Inspiration Provides Corporate Update
TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 04/03/13 -- Inspiration Mining Corporation ("Inspiration" or the "Corporation") (TSX: ISM)(FRANKFURT: OI8) pleased to provide a corporate update.
Mineral Properties
Langmuir Property
The exploration of the Langmuir Property has been the principal focus of the Corporation. The Langmuir property comprises 69 mining claims covering 1121 hectares in the Langmuir Township, 25 km southeast of Timmins, Ontario. It hosts the past nickel producing mines of Langmuir No. 1 and 2.
As previously reported in the Corporation's press release of January 6, 2010, Micon International Limited ("Micon") completed the National Instrument 43-101 compliant resource estimate report (the "Micon Report") for the Langmuir North Deposit and the Langmuir No 1 Deposit. A copy of the Micon Report can be viewed under the Corporation's profile on the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com).
Pursuant to the Micon Report, resources in the Indicated Resources category for the Langmuir North deposit are 8,324,000 tonnes grading 0.40% nickel, as detailed in Table 1. Resources in the Indicated Resources category for the Langmuir No. 1 deposit are 1,733,000 tonnes grading 0.51% nickel, as detailed in Table 2.
Both deposits are amenable to open pit exploitation. Langmuir No.1 is also partly accessible from an existing development ramp from earlier historical production. These deposits, lying within the Langmuir Nickel Belt, are also accompanied by at least four (4) exploration target areas of mineralization that are believed to hold the potential to host an additional 20 to 40 million tonnes of nickel mineralization of similar grades. In addition, the target areas also have the potential for open-pittable configuration.
As well, it is believed that potential remains to locate additional concentrations of nickel mineralization similar to that which has been exploited at the Langmuir No 2 mine at depth on the property. The potential quantity and grade of such deposits is conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource of said tonnage and grade and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in the target being delineated as a mineral resource.
Table 1
Estimated Mineral Resources for the Langmuir North Deposit
Cut Off Grade (% Ni) Classification Volume (m3) Tonnes Ni (%)
-------------------------------- -------------- ----------- --------- ------
Mill Incremental:
0.19 - greater than 0.21 Indicated 160,000 433,000 0.20
Sub Total 160,000 433,000 0.20
Mineralized:
greater than 0.21 Indicated 2,912,000 7,891,000 0.41
Sub Total 2,912,000 7,891,000 0.41
Total Mill Incremental +
Mineralized 8,324,000 0.40
Table 2
Estimated Mineral Resources for the Langmuir No. 1 Deposit
Cut Off Grade (% Ni) Classification Volume (m3) Tonnes Ni (5)
-------------------------------- -------------- ----------- --------- ------
Mill Incremental:
0.19 - greater than 0.21 Indicated 23,000 67,000 0.20
Sub Total 23,000 67,000 0.20
Mineralized:
greater than 0.21 Indicated 583,000 1,666,000 0.52
Sub Total 583,000 1,666,000 0.52
Total Mill Incremental +
Mineralized 1,733,000 0.51
1. Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have
demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may
be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title,
taxation, sociopolitical, marketing or other relevant issues.
2. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred Resources in this estimation
are conceptual in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to
define these Inferred Resources as an Indicated or Measured Mineral
Resource. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in the
upgrading of the Inferred Resources into an Indicated or Measured
Mineral Resource category.
3. Tonnages have been rounded to the nearest thousand tonnes
4. Sums may not add due to rounding
5. Mineral resources are inclusive of mill incremental material
6. Grade interpolation is estimated by Ordinary Kriging method.
The Corporation has commenced a strategic review of its nickel assets located on the Langmuir Property. The various options being considered is the possibility of restarting the Langmuir No.1 underground mine on the basis of a substantially better defined resource model. That is now possible as a result of an extensive drill program that has been conducted on the Langmuir No.1 deposit since the Corporation gained control of the Langmuir Property in 2004. Certain higher grade resource blocks were excluded from the Micon Report and the Langmuir No.1 resource estimate due to these resource blocks falling outside the optimal open pit shell.
Potash Dragon
In June, 2012, the Corporation acquired 1,250,000 common shares ("Potash Shares") (or 20% of the issued and outstanding securities) in the capital of Potash Dragon Inc. ("Potash Dragon"). In addition, the Company was issued an aggregate of 3,750,000 common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants"). Each Warrant entitles the Company to acquire an additional Potash Share at an exercise price of $0.80 per share.
Potash Dragon is a private company incorporated under the laws of Barbados. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Potash Dragon SpA, a private company incorporated under the laws of Chile, Potash Dragon holds various potash properties and applications covering an area of 4,133 Hectares in Region I of Northern Chile some 160km south east of the town of Iquique and adjacent to the Pan American (Ruta 5) highway. All the properties are located on the Salar de Llamara, and some of the tenements are situated adjacent to a brine extraction well field operated by Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile S.A. ("SQM").
Sedimentary rocks in the Pampa del Tamarugal are fluvial, lacustrine and evaporitic and include highly soluble residues such as halite and related evaporite minerals such as potash. Interspersed in this succession are horizons of volcanic tuff from eruptions in the Andes to the East. The sequence is estimated to be up to 1,000 m thick (Saez et al., 1999). Alluvial fans incised by ephemerally active canyons descend across the eastern Pampa from the Precordillera and the talus of the median and distal fans locally masks the underlying lake sediment accumulation. The Pampa can be considered to have an upper, gradational altitudinal limit around 1,500 metres above sea level where it merges into the proximal alluvial fans of the Precordillera front.
Precipitation that occurs at higher elevations of the Andes Mountains reports to fluvial braided fans which ultimately feed significant aquifers that flow beneath the Pampa del Tamarugal. The individual rivulets within these fans are referred to locally as Quebrada. Ground water flowing within the pampa interacts with the evaporite sequences resulting in the dissolution of halite and other soluble minerals contained within the sedimentary sequences of the Soledad formation. The dissolution results in a karst topography within the soluble formations that contain vast amounts of highly saline brines containing sodium, magnesium, potassium, calcium, lithium, boron, sulphates, chlorine, iodine and nitrates in varying quantities.
The Llamara and Solida projects are situated at an elevation of approximately 750 metres above sea level in an area that has an exceptionally long geological history of aridity in the Atacama Desert, particularly during the post Oligocene period (since 34 Mya) when the region has been continuously the most arid region on Earth with high evapotranspiration rates.
The location of the project, in close proximity to the ocean which serves as an abundant source of process water, combined with very high solar evaporation rates creates an ideal opportunity for the implementation of low cost solution mining and brine solar evaporation recovery techniques for the recovery of soluble minerals such potash, other fertilizers and related minerals.
Cleaver / Douglas Properties
The Cleaver Property currently consists of 13 contiguous unpatented mining claims containing of 192 claim units and covering 3,072 ha. Those are located approximately 47 km south of South Porcupine, Ontario and approximately 15 km south of the Langmuir Property. The property lies within the northeastern portion of Cleaver Township, the southeastern portion of Fallon Township, the southwestern portion of Fasken Township and the northwestern portion of McNeil Township, Porcupine Mining Division, District of Cochrane, Ontario.
The Douglas Property initially consisted of five contiguous unpatented mineral claims covering 552 hectares and lying approximately 2.5 km west of the Cleaver Property. In the last quarter of fiscal 2009, an addition six claims, made up of 88 claim units, all surrounding the Douglas Property and tying it together with the Cleaver Property, were staked. Together, the properties make up a single tract covering approximately 12, 400 hectares. The former Texmont Nickel Mine is located approximately 9.6 km to the west-southwest of the Douglas Property.
Desrosiers Property
In November 2008 the Corporation acquired all of the issued and outstanding securities of 1691063 Ontario Ltd. 1691063 Ontario Ltd. owns a 100% interest in the Desrosier Property. That property is located in Desrosiers Township, Ontario, and lies approximately 150 km southwest of the City of Timmins. The property, at the time of acquisition, contained 6 contiguous unpatented mining claims, consisting of 42 claim units covering approximately 680 hectares. The property lies in a treed and rugged terrain requiring extensive line-cutting work for surface surveys.
The property hosts quartz - feldspar pegmatites and pegmatitic veins that contain molybdenite concentrations of potential economic value along with elevated concentrations of bismuth and silver. Previous work has reported a total of 33 showings or occurrences, four (4) of which have been the subject of systematic work including trenching, stripping and drilling.
Barton Syndicate/Dry Fork Property
The Barton Syndicate/Dry Fork Property, optioned by the Corporation in 2004, contains 31 contiguous lode claims and lies 6.4 KM north-northwest of Kennecott's Bingham Canyon copper-gold-molybendite mine and within 600M of Kennecott's past producing Melco and Barneys Canyon gold mines. In the period from 1988-2001, production from the two mines aggregated approximately 1.4 Million ounces of gold. The property has indications of potentially significant resources.
Due to scheduling issues, the Corporation has been unable to undertake its planned surface magnetic testing on the Dry Fork Property in Utah. However, that testing is still in the Corporation's planning for the work season of 2013.
Capital Resources
The Corporation has, as at December 31, 2012, approximately $3.79 million in working capital. In addition to its working capital, the Corporation recently completed a private placement of 6,350,000 units at price of $0.10 per unit for gross proceeds of $635,000. Each unit is comprise of one (1) common share and one-half (1/2) of one common share purchase warrant (the "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to acquire a common share at an exercise price of $0.12 per share at any time until February 22, 2015.
According to a March 8, 2013 article on the Mining.com website, approximately 37% of all junior mining companies have less than $200,000 in working capital. With an aggregate of approximately $4.43 million in working capital, the Corporation has sufficient funds to carry its operations and to meet its obligations as they become due. In addition, the current financial position of the Corporation provides the Corporation with the ability to be patient in the current down cycle of base metal prices and evaluate all options and opportunities presented to the Corporation with a view of enhancing shareholder value.
In light of the current nickel market, the Corporation has decided that the best option available to it and its shareholders is to conserve its working capital and only invest its resources in projects that will enhance shareholder value. This decision is reinforced by the experience of other junior mining companies in the immediate vicinity of the Corporation's property. These companies took on significant debt in order to construct processing facilities commence mining operations. The end result has been the shuttering of the facilities and depressed stock value.
Shareholders' Meeting
The Corporation would like to congratulate Messieurs Miller, Brugh, Davis, Cantore and Maddigan on their appointment as directors of the Corporation at the recent annual shareholders' meeting. The Corporation would also like to thank all of the shareholders that participated at the meeting .
Clarification of Information
The Corporation would like to clarify certain misinformation pertaining to the compensation of Mr. Randy Miller, the President and Director of the Corporation. As disclosed in the Corporation's disclosure documents, Mr. Miller's annual compensation package consists of a monthly consulting fee of $30,000 and a monthly car allowance of $1,500 for an aggregate annual compensation package of $378,000. In addition, the Corporation pays a monthly rent payment of $10,000 to a private company controlled by Mr. Miller pursuant to a sublease agreement. The monthly rent payment is for the Corporation's current office and there are no additional fees or payments being made to Mr. Miller.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "anticipated", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Inspiration is subject to significant risks and uncertainties which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward looking statements contained in this release. Inspiration cannot assure investors that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements and Inspiration assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements contained in this release to reflect actual events or new circumstances.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Inspiration Mining Corporation
Randy Miller
CEO
416.842.9000
www.inspirationmining.com
