For Immediate Release: Wednesday, February 23, 2000
IDAHO CONSOLIDATED METALS FINALIZES "MONTANA PGM VENTURE" WITH CHROME CORP.
ON STILLWATER LAND PACKAGE
Lewiston, Idaho, February 23 - Idaho Consolidated Metals Corp. (CDNX:IDO)
announced today that it has finalized a joint venture, subject to CDNX
approval, with Chrome Corporation of America (CCA), a subsidiary of Boulder
Group NL, to explore and develop platinum group metals (PGM)-bearing
properties in the Stillwater Complex. The joint venture covers 32 patented
claims and 107 unpatented claims controlled by CCA.
?This joint venture enhances the size of our land package in the prolific
Stillwater Complex,? said Idaho Consolidated President Del Steiner. ?It
also adds drill indicated nickel/copper sulphide resources and additional
highly-prospective ground to our portfolio of Stillwater properties.?
Idaho Consolidated has the right to earn a 55% interest in the joint venture
by spending $2,100,000 over a five year period, and issuing 100,000 shares
of Idaho Consolidated annually for a total of 500,000 shares. The venture
excludes the G and H Chromitites, which CCA has intensively explored, and
which host significant chromite resources. Where tested these chromitites
are not elevated in PGMs. "Along with the properties, we are also very
pleased to receive assistance from Mr. Alistair Turner, considered one of
the foremost experts on the Stillwater Complex," Mr. Steiner said.
The joint venture includes substantial drill indicated nickel/copper
sulphide resources, access to the remaining core of a total of approximately
220,000 feet of drilling and access to a large historic database. Discovery
of nickel/copper mineralization dates back to the late 1800s, while the
first systematic drilling was undertaken by Anaconda Minerals Co. between
1966 and 1970. Anaconda delineated two large nickel/copper sulphide
deposits adjacent to, and stratigraphically below, Stillwater Mining Company
?s PGM mining operations in the Stillwater Complex.
On the west side of the Stillwater River, there is a drill-indicated
resource of some 23.1 million tons averaging 0.45% copper, 0.62% nickel, and
0.06% cobalt at a cut-off of 0.4% nickel. At the time of this work, no
assaying was conducted for platinum group metals. Sporadic sampling and
assaying of the drill core in the early 1990's, returned anomalous results
with the highest PGM grades determined to date being 5.14 grams per ton
platinum and 5.14 grams palladium in separate 1.5 m drill intercepts. East
of the Stillwater River, a second deposit has a drill-indicated resource of
92 million tons averaging 0.7% nickel, 0.7% copper and 0.07% cobalt to a
down-dip depth of 600 meters. The highest PGM grades in 1.5 m drill hole
composites are 3.87 g per ton palladium and 0.68 g per ton platinum. These
resources were calculated by Anaconda and the United States Geologic Survey.
These sulphide resources compare favorably with the published, proven and
probable reserves recently announced by North American Palladium (recently
trading at $12.50), of 74.2 million tonnes, grading 1.64 g/t palladium, 0.18
g/t platinum, 0.14 g/t gold, 0.07% copper, and 0.06% nickel using a cutoff
grade of 0.92 g/t palladium.
Where possible, the joint venture partners plan to selectively re-assay
higher-grade, nickel/copper sulfide intervals from drill core for PGMs and
evaluate the correlation between PGM and nickel grades. In addition, new
holes will be drilled to confirm the grades and resources indicated by
earlier drilling. Idaho Consolidated is funding the cost of drilling,
analytical and metallurgical work to advance the nickel/copper/PGM project
towards the pre-feasibility stage.
The layered mafic intrusion is tilted to near vertical exposing the entire
stratigraphic column. On the north-east side, parallel and
stratigraphically higher than the nickel/copper sulphide deposits are a
series of chromitite units, the lower two of which (known as the A and B
Chromitites) are enriched in PGMs. The A and B Chromitite units in the
Stillwater Complex are geochemically similar to the UG 2 Chromitite unit in
the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. The A and B Chromitites have been
sampled at several locations over a 20 mile strike length and have returned
numerous high grade PGM assays. These assays range from 0.87 opt on west
end, up to 3.08 opt on Iron Mt, 0.63 opt in Cresent Ck., 0.72 opt on the
West Fork of the Stillwater River in the middle of the zone, to 0.12 opt
over four and a half feet at Chrome Lake on the east, at a
platinum-to-palladium-to-rhodium ratio of 4:10:1.
Idaho Consolidated is a mining exploration company. Also in the Stillwater
Complex, the Company?s Picket Pin property has not been extensively explored
but is known to host a platinum/palladium horizon 12 miles long and is
second in importance only to the J-M Reef being mined by Stillwater Mining
Company. In addition to the Picket Pin, Idaho Consolidated holds three
other properties in the Stillwater Complex, including the Black Butte, which
according to preliminary mapping, sampling and geophysical programs hosts a
continuation of the J-M Reef.
In Idaho, the Company is in a joint venture with Kinross Gold on the Petsite
Project. The current geologic inventory based on drilling is 16.73 million
tons grading 0.032 ounces per ton gold with 531,900 contained ounces of
gold. Kinross is the successor to Cyprus Amax in the venture.
Current updates can be found on the Company's web site:
www.montanaplatinum.com.
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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Wilf Struck, P.Eng, Vice President Tel: (208) 743-0914
Idaho Consolidated Metals Corp. Email: goldicmc@lewiston.com
Cathy Hume or Olav Svela, Investor Relations Tel: (416)
868-1079
Hume, Kieran Inc. Email: cathy@humekieran.on.ca
If you wish to receive company press releases via mail, please advise
Natasha Blackburn at natasha@humekieran.on.ca
<mailto:natasha@humekieran.on.ca>
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