IAMGOLD Announces Results From the Westwood-Mooshla Exploration Project
IAMGOLD Corporation is pleased to announce results of 10 holes from its Westwood-Mooshla underground exploration program. These results include an intersection of 8.0 metres averaging 34.9 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and a one meter intersection averaging 160.6 g/t gold. A surface drilling program in 2004 led to the discovery of the Westwood deposit, located two kilometres east of the Doyon Division, where IAMGOLD is currently operating its Doyon and Mouska mines, located along the prolific Cadillac belt in the Abitibi region of Quebec.
“We anticipated good results from the Westwood-Mooshla underground exploration program. I am pleased that these results have exceeded our expectations,” commented Joseph Conway, President & CEO, IAMGOLD. “The initial program was planned with two drills and these results justified the addition of two more drills in November and December. We will continue to explore aggressively with the objective of extending the life of the Doyon Division.”
The ongoing drilling program carried out from this drift totals approximately 28 000 meters consisting of 22 holes. In 2006, 16 970 meters of drilling were completed, 6 700 metres of which were completed after September 2006. The intersections from the recent drilling are presented in Table 1. Additional information is shown in the cross sections in Figures 2 and 3.
The Westwood-Mooshla underground exploration project was initiated in 2004 with a $25 million, five year exploration program to identify new deposits on the Doyon and Mouska properties. The Westwood portion of the underground program began with the excavation of an exploration drift starting from the 14th level of the Doyon mine, 900 meters below the surface. This drift should be completed by the end of 2007 when it reaches the Bousquet Fault, near the eastern boundary of the property.
The following three gold bearing horizons have been identified; Zone 2 Extension; North Corridor and Westwood Horizon. Testing has revealed significant gold intersections from these three mineralized horizons. Most of the intersections are related to the Zone 2 Extension (far eastern extension of the Doyon Main Zone) and to the North Corridor.
The new area tested (Zone 2 Ext. and North Corridor) is located on the west side of the Bousquet Fault about 1.2 km east of Doyon shaft (figures 2 and 3). Economic values start at about 900 meters below the surface with extensions of 350 meters laterally and more than 1 km at depth. Both horizons are parallel, about 150 meters apart, open at depth and have a western plunge. The objectives of this accelerated exploration program, utilizing the two additional drill rigs, is to establish the continuity of these two new zones (Zone 2 Extension and Corridor North) and to determine the mineral potential between 900 to 1500 meters below surface. The original two drill rigs will continue the initial exploration program at depth to the west and east of the Bousquet fault. The exploration drift is now far enough advanced to initiate a 2 km hole to test the immediate western plunge of the Westwood Horizon. This hole will begin in the first quarter of 2007.
Qualified Person / Quality Control Notes
Follow up on the drilling program was carried out by IAMGOLD employees, under the supervision of Ms. Nicole Houle, Geologist – Doyon Division. Ms Houle is a qualified persons (as defined by National Instrument 43-101) with more than 20 years of experience in mine and exploration geology. IAMGOLD has established an Analytical Quality Assurance Program to control and assure the analytical quality of assays in its gold exploration. This program includes the systematic addition of blank samples, reject and pulp duplicates and internal material references (the “standards”) to each batch of samples sent for analysis. Blank samples are used to check for possible contamination in laboratories, field duplicates allow the quantification of overall precision while standards determine the analytical accuracy. Samples were sent for assaying to Doyon’s internal laboratory as a primary laboratory. Samples were assayed by fire-assay according to industry standards.
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors
This press release includes certain “Forward-Looking Statements” within the meaning of section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization and reserves, exploration results and future plans and objectives of IAMGOLD, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from IAMGOLD’s expectations are disclosed under the heading “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in IAMGOLD documents filed from time-to-time with the Toronto Stock Exchange, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities.
Please note:
This entire press release may be accessed via fax, e-mail, IAMGOLD’s website at www.iamgold.com and through CCNMatthew’s website at www.ccnmatthews.com. All material information on IAMGOLD can be found at www.sedar.com or at www.sec.gov.
A map of the Westwood-Mooshla Exploration Project has been made available on the CCNMatthews website. To view, please visit the following link:
http://www.ccnmatthews.com/docs/Westwood.pdf
ARBN# 117 474 790
Contact:
Contacts: IAMGOLD Corporation: Lisa Doddridge Director, Investor Relations (416) 360-4710 or Toll Free 1-888-IMG-9999 (416) 360-4750 (FAX) Email: info@iamgold.com
Website: http://www.iamgold.com
Source: IAMGOLD Corporation
