Imperial Mining Group (TSXV:IPG) has announced that additional assays have been received from its Crater Lake drilling program on the TG scandium-rare earth mineralized zone. The results confirm the intersection widths of scandium-bearing olivine ferrosyenite that were previous reported. The program was completed in early September, and once all of the results are received from the lab and data compilation is completed, the company will undertake an updated 43-101 Resource Estimate for the zone. The goal of the new data is to convert the Inferred Category Resources from last year into Indicated/Measured Resources.

Peter Cashin, Imperial’s President & Chief Executive Officer commented in a press release: “The summer drilling results for the Crater Lake property continue to exceed all expectations, as they continue to confirm wide intervals of scandium and TREO+Y at the TGZ target. Drilling has now defined the Zone on 50 m sections between Sections 350N and 600N and mineralization has been traced by drilling over 600m in total strike length from surface to a vertical depth of 150 m (Figure 1). Importantly, the zone appears to get wider and higher grade with depth. We anticipate that the resource will likely increase from what was previously reported for the TG.”

Highlights from the results are as follows: 

• Assay results from the three additional drillholes continue to return impressive grades of 98.6 (323.4’) grading 308 g/t scandium oxide (Sc2O3), including 52.8 m (173.2’) grading 322 g/t Sc2O3 and 113.7 m (372.9) grading 278 g/t Sc2O3, including 335 g/t Sc2O3 over 10.5 m (34.4’) and including 301 g/t over 16.75 m (54.9’).
  
• These are the deepest cuts (150 m vertical) into the TG Zone and confirm a thickening and grade increase to the mineralization at depth.
  
• Elevated levels of total rare earth oxides plus yttrium (TREO+Y) of up to 0.479% characterize the scandium-bearing horizon.
  
• At a gold price of $1,775US/oz and a scandium oxide price of $1,500US/kg, the intersections represent a gold-equivalent value of 7.3 to 8.8 g/t Au.

CURRENT DRILLING

To date, assays for three additional holes for 648.0 m have been received (Table 2, Figure 1). All drillholes have intersected the target mafic intrusive host rock. The drilling indicates that the TG scandium Zone is doubly dipping between 830 west to 700 east, with a north-northeast strike direction. The widths of the mineralized zone vary between 55 and 135 m (180-443’) in true thickness. Mineralization is open at depth below the 200 m vertical level and along strike and appears as a thickening, conical-shaped body in cross-section.

Table 1 – Crater Lake Drilling Best Assay Results:

NOTES: – 1 ppm of Sc metal equals 1.5338 ppm scandium oxide (Sc2O3) ; 1 g/t equals 1 ppm. TREO+Y includes oxides of La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb and Lu plus Y.

Table 2 – Borehole Location Table – Crater Lake Project, Quebec