Red Chris Drill Hole Returns 3.0 g/t Gold and 1.5% Copper Over 166 Metres

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Sept. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Imperial Metals Corporation (the “Company”) (TSX:III) reports on Red Chris drill results which continue to validate the East zone high grade pod. Partial results from drill hole RC634, located in the East zone, returned 394 metres grading 1.6 g/t gold and 0.86% copper starting at 650 metres, and include a 166 metre interval grading 3.0 g/t gold and 1.5% copper from 806 metres down the hole.

Newcrest Mining Limited Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Sandeep Biswas, said “Drilling results at Red Chris have returned 166 metres grading 3.0 g/t gold and 1.5% copper, which is significantly higher than we would expect to find in porphyry systems. Red Chris’ results also confirm the presence of multiple discrete high grade pods of mineralization within the East Zone.” Newcrest Red Chris Mining Limited (“NRC”) is operator of the Red Chris Joint Venture (Newcrest 70%; Imperial 30%).

Two drill programs are active, with eight diamond drills in operation. The East Zone Resource Definition program is designed to obtain geological, geotechnical, and metallurgical data to support future studies for underground block cave mining. The Brownfields Exploration program is searching for additional zones of higher grade mineralization within the Red Chris porphyry corridor.

A total of 67,690 metres of drilling has been completed since NRC acquired its interest in the joint venture in August 2019. NRC confirmed they are on track to commence an underground decline into the East zone by the end of 2020 or early 2021, and remain on track to announce an initial resource for Red Chris in the March 2021 quarter.

The 10 follow up infill holes added to further define the high grade pod in the vicinity of high grade intervals intercepted in RC09-350 and RC611 are now complete. Results from these holes continue to confirm the continuity of discrete high grade pods of mineralization.

Drilling to confirm the footprint of the new high grade zone (western pod), which was first intersected in hole RC616, continues. Results of step-out hole RC631, located 200 metres south west of RC616, returned a broad zone of 486 metres grading 0.39 g/t gold and 0.33% copper from 612 metres, including 104 metres grading 0.55 g/t gold and 0.43% copper from 758 metres, and 82 metres grading 0.58 g/t gold and 0.54% copper from 886 metres, which has confirmed the extent of the +0.5 g/t gold halo which surrounds the RC616 high grade pod. Final results for step-out hole RC625, located 100 metres south west of RC616, returned 426 metres^ grading 0.62 g/t gold and 0.48% copper from 640 metres, including 60 metres^^ grading 2.2 g/t gold and 1.3% copper from 736 metres. Drilling to define the extend of this new high grade zone is ongoing.

The Brownfields Exploration program has been expanded with drilling underway for the first time beneath the Main Zone, and property wide Airborne Electro-Magnetic (AEM) and Gravity survey was completed this summer.

Significant Red Chris intercepts include:

Hole ID	From (m)	To (m)	Width (m)	Gold (g/t)	Copper (%)
RC625	640	1066	426^	0.62	0.48
including	734	810	76^^	1.9	1.2
including	736	796	60^^	2.2	1.3
RC626	560	1056	496	0.55	0.45
including	742	838	96	0.95	0.75
including	746	784	38	1.1	0.90
including	828	838	10	2.1	0.97
including	918	1006	88	1.2	0.92
including	920	970	50	1.6	1.2
including	1028	1048	20	0.65	0.60
and	1068	1234	166	0.40	0.34
including	1082	1144	62	0.82	0.56
including	1082	1106	24	1.0	0.78
RC627	600	1172	572	0.56	0.48
including	752	898	146	0.86	0.57
including	778	822	44	1.2	0.71
including	910	1034	124	0.64	0.68
including	1048	1156	108	0.64	0.53
including	1074	1086	12	1.1	0.92
RC628	497	1071	574	0.43	0.42
including	631	763	132	0.79	0.64
including	663	697	34	1.0	0.70
including	923	943	20	1.0	0.66
RC631	612	1098	486	0.39	0.33
including	758	862	104	0.55	0.43
including	886	968	82	0.58	0.54
RC632	698	1260	562	0.48	0.42
including	856	1012	156	0.71	0.49
including	984	1010	26	1.1	0.81
including	1024	1038	14	0.76	0.94
RC633	582	1156	574	0.53	0.44
including	792	914	122	0.83	0.69
including	822	870	48	1.3	0.97
including	1016	1084	68	1.7	1.3
including	1018	1084	66	1.8	1.3
RC634	522	628	106	0.33	0.41
and	650	1044	394**	1.6	0.86
including	802	1004	202	2.7	1.3
including	806	972	166	3.0	1.5
including	888	914	26	8.8	3.4
including	890	902	12	12	4.4
including	988	1000	12	1.5	0.93
including	1022	1032	10	1.0	0.71

**partial intercept, assays pending; ^ updated intercept; ^^ previously reported July 22, 2020 news release

Jim Miller-Tait, P.Geo., Imperial VP Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 for the Red Chris exploration program and has reviewed this news release. Red Chris samples for the 2020 drilling reported were analysed at Bureau Veritas Mineral Laboratories in Vancouver. A full QA/QC program using blanks, standards and duplicates was completed for all diamond drilling samples submitted to the labs. Significant assay intervals reported represent apparent widths. Insufficient geological information is available to confirm the geological model and true width of significant assay intervals.

Plan view map and cross sections are available on imperialmetals.com.

As released by Newcrest, “Newcrest Mining Limited has implemented and maintained measures to reduce and mitigate the risks of the COVID-19 pandemic to its project workforce and key stakeholders. Potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the drilling activity at all of Newcrest’s exploration projects are being actively managed. There have been no confirmed cases of COVID-19.”

About Imperial

Imperial is a Vancouver exploration, mine development and operating company. The Company, through its subsidiaries, owns a 30% interest in the Red Chris mine, and a 100% interest in both the Mount Polley and Huckleberry copper mines in British Columbia. Imperial also holds a 45.3% interest in the Ruddock Creek lead/zinc property.

Company Contacts

Brian Kynoch | President | 604.669.8959
Darb Dhillon | Chief Financial Officer | 604.488.2658
Jim Miller-Tait | Vice President Exploration | 604.488.2676
Sabine Goetz | Shareholder Communications | 604.488.2657 | investor@imperialmetals.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain information contained in this news release are not statements of historical fact and are “forward-looking” statements. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect Company management’s expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company’s expectations and timing with respect to current and planned drilling programs at Red Chris to obtain data to support future studies for underground block cave mining and identify additional zones of higher grade mineralization, including plans to commence an underground decline into the East Zone.

In certain cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "outlook", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved" or the negative of these terms or comparable terminology. By their very nature forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

In making the forward-looking statements in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on information currently available to the Company as well as the Company’s current beliefs and assumptions. These factors and assumptions and beliefs and assumptions include, the risk factors detailed from time to time in the Company’s interim and annual financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis of those statements, all of which are filed and available for review on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended, many of which are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and all forward-looking statements in this news release are qualified by these cautionary statements.