VANCOUVER, BC --(Marketwired - June 14, 2017) - I-Minerals Inc. (TSX VENTURE: IMA) (OTCQB: IMAHF) (FRANKFURT: 61M) (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on the ongoing pilot plant work at Ginn Mineral Technologies ("GMT") in Sandersville Georgia. Additional pilot plant work is also planned at North Carolina State University Minerals Research Laboratory (MRL). The primary purpose of the pilot plants is to make mineral product samples for distribution to prospective customers as part of the Company's continuing marketing efforts. In particular, several life science companies have successfully tested their products on the bench scale and now require greater volumes of halloysite as the product development progresses through the larger volume pilot plant stage.
GMT is in the final stages of completing a clay pilot plant where they produced over 2000 lbs. of ULTRA HalloPure halloysite and approximately 4500 lbs. of kaolin for use as feedstock for production of metakaolin. The sand fraction from the ore has been recently shipped MRL and is being readied as feedstock for K-feldspar and quartz pilot plant work.
The MRL recently completed a K-feldspar pilot plant where approximately 500 lbs. of K-feldspar were produced and sent to our warehouse in Coeur d'Alene. The quality of the product was consistently exceptional -- K2O >14%, Fe2O3 <0.06%, and the Al2O3 >18%, representing some of the highest K2O feldspar available.
A testing program at FLSmidth (Bethlehem, PA facilities) is scheduled for early July wherein I-Minerals will test the use of flash calcination technology. This program is being pursued as a possible conventional calcination processing replacement for potential improvement of the final metakaolin physical and reactivity properties. Flash calcination allows a smaller footprint within the process facility and could offer modest capital costs savings as a smaller mill building may be required.
I-Minerals has also engaged FLSmidth Krebs (Tucson, AZ) to undertake a testing program in July to investigate a process schematic change at the front end of the plant circuit. In this test program, hydrocyclone technology will be used to separate the clay and sand fractions at an approximate 325 mesh cut point from a sample of about 1200 lbs. of the raw primary clay. The current process schematic uses a two-stage screw classification and screening circuit to achieve the separation. If the hydrocyclone technology proves successful, the revised circuit will reduce capital costs and further reduce the building "footprint".
"The demand for our halloysite products is really gaining momentum," stated Thomas Conway, President and CEO of I-Minerals. "As additional life science applications move through the commercialization process, it appears demand for our HalloPure product is going to exceed our pilot plant inventory. This is very exciting for I-Minerals as HalloPure is by far our highest value mineral product."
I-Minerals is presenting at the 2017 Marcum MicroCap Conference on June 15, 2017. The Marcum MicroCap Conference (www.marcummicrocap.com) is a nationally recognized forum for publicly traded companies with less than $500 million in market capitalization to network with fund managers and high net worth investors who focus on small cap equities. More than 2000 investors and other participants from every segment of the microcap marketplace attend each year, including venture and lower middle-market private equity investors, institutional investors, directors, investment bankers, and buy- and sell-side analysts, as well as senior executive teams from presenting companies and service providers to the microcap marketplace.
The conference is presented by Marcum LLP, a top national accounting and advisory firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Marcum's Assurance Division provides the most up-to-date service and guidance on SEC accounting and reporting issues. Services include Financial Statement Audits in accordance with PCAOB standards; Tax Compliance and Advisory Services; Due Diligence; Agreed-Upon Procedures and Other Attest Work; Internal Audit Services; Sarbanes-Oxley Section 404 Compliance Services and Software; Technical Accounting Assistance; and IPO Assistance. For more information, visit www.marcumllp.com.
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 2016 Feasibility Study on the Bovill Kaolin Deposit led by GBM Engineers LLC, who were responsible for overall project management and the process plant and infrastructure design, including OPEX and CAPEX calculated an After Tax NPV of US$249.8 million with a 25.8% After Tax IRR. Initial CAPEX was estimated at $108.3 million with a 3.7 year After Tax payback. Other engineering services were provided by HDR Engineering, Inc. (all environmental components; hydrology / hydrogeology; road design); Tetra Tech, Inc. (tailings storage facility design); Mine Development Associates (mine modelling; ore scheduling; mineral reserve estimation); and SRK Consulting (U.S.) Inc. (mineral resource estimation). The project has received mine and water permits from the State of Idaho.
I-Minerals Inc.
Per: "Thomas M. Conway"
Thomas M. Conway, President & CEO
This News Release includes certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and resources, exploration results, and future plans and objectives of the Company are forward looking statements that involve various risks. Actual results could differ materially from those projected as a result of the following factors, among others: changes in the world wide price of mineral market conditions, risks inherent in mineral exploration, risk associated with development, construction and mining operations, the uncertainty of future profitability and uncertainty of access to additional capital.
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