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iMinerals Inc.
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iMinerals Inc.
All rights reserved.
July 10, 2014
Standard Flotation techniques used to process sample from Kelly’s Hump
Vancouver, B.C. (July 10, 2014) - I-Minerals Inc. (TSX.V: IMA; OTCQX: IMAHF) (“the Company”)
has received high purity quartz results from Cerium Laboratories of
Austin Texas from a sample excavated from the Kelly’s Hump portion of
the Bovill Kaolin Deposit, part of the Company’s Helmer Bovill property.
The sample was first shipped to Ginn Mineral Technologies where the
halloysite-kaolinite fraction was removed and the remaining
quartz-potassium feldspar (“K-spar”) sand fraction was sent to North
Carolina State University’s Minerals Research Laboratory (“MRL”), where
after tertiary grinding, the quartz and K-spar in the sand fraction are
separated using standard wet flotation and dry rare earth magnetic
separation techniques. High purity products with less than 189 PPM of
total impurities or 99.981% SiO2 were achieved.
A total of 162 lbs (74 kg) of feldspathic sand was processed on the
bench scale. The primary float was to separate the K-spar and the
quartz. The quartz tails from this primary float were then subjected to
a series of additional floats to remove residual K-spar, mica and other
impurities from the quartz products. Three grades of the quartz
product were produced. A Quartz 1 or Q1 product being the standard one
float product, a Quartz 2 or Q2 product where the quartz sand is floated
a second time to remove additional impurities and a Quartz 3 or Q3
product where the Q2 product is floated a third time to further remove
impurities. Average results from a series of bench scale flotation
results are as follows:
| Product | Total Impurities (ppm) | Sio2 purity (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Quartz 1 | 439.69 | 99.956 |
| Quartz 2 | 233.38 | 99.976 |
| Quartz 3 | 188.69 | 99.981 |
The majority of the impurities are Al, K and Na and are likely the
result of trace amounts of feldspar reporting to the quartz concentrate.
This bench scale flotation work has resulted in the production of 27
lbs. (12 kg) of K-spar, 17 lbs. (8 kg) of Q1 product; 16lbs. (7 kg) of
Q2 product and 16lbs. (7 kg) of Q3 product. Approximately half of the
volume of each of the three quartz products will now be sent for melt
testing to confirm the high purity quartz products perform acceptably
when melted. As noted in the Company’s press release of June26, 2014 a
35 ton bulk sample has been extracted from 6 locations within the
Kelly’s Hump area and has been sent to Ginn / MRL for pilot plant scale
processing. The objective of this statistically representative sample
is to confirm these very encouraging bench scale results from Kelly’s
Hump.
In a related matter, I-Minerals has engaged Dr. Thomas Gallo as a
consultant to oversee ceramic test work and market development. Dr.
Gallo is currently COO of BelloLea Artisan Kitchen, of Asheville, NC.
Prior to founding BelloLea, Dr. Gallo was the General Manager —
Corporate Research for Unimin Corporation in Spruce Pine North Carolina
where his group developed new products including Iota-8 and Iota-9 and
solved production issues. Dr. Gallo coordinated and oversaw research and
technical service projects and started-up new product pilot plants.
Prior to joining Unimin Dr. Gallo was a Senior Research Scientist with
Akzo Chemicals where he worked on high purity synthetic materials
including silica, titanium carbide and high surface area catalyst
materials. Dr. Gallo, a graduate of Rutgers University where he earned a
Ph.D. in Ceramic Science & Engineering with a minor in Chemistry,
has written numerous technical papers and received several patents for
ceramic related work.
“The Kelly’s Hump area of the Bovill Kaolin project is readily shaping
up to be the priority focus for future mining efforts,” stated Tom
Conway, President and CEO of I-Minerals. “Kelly’s Hump has returned
some of the highest concentrations of high aspect ratio halloysite,
excellent K-spar product and the latest results show that the quartz
easily cleans up to a high purity product. With the addition of Thomas
Gallo to our team we are better positioned to compete in the highly
competitive quartz markets.”
A. Lamar Long, CPG, is a qualified person (“QP”) for I-Minerals Inc. and has reviewed and approved the contents of this release.
About I-Minerals Inc.
I-Minerals is developing multiple deposits of high purity-high value
halloysite, quartz, potassium feldspar and kaolin at its strategically
located Helmer-Bovill property in north central Idaho. A 2014
Prefeasibility Study on the Bovill Kaolin Deposit completed by SRK
Consulting (USA) Inc. highlights the potential of the Helmer-Bovill
property’s Bovill Kaolin deposit: after tax NPV6 of $212 million; 30.5%
IRR; 3 year payback and $72.7 million initial CAPEX; $84 million CAPEX
including life of mine sustaining capital over a 25 year mine life.
Ongoing development work is focused on moving project through the
feasibility process towards production.
I-Minerals Inc.
per: “Thomas M. Conway”
Thomas M. Conway,
President & CEO
Contact:
I-Minerals Inc.
Barry Girling
877-303-6573 or 604-303-6573
Email: info@imineralsinc.com
Or visit our website at www.imineralsinc.com
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