More Rio Blanco gold for Int’l Minerals

Vancouver — Drilling by International Minerals (IMZ-T) at its Rio Blanco gold-silver project in southern Ecuador has returned further significant gold values, including bonanza grades from new zones.

The ongoing program, part of a feasibility study, has returned especially strong results from 17 infill and definition drill holes totalling 3,361 metres. All the holes intersected gold and silver values over widths of up to 30 metres.

Highlights are as follows:

— Hole 107 — 23 metres (from 169.7 metres) grading 7.8 grams gold and 48 grams silver per tonne, including 8.2 metres of 16.7 grams gold and 61 grams silver and 2 metres of 57.9 grams gold and 219 grams silver;

— Hole 116 — 30.5 metres (from 39.5 metres) grading 6.3 grams gold and 37 grams silver, including 7.4 metres of 15.2 grams gold and 68 grams silver and 1 metre of 53.4 grams gold and 142 grams silver;

— Hole 120 — 38.3 metres (from 135 metres) averaging 6.6 grams gold and 57 grams silver, including 5.4 metres of 28.8 grams gold and 259 grams silver;

— Hole 122 — 29.1 metres (from 187.9 metres) grading 12.4 grams gold and 94 grams silver, including 6.9 metres of 22.3 grams gold and 203 grams silver.

Two holes, 113 and 122, represent new zones of bonanza-grade gold mineralization.

The feasibility study is focused on the Alejandra Vein, a vein-breccia structure with a 500-metre strike length; it is open to the east and averages 6 metres in width. Gold mineralization extends from surface to about 300 metres.

An assessment in 2003 indicated strong economics for the high-grade Alejandra North zone, which has an inferred resource of 744,000 tonnes grading 18.3 grams gold and 146 grams silver, equivalent to 438,000 oz. gold and 3.5 million oz. silver.

The overall inferred resource at Rio Branco, contained in the Alejandro North and South and Dorada zones, is 5 million tonnes grading 5.5 grams gold and 42 grams silver, or 881,000 oz. gold and 6.7 million oz. silver.

The current program, which is expected to comprise 60 holes totalling 12,000 metres, is nearing completion.

International Minerals has other gold projects in Ecuador and Peru, and completed a $22.3-million financing in early 2004. The company has 79.6 million shares issued and outstanding.