PERTH -
The Sydney Mining Club was told today that the prime move for Ivanhoe Australia was to complete the scoping study on its Merlin high grade molybdenum-rhenium project which is linked to the established Mount Dore copper deposit in north west Queensland.
The company is ultimately under the steering of high profile global entrepreneur Robert Friedland whose Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (NYSE, TSX & NASDAQ: IVN) holds an 83% stake.
Ivanhoe Australia's managing director, Peter Reeve, told the Sydney Mining Club that a full feasibility on Merlin should begin in the current quarter. He pointed out that rhenium has unique properties and its high melting point is only exceeded by tungsten and carbon.
Global production of rhenium totals only about 50 tonnes per annum, with about 77% used in super alloys and 15% in petroleum catalysts.
The company was also undertaking mineral resource updates on Merlin, on the Mt Rore copper oxide and polymetallic zones and the Mt Elliott and Swan high grade zones, also in south west Queensland.
Reeve said Ivanhoe had a market capitalisation of A$1.1 billion (US$993 miliion) and, at June 30, had A$39 M (US$35.2 M) in cash.
He described Merlin as the world's highest grade molybdenum and rhenium deposit and the mineralisation was shallow and metallurgical test work to date has been positive.
Reeve said the southern end of Merlin has shown intercepts of "near pure" molybdenite and hole MDQ264 had a 3.73 metres section grading 15.5% Mo and 150 grams/tonne Re, including 0.9m @ 46.5% Mo and 446 g/t Re.
About 55 kilometres north of Merlin the company has the Lanhams prospect that has also produced high grade molybdenum and rhenium intersections.
In four north west Queensland projects - Merlin, Mt Dore, Mt Elliott and Starra Line - there was an aggregate metals inventory in resources of 3.1 million tonnes of copper, 5.4 M ounces of gold, 110,000t of molybdenum, 180,000 kg of rhenium and 2 M oz silver.
Mt Elliott is a large-scale copper-gold project which also has the high grade Swan zone. Mt Dore is a copper leach SX-EW project where column leach tests have given recoveries of between 92-93% copper.
Ivanhoe Australia was also progressing work on the U4 and Robert Heg uranium prospects, first identified by Rio Tinto. Recent drilling on Robert Heg by Ivanhoe included 11m @ 4,977 ppm U308, and 5m @ 590 ppm including 1m @ 2,000 ppm U308.
The company holds a 19.9% interest in advanced Queensland explorer Exco Resources which holds 4,700 sq km of tenements in the Cloncurry region with 560 sq km in joint venture with Ivanhoe. A definitive feasibility study has been carried out on the E1 project, for which there is an option for a 2.5-3 Mtpa operation to produce 25,000 tpa of copper concentrates from 2010.
Exco also has the White Dam gold prospect in South Australia.
Ivanhoe has a 10% stake in Emmerson Resources and the right to earn up to 75% in a package of properties in the Tennant Creek gold-copper field of the Northern Territory.
