Imperial Reports Red Chris and Mount Polley Drilling Update

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 25, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Metals Corporation (“Imperial” or the “Company”) (TSX:III) reports drill results from Red Chris since the last update on July 24, 2023 and Mount Polley.

At Red Chris, drill hole RC875 was drilled south to north into the East Ridge, the opposite direction to most of the drilling to date, to confirm the down-dip continuity of mineralization in the East Ridge zone. The initial results from hole RC875 (previously reported in the July 24, 2023 news release) returned an intercept of 406 metres grading 1.0% copper and 1.1g/t gold from 486 metres, that includes 248 metres grading 1.4% copper and 1.6 g/t gold from 644 metres. The remaining assays results for this hole have been received and the intercept is now 532 metres grading 0.98% copper and 1.1 g/t gold from 486 metres. This hole was targeted to be drilled to a depth of 1,200 metres but was abandoned at 1,018 metres due to access problems.

The underground drill has collared a hole to test for additional mineralization east of the East Ridge Exploration Target. This hole is designed to test 100 metres below where hole RC876 (previously reported in the July 24, 2023 news release) returned an interval of 274 metres grading 0.45% copper and 0.67 g/t gold from 998 metres. This 274 metre intercept included higher grade intervals of 42 metres grading 1.1% copper and 1.5 g/t gold from 1,080 metres, 14 metres grading 0.63% copper and 1.7 g/t gold from 1,144 metres and 26 metres grading 0.5% copper and 1.1 g/t gold from 1,170 metres. This drilling, located approximately 200 metres east of the defined East Ridge Exploration Target, demonstrates the prospectivity of this area for additional discoveries.

Red Chris drilling in 2023 included six reconnaissance holes. The reconnaissance holes tested targets to the west in the Gully and Far West zones, most of which intersect zones of low-grade copper-gold mineralization. Of interest, the mineralization in the Far West zone is predominantly gold, an example of which is a 56 metre interval in hole RC892 located in the Far West zone that grades 0.05% copper and 0.46 g/t gold from 504 metres.

There were four drills working until July when drilling was reduced to a single underground drill, drilling from stations along the exploration decline. Most of the drilling since the previous update was into the East Zone block cave macroblock 1 to gather more data for the block cave study.