Pallancata bonanza results encourage IMC

Scottsdale, Arizona-based International Minerals (TSX: IMZ) has high hopes for its Pallancata silver-focused project in southern Peru, company geologist John Sutcliffe told BNamericas. "We believe there is a mine there although we still don't know the potential mine's shape or size," said Sutcliffe, speaking from IMC's offices in Quito, Ecuador. The first eight holes, totaling 1,892m, of second phase drilling at Pallancata are confirming bonanza silver grades on sections of the main Pallancata vein, with the highest grade intercepts so far recorded at the property, said Sutcliffe. Hole 20 returned 6.6m of 2,061g/t silver and 11.5g/t gold, including 2.5m of 4,240g/t silver and 25.6g/t gold, which includes 1.2m of 4,870g/t silver and 34.8g/t gold, according to a company statement. Meanwhile, hole 23 intersected 2.7m of 1,483g/t silver and 6.6g/t gold, including 2,320g/t silver and 11.1g/t gold. "We are finding an increasingly comfortable amount of gold that could be very useful as a credit," said Sutcliffe. The bonanza-grade intersections are all located on the west of the currently known east-west trending Pallancata vein, with the vein completely open to the west, the geologist said. Based on ASTER anomalies and coincident rock chip and soil sampling, there was a "good possibility" that the bonanza grades may continue westward into previously undrilled territory. Sutcliffe said IMC would be modifying its current drill program to test areas to the west of current holes with the aim of extending the vein structure and high-grade mineralization further in that direction. Other holes returned 15.4m of 200g/t silver and 0.8g/t gold, 5.6m of 382g/t silver and 1.4g/t gold and 14.3m of 257g/t silver and 1.2g/t gold. A budget of up to US$2mn has been set for the phase two drill program of 8,500m and 500m of underground exploration. Some 6,000m will be targeted on Pallancata and the remainder on the previously untested Mariana, Virgen del Carmen and Ranichico veins. IMC expects to complete the program in the second quarter of 2005. The main aim of the program is to infill and extend Pallancata at depth to provide a preliminary resource estimate on the vein, said Sutcliffe. Other prospectors had previously looked at Pallancata, at an elevation of 4,500m on the border of Ayacucho and Apurimac departments, but discarded it after surface sampling failed to produce results. However, IMC's Peruvian general manager, Enrique Barrantes, insisted on clearing out old workings, mainly from the colonial period, to find out what was there and uncovered the vein, according to Sutcliffe. Barrantes, a 78-year-old Peruvian mining veteran, has said that Pallancata is the last mine he will put into production, Sutcliffe added.