Message #2 From:
NewsBot Date: December 12, 2006 05:00:00 AM
GMO News Idaho General Mines Acquires the Outstanding Hall-Tonopah Molybdenum & Copper Royalty
SPOKANE, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Idaho General Mines, Inc. (AMEX:GMO) is pleased to announce that it has
entered into a definitive agreement to purchase the outstanding 12
percent net smelter royalty (NSR Royalty) interest in the mineral rights
of its Hall-Tonopah molybdenum-copper property in Nye County, Nevada.
President and CEO Robert L. Russell stated that “by
purchasing all of the outstanding stock of Equatorial Mining North
America, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Equatorial Mining Limited,
for approximately $4.8 million cash, the Company will own all Hall
Tonopah lands, property and all mineral rights without any future
royalties.” At first commercial production of
the property the Company has agreed to pay the seller an additional $6.0
million. The purchase included assumption of an approximate $460,000
cash reclamation bond, which will continue to be held by the Nevada
Department of Environmental Protection and the Bureau of Land
Management. The Company will also acquire in the transaction
approximately $1.3 million cash held by the acquired company. The
acquisition is scheduled to close upon completion of due diligence on or
before January 31, 2007.
The Hall-Tonopah property includes the former Hall molybdenum deposit,
which was operated as an open pit mine between 1982 and 1991 by the
Anaconda Company and Cyprus Minerals, Inc. Extensive diamond drilling
during the Anaconda era resulted in finding and delineating a deposit
estimated to contain 200 million tons at a grade of 0.091% molybdenum.
During this period approximately 50 million tons of ore were mined and
processed at an approximate grade of 0.11% molybdenum. Idaho General
Mines, Inc. has verified through independent consultants that the
remaining 150 million tons of the deposit are present and essentially as
stated by the predecessor companies. The Hall Property includes
approximately 7000 acres of deeded lands, patented claims and unpatented
claims and water rights. Idaho General Mines plans to begin a
feasibility study for this property in 2007.
Russell further stated that the Company anticipates a new drilling
program of a one-square-mile area located on the Hall Property
immediately to the east of the known deposit for molybdenum. This
adjacent area was drilled, developed and partially mined as a near
surface porphyry copper deposit in the 1995 to 2002 period. Two deeper
drill holes penetrated through this shallow copper porphyry zone into
substantive molybdenum mineralization but were not further tested. This
mineralization underlies the copper porphyry zone. The previous owners
otherwise limited their drilling to the shallow lying copper zone in
support of a copper heap-leaching program.
Russell stated, “The primary target metal is
molybdenum. The Hall Property is significant because the known deposit
is substantive (with 150 million tons drilled and remaining by extension
of the pit), has good molybdenum grades, and is largely on Company owned
fee property rather than mining claims. There is also a substantial
infrastructure remaining from prior operations including tailings ponds,
roads, power infrastructure, shops and other facilities. This
infrastructure should reduce the capital requirements to commence our
mining operations at the site.”
Russell further stated, “It is important that
our shareholders understand that our world-class Mount Hope molybdenum
deposit in southern Eureka County, Nevada, has an estimated 1.3 billion
pounds of recoverable molybdenum to be mined in our plan over a 50-year
period. We will continue to focus our efforts of bringing Mount Hope
into production as rapidly as possible.”
We are very pleased to announce that through our acquisitions the
Company has acquired sole ownership of a second world-class molybdenum
deposit in a favorable mining-friendly area. Because of the proximity of
the two deposits the Company anticipates reaping operational and capital
benefits.
Further information about Idaho General Mines, Inc. can be reviewed on
the website for the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”)
at www.sec.gov or on the company's
website at www.idahogeneralmines.com.
Statements herein which are not historical facts, such as the
anticipated closing date of the acquisition discussed herein, future
payments, production levels, exploration results and plans, costs,
prices are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number
of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those projected, anticipated, expected or implied. These
risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, results of our
due diligence investigation in connection with the acquisition discussed
herein, metals price volatility, volatility of metals production,
exploration risks and results, political risks, project development
risks and ability to raise financing. Refer to the Risk Factors and
other discussion contained in the Company's Form 8-K, 10-QSB and 10-KSB
reports on file with the SEC for a more detailed discussion of factors
that may impact these forward looking statements. The Company undertakes
no obligation and has no intention of updating forward-looking
statements.
Cautionary Note
-- The SEC permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to
disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and
legally extract or produce. We may use certain terms and statements in
this news release that the SEC guidelines prohibit from including in our
filings with the SEC. Readers are urged to consider closely the
disclosure in our filings with the SEC. You can review and obtain copies
of these filings from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
