Drilling at Platreef, June 2013 (Company)

Drilling at Platreef, June 2013 (Company)

With excerpts from today's Ivanhoe Mines news release.

Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN), and Lars-Eric Johansson, Chief Executive Officer, announced today that the company is proceeding with the sinking of a bulk-sample shaft to access the underground Flatreef platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold and rhodium discovery at its Platreef Project in South Africa's Bushveld Complex.

The South African government's Department of Mineral Resources has notified Ivanhoe Mines of its approval of the planned bulk-sampling procedure.

The vertical shaft will extend to a depth below surface of 800 metres and facilitate the collection of a mineralized bulk sample in the second half of 2015 to complete the company's development assessment of the Flatreef.

Shaft #1 is expected to cost US$80 million (ZAR 818 million), which is expected to be fully funded from the approximately US$180 million in dedicated funds remaining in Ivanhoe's treasury from the US$280 million received in 2011 for the sale of an 8% interest in the Platreef Project to a Japanese consortium of Itochu Corporation, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and JGC Corporation.

Ivanhoe Mines is working with the Japanese consortium on an integrated Flatreef development plan based on an exclusively underground mining operation of up to 12 million tonnes per year utilizing multiple shafts. The study is expected to be completed late this year or early next year.

"This is a very significant development in the life of our South African project," said Mr. Friedland. "After 18 years of determined exploration that produced this truly amazing discovery, the sinking of the bulk-sample shaft is a crucial step in moving the Flatreef Discovery toward production as a state-of-the-art underground mine. We are at the stage where we need get underground and obtain a bulk sample from the mineral deposit to confirm Flatreef's metallurgy and mining characteristics to help us finalize our design and operations planning.

"Together with our Japanese partners and our South African employees, we look forward to the day when we can take our stakeholders and investors underground to show them firsthand the incredible thickness, grades and continuity of the Flatreef platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold and rhodium mineralization."

The news release continues with more details on the bulk sample test as well as an exploration update. Read: Ivanhoe Mines to sink bulk sample shaft at Platreef.

Thom Calandra is reporting to subscribers that Ivanhoe Mines (IVN in Canada)might be preparing to release assays from four to five drill holes at its little-known Gabon gold project in Africa.

Ivanhoe's Steve Garcia, Mike Gray, Lex Geraghty and David Broughton are part of a mining and geology team pursuing Gabon and developing a platinum project in South Africa and zinc and copper projects in DRC Congo.

TCR has no confirmation from the company.

Gabon, or the Gabonese Republic, is to the west of DRC Congo, where Ivanhoe also is active. It is French speaking and has about 1.5 million citizens.

Ivanplats holds two exploration permits across greenstone belts in Gabon. "These permits cover untested gold-in-soil anomalies adjacent to extensive placer gold workings," the company's literature states. "During Q1 2013, reports were received for the 2012 season and plans drawn up for up to 3,000 meters of diamond drilling, primarily at Ndangui." Drilling was scheduled to begin in June.

Related: Ivanhoe Mines Begins Professional Tours of Africa Properties