Not too shabby for a company with a market cap of $147 million.
Closed today at about $2...off on the news
Initial Copper Flats Inferred Resource Estimate Yields 190 Million Tonnes of High-Grade Copper and Gold
("Entree" or the "Company") announces that a new mineral resource estimate prepared by Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (NYSE: IVN) (TSX: IVN) ("Ivanhoe") under the supervision of AMEC Americas Limited ("AMEC") has now delineated an initial inferred resource for the northern extension of the Hugo North Deposit (the "Hugo North Extension") on the Copper Flats area of Entree's Shivee Tolgoi property, in Mongolia's South Gobi region.
This initial Copper Flats inferred resource (see also Ivanhoe's news release of February 1, 2006) is estimated to be 190 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.57% copper and 0.53 grams of gold per tonne (g/t) for a copper equivalent grade* of 1.91%, at a 0.6% copper equivalent cut-off. At a higher cut-off of 2% copper equivalent, the new estimate yields an inferred resource of 64 million tonnes at an average grade of 2.78% copper and 1.10 g/t gold for a copper equivalent grade of 3.48% -- the highest-grade resource defined to date at Ivanhoe's Oyu Tolgoi property. The Hugo North Extension continues to be expanded by ongoing exploration drilling.
"We are very pleased with the progress made by Ivanhoe over the past year," commented Greg Crowe, Entree's President and CEO. "Ivanhoe has aggressively drilled a 625 metre extension to the Hugo North Deposit on our property and has outlined some extremely rich copper-gold mineralization."
The inferred resource of 190 million tonnes grading 1.57% copper and 0.53 g/t gold (a copper equivalent grade of 1.91%) is estimated to contain approximately 6.6 billion pounds of copper and 3.2 million ounces of gold. Alternatively, the inferred resource of 64 million tonnes grading 2.78% copper and 1.10 g/t gold (a copper equivalent grade of 3.48%) at a 2% copper equivalent cut-off is estimated to contain approximately 3.9 billion pounds of copper and 2.3 million ounces of gold.
Table 1: Hugo North Extension Inferred Mineral Resource on the Ivanhoe/Entree Shivee Tolgoi Joint Venture Property as of January 2006 at various Copper-Equivalent cut-off grades
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Copper
Equiv. Copper Contained Metal
Class Cut-off Tonnage Copper Gold Equiv.
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Hugo North
Deposit on Copper
Shivee Copper Gold Equiv.
Tolgoi (tonnes) (%) (g/t) (%) ('000 lbs) (ounces) ('000 lbs)
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Inferred
3.5 27,340,000 3.69 1.33 4.53 2,220,000 1,170,000 2,730,000
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3.0 337,630,00 3.40 1.23 4.18 2,820,000 1,480,000 3,470,000
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2.5 50,180,000 3.07 1.17 3.82 3,400,000 1,880,000 4,220,000
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2.0 64,060,000 2.78 1.10 3.48 3,920,000 2,270,000 4,910,000
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1.5 87,480,000 2.41 0.93 3.01 4,660,000 2,620,000 5,810,000
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1.25 110,420,000 2.16 0.80 2.67 5,260,000 2,830,000 6,500,000
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1.0 131,230,000 1.97 0.72 2.42 5,690,000 3,020,000 7,010,000
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0.9 140,340,000 1.89 0.68 2.33 5,850,000 3,080,000 7,200,000
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0.8 151,870,000 1.80 0.64 2.21 6,040,000 3,150,000 7,420,000
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0.7 169,470,000 1.69 0.59 2.06 6,310,000 3,200,000 7,710,000
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0.6 190,160,000 1.57 0.53 1.91 6,590,000 3,240,000 8,010,000
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* Copper equivalent grades have been calculated using assumed metal prices (US$0.80/lb. for copper and US$350/oz. for gold); %Cu equivalent = %Cu + [Au(g/t)x(11.25/17.64)]
Ivanhoe has the right to earn an 80% interest in mineral rights on the project area below a depth of 560 metres. Accordingly, Entree's 20% interest is estimated to be 38 million tonnes, containing approximately 1.32 billion pounds of copper and approximately 650,000 ounces of gold. Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Four deep-hole capacity rigs are continuing with infill drilling to upgrade the newly delineated inferred resource to the indicated status, so that detailed underground planning can begin for the Copper Flats portion of the Entree -- Ivanhoe Project property.
Continuing Resource Expansion Drilling
The initial inferred resource estimate includes the results of drilling up to and including holes EGD053, 053A, 053B, approximately 625 metres onto Entree's Copper Flats project area. Drilling northward from these holes (and daughter hole 053C), is continuing to test for possible extensions to the mineralized system.
Significantly, Hole EGD081B, located approximately 750 metres north of the 053 series of holes, has intersected 48 metres averaging 0.45% copper and 0.02 g/t gold, commencing at a downhole depth of 1,724 metres. The hole is believed to have located the top of the mineralized system, thereby extending the potential strike length of the Copper Flats mineralization to a total of approximately 1,300 metres. Hole EGD081, the original hole collared at this location, penetrated the hangingwall stratigraphy, but passed over the top of the target. Daughter-hole EGD081A was lost due to technical difficulties.
Hole EGD082A (previously reported on January 16, 2006) was collared approximately 150 metres north of the 053 series of holes and drilled to a depth of 1,429 metres. This hole was abandoned in a fault zone interpreted to be in the hangingwall of the deposit. It is believed that this fault may offset the mineralized zone to the west.
Greg Crowe further comments, "The step-out drilling not included in this initial resource estimate indicates that the system could extend for at least another 700 metres. The ongoing drill program should continue to increase value for Entree shareholders by both upgrading this initial resource and testing for the northward extension of the mineralized system." |
