Imperial Mining Sponsors Research on Crater Lake’s Scandium Deposit Genesis by McGill University

MONTREAL, Oct. 03, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Mining Group Ltd. ("Imperial") (TSX VENTURE: IPG; OTCQB: IMPNF) is pleased to announce that it is sponsoring a 3-year research project at McGill University to better understand the unique genesis of the scandium/Rare Earths deposit formation at Imperial’s Crater Lake Project in northeastern Quebec for which a 43-101-compliant Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) was issued in July 2022. An updated resource estimate was issued on September 14, 2023. Imperial will benefit from this research by better understanding how to target high scandium concentrations within its deposit with high predictability and increase the profitability of its mining operations.

McGill’s research aims to develop a genetic model for Scandium and other Rare Earth Elements featured at the Crater Lake Project. The research will be directed by Dr. Anthony Williams-Jones, Professor and Logan Chair from the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences. Professor Williams-Jones’ has received international acclaim for his work on the genesis of mineral deposits, particularly that of the critical metals, including scandium. The result of the work will also help a Ph.D candidate earn his degree.

The work to be conducted over the next three years is an extension of research initiated in 2020.

Dr. Anthony Williams-Jones, the Program Director said: “I am very pleased to have been given the opportunity to continue this research. I consider the Crater Lake project to be the most exciting hard-rock scandium project in the world and one that could lead to a mine with the potential to supply much of the global demand for scandium for the foreseeable future.”

President and CEO of Imperial, Pierre Neatby, “Due to Professor Anthony Williams-Jones familiarity with the Crater Lake deposit, we anticipate utilizing this research to help plan the building of the Crater Lake Mine. This will reduce our Capex and Opex by targeting even richer scandium zones which will increase metallurgical recoveries and improve our knowledge of scandium deposit formation for future expansion efforts. We look forward to the future of these findings with great anticipation." 

Since beginning exploration of the Crater Lake site in 2017, Imperial determined that ferrosyenite is generally enriched in scandium relative to the other rock units in the Crater Lake Intrusion. Previous work using grab samples showed that scandium is hosted by a particular clinopyroxene-rich variety of ferrosyenite, which reaches scandium concentrations ranging from several hundred ppm to several thousand ppm. The Northern Lobe of the TG Zone holds Indicated Resources of 11.8 million tonnes grading 275.9 g/t Sc2O3 and Inferred Resources of 15.9 million tonnes grading 268.4 g/t Sc2O3 as per the press release issued September14, 2023 of the updated NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate for the TG Scandium-Rare Earth Zone completed by InnovExplo Inc. of Val d’Or, Quebec. (The effective date of the mineral resource estimate is August 3, 2023). The challenge for Imperial and for McGill is to find an efficient way to determine where higher grade zones are likely to occur on the property to improve on the already robust economic results of the PEA issued in July 2022.