potential exploration areas and surface
mine facility sites (Figure 2). The amended lease will provide the
Company with full flexibility for multiple development scenarios at
the Livengood project.
To view Figure 2 please click on the following link:
http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/itl24bbb.pdf
The Company's independent consultants are currently working on a
resource update to incorporate the final 70 holes drilled in the
2009 Summer program which are dominantly from the Sunshine,
Northeast and Money Knob Zones of the deposit. This resource update
is currently targeted for release in the near future.
As part of its project optimization work at Livengood, the
Company is conducting its initial metallurgical milling recovery
tests to assess the viability of using a variety of milling
techniques to enhance gold recovery and maximize the economic
performance of the project. The Company has been releasing this
data as it has come available and expects to continue this during
the next several weeks. Results to date have been encouraging for
the integration of milling into the production plan.
Livengood Project Highlights
- Ongoing drilling at the project continues to expand the
deposit at a rapid rate, with the current estimated resource open
for expansion. The latest resource estimate (October 2009) of 296.8
Mt indicated at an average grade of 0.85 g/t gold (8.09 Moz) and
164.2 Mt inferred at an average grade of 0.84 g/t gold (4.4 Moz),
both at a 0.5 g/t gold cutoff, makes it one of the largest new gold
discoveries in North America.
- The recently completed initial PEA shows that, with a USD
850/oz gold price, mining the oxide portion of the deposit using a
heap leach only operation could yield 5.8M recoverable ounces of
gold with an NPV(5%) of USD 440M and an IRR of 14.6% over a 13 year
mine life.
- Ongoing metallurgical studies focusing on the mill potential
are underway and the next PEA will consider a combined Mill and
Heap Leach operation. Preliminary results indicate that, on
average, 56% of the gold reports to a gravity concentrate and that
carbon in leach processing of tails will provide significant
additional recovery. Final results of these studies are expected in
Q1 2010.
- The geometry of the currently defined shallowly dipping,
outcropping deposit is such that the initial PEA indicates an
overall strip ratio of 0.78:1 (waste to ore) in the USD 700
pit.
- No major permitting hurdles have been identified to date.
The Company wishes to emphasize that the Livengood project has a
very favourable logistical location, being situated 110 road
kilometres north of Fairbanks, Alaska along the paved, all weather
Elliott Highway, the Trans Alaska Pipeline Corridor, and the
proposed Alaska natural gas pipeline route. The terminus of the
Alaska State power grid lies approximately 55 kilometres to the
south.
Project Background
ITH controls 100% of its 70 square kilometre Livengood land
package, which is primarily made up of fee land leased from the
Alaska Mental Health Land Trust and a number of smaller private
mineral leases. The Company and its predecessor, AngloGold Ashanti
(U.S.A.) Exploration Inc., have been exploring the Livengood area
since 2003, with the project's first indicated resource estimate
being announced in early 2008. The 2009 drilling program was part
of a series of drill initiatives which mark the first grid drilling
resource definition campaign for the project and is only the
initial step in what the Company envisions as a major long-term
exploration program to define one of the world's larger new gold
deposits.
Geological Overview
The Livengood Deposit is hosted in a thrust-interleaved sequence
of Proterozoic to Palaeozoic sedimentary and volcanic rocks.
Mineralization is related to a 90 million year old (Fort Knox age)
dike swarm that cuts through the thrust stack. Primary ore controls
are a combination of favourable lithologies and crosscutting
structural zones. In areas distal to the main structural zones the
selective development of disseminated mineralization in favourable
host rocks is the main ore control. Within the primary structural
corridors all lithologies can be pervasively altered and
mineralized. Devonian volcanic rocks and Cretaceous dikes represent
the most favourable host lithologies and are pervasively altered
and mineralized throughout the deposit. Two dominant structural
controls are present: 1) the major shallow south-dipping faults
which host dikes and mineralization which are related to dilatant
movement on structures of the original fold-thrust architecture
during post-thrusting relaxation, and 2) steep NNW trending linear
zones which focus the higher-grade mineralization which cuts across
all lithologic boundaries. The net result is broad flat-lying zones
of stratabound mineralization around more vertically continuous,
higher grade core zones with a resulting lower strip ratio for the
overall deposit and higher grade areas that could be amenable for
starter pit production.
The surface gold geochemical anomaly at Livengood covers an area
6 kilometres long by 2 kilometres wide of which an area
approximately 3 kilometres by 1.5 kilometres has been explored by
drilling to date. Surface exploration is ongoing as new targets are
developed to the northeast of the known mineralization.
Qualified Person and Quality Control/Quality Assurance
Jeffrey A. Pontius (CPG 11044), a qualified person as defined by
National Instrument 43-101, has supervised the preparation of the
scientific and technical information that forms the basis for this
news release and has approved the disclosure herein. Mr. Pontius is
not independent of ITH, as he is the President and CEO and holds
common shares and incentive stock options.
The work program at Livengood was designed and is supervised by
Dr. Russell Myers, Vice President, Exploration, and Chris Puchner,
Chief Geologist (CPG 07048), of the Company, who are responsible
for all aspects of the work, including the quality control/quality
assurance program. On-site personnel at the project photograph the
core from each individual borehole prior to preparing the split
core. Duplicate reverse circulation drill samples are collected
with one split sent for analysis. Representative chips are retained
for geological logging. On-site personnel at the project log and
track all samples prior to sealing and shipping. All sample
shipments are sealed and shipped to ALS Chemex in Fairbanks, Alaska
for preparation and then on to ALS Chemex in Vancouver, B.C. for
assay. ALS Chemex's quality system complies with the requirements
for the International Standards ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025: 1999.
Analytical accuracy and precision are monitored by the analysis of
reagent blanks, reference material and replicate samples. Quality
control is further assured by the use of international and in-house
standards. Finally, representative blind duplicate samples are
forwarded to ALS Chemex and an ISO compliant third party laboratory
for additional quality control.
About International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. is a resource exploration
company, focused in Alaska and Nevada, which controls a number of
exploration projects representing a spectrum of early stage to the
advanced multimillion ounce gold discovery at Livengood. ITH is
committed to building shareholder value through new discoveries
while maintaining a majority interest in its key holdings, thereby
giving its shareholders the maximum value for their investment.
On behalf of INTERNATIONAL TOWER HILL MINES LTD.
Jeffrey A. Pontius, President and Chief Executive Officer
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 27E of
the Exchange Act. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, included herein including, without limitation,
statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement and cost
of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results,
the discovery and delineation of mineral
deposits/resources/reserves, the potential for the expansion of the
estimated resources at Livengood, the potential for any production
at the Livengood project, the completion of a revised preliminary
economic analysis of the Livengood project, the potential low strip
ratio of the Livengood deposit being amenable for low cost open pit
mining that could support a high production rate and economies of
scale, the potential for cost savings due to the high gravity
concentration component of some of the Livengood mineralization,
business and financing plans and business trends, are
forward-looking statements. Information concerning mineral resource
estimates also may be deemed to be forward-looking statements in
that it reflects a prediction of the mineralization that would be
encountered 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 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 Company's inability to obtain
any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its
activities, the Company's inability 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 40-F 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
technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral
properties.
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 estimates contained in or incorporated by
reference in this press 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 14, 2004 (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 Industry Guide 7. Accordingly, the Company's disclosures
regarding mineralization may not be comparable to similar
information disclosed by companies subject to the SEC's Industry
Guide 7. Without limiting the foregoing, while the terms "mineral
resources", "inferred mineral resources" and "indicated 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
Industry Guide 7. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves
do not have demonstrated economic viability, and United States
shareholders are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of a
mineral resource will ever be converted into reserves. Further,
inferred resources have a great amount of uncertainty as to their
existence and as to whether they can be mined legally or
economically. It cannot be assumed that all or any part of the
inferred resources will ever be upgraded to a higher resource
category. In addition, the NI 43-101 and CIM Standards definition
of a "reserve" differs from the definition adopted by the SEC in
Industry Guide 7. In the United States, 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.
This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way
as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.
NR10-03
Contacts: International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. Quentin Mai
Vice-President - Corporate Communications 1-888-770-7488 (toll
free) or (604)683-6332 (604) 408-7499 (FAX)
qmai@internationaltowerhill.com
International Tower Hill... (TSX:ITH)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2024 to Jun 2024
International Tower Hill... (TSX:ITH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2023 to Jun 2024