International Minerals Announces Closing of Sale of Ruby Hill Royalty

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- (Marketwire) -- 05/23/12 -- International Minerals Corporation (TSX: IMZ) (SWISS: IMZ) (or "the Company") is pleased to announce the closing of the previously-announced (see news release dated May 15, 2012) sale of its 3% net smelter return (NSR) royalty on production from Barrick Gold Corporation's Ruby Hill gold mine in Nevada (the "Ruby Hill Royalty") to Royal Gold, Inc. ("Royal Gold"), a major international royalty company, for cash proceeds of $38 million.

The Company acquired the Ruby Hill Royalty as part of its acquisition of Metallic Ventures Gold, Inc. ("Metallic") in February 2010 for approximately $60 million in a combination of cash and IMZ shares. In addition to the $38 million proceeds from the sale of the royalty to Royal Gold, the Company has also received an additional approximately $9.5 million in aggregate royalty payments from the Ruby Hill Mine since the Metallic acquisition.

As part of the Metallic acquisition in 2010, the Company also acquired the Goldfield and Converse advanced exploration gold properties, both in Nevada. These properties currently host gold deposits with combined measured and indicated ("M&I") mineral resources estimated at 6.4 million ounces of gold and inferred resources of approximately 900,000 ounces of gold (see Note 1 below). A feasibility study for an open pit, heap leach operation at Goldfield will be completed this summer and a feasibility study for a similar type of mining operation at Converse will be completed by the end of 2013.

With respect to the sale of the Ruby Hill Royalty, Stephen Kay, Present/CEO of IMZ, commented: "We are very pleased to have concluded this royalty sale with Royal Gold. The proceeds of the sale repay 95% of the recently-matured Cdn$40 million in convertible debentures and help to replenish the Company treasury without recourse to any type of debt or equity financing. In addition, when the $60 million acquisition cost of Metallic is off-set against the total cash received by IMZ from the Ruby Hill Royalty (totaling approximately $48 million), the net acquisition cost per estimated M&I gold ounce at Goldfield and Converse is less than $2.00, excluding the benefit of any of the inferred resources. We believe that the Royal Gold and Metallic transactions illustrate well IMZ 's ability and commitment to corporate growth and enhanced shareholder value with minimal share dilution at a cost well below the typical industry norm."

The Company expects to record a gain on disposition of approximately $28 million with respect to the current carrying value of the Ruby Hill Royalty in its financial statements for the quarter and fiscal year ending June 30, 2012. In addition, the Company expects that US federal and state income taxes will not be payable on proceeds from the sale of the Ruby Hill Royalty.

About International Minerals

International Minerals is a silver-gold producer, explorer and developer with silver-gold production from its 40%-owned Pallancata Mine in Peru, which is operated by Hochschild and in 2011 was the sixth-largest primary silver mine in the world. Production for Pallancata in calendar year 2012 is estimated by IMZ to be approximately 8 million ounces of silver and 354,000 ounces of gold (on a 100% project basis).

IMZ also owns a 40% interest in the development stage Inmaculada gold-silver project in Peru, also partnered with Hochschild. Inmaculada is scheduled to be in production by December 2013 and produce approximately 124,000 ounces of gold and 4.2 million ounces of silver annually on a 100% project basis.

In addition to Inmaculada and Pallancata, IMZ also holds 100% ownership interests in advanced stage gold projects in Nevada (Goldfield and Converse) and variable ownership interests in gold projects in Ecuador (Rio Blanco 100% and Gaby ~60%).

IMZ is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (since 1994) and the Swiss Stock Exchange (since 2002).

General

All dollar amounts refer to United States Dollars unless specified otherwise.

The technical information reported in this news release was reviewed by IMZ's Qualified Person, VP Corporate Development, Nick Appleyard.

Note 1: Goldfield and Converse Mineral Resources

At Goldfield, the current estimated mineral resources are: (a) 652,000 ounces in the Measured category contained in 15.3 million tonnes ("Mt") at an average grade of 1.3 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold, (b) 595,000 ounces in the Indicated category contained in 16.0 Mt at an average grade of 1.1 g/t gold, and (c) 385,000 ounces of Inferred resources contained in 7.7 Mt at an average grade of 1.6 g/t gold. The gold cut-off grades used were 0.3 g/t for Gemfield and McMahon Ridge and 0.4 g/t for Goldfield Main. Mineral resource estimates were conducted separately for the Goldfield Main deposit and the Gemfield/McMahon Ridge deposits. At Goldfield Main, the mineral resources were estimated in 2011 by Qualified Person ("QP") R.Mohan Srivastava P.Geo. At Gemfield and McMahon Ridge, the mineral resources were estimated in 2005 by Watts, Griffis and McOuat, with John R. Sullivan, P.Geo as the QP.

At Converse, the current estimated mineral resources are: (a) 3.59 million ounces in the Measured category contained in 221.2 Mt at an average grade of 0.5 g/t gold, (b) 1.58 million ounces in the Indicated category contained in 99.1 Mt at an average grade of 0.5 g/t gold, and (c) 507,000 ounces of Inferred gold resources contained in 31.2 Mt at an average grade of 0.5 g/t gold. The cut-off grade used was 0.27g/t gold. The mineral resources were estimated by QP, R. Mohan Srivastava (P.Geo).

Royal Gold does not accept any responsibility for the adequacy or inadequacy of the disclosure made in this news release and any responsibility is hereby disclaimed in all respects.

To access this news release from IMZ's website, please click this link:
http://www.intlminerals.com/newsreleases.php.

Cautionary Statement:

Some of the statements contained in this release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Canadian securities law requirements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release include statements regarding corporate accounting and tax issues, estimates of reserves and resources, timing of economic studies and anticipated production results. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties such as: accounting and tax estimations, estimating mineral resources and reserves, variances between mineral reserves and actual mineral production, delays in completing economic studies, operating risks and other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended June 30, 2011, which is available at www.sedar.com under the Company's name. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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