Mount Polley Exploration Results

VANCOUVER, BC - Imperial Metals Corporation reported results from exploration below the south end of the Springer pit at Mount Polley. The drilling has confirmed that mineralization in this area extends well below the planned Springer pit bottom and further to the east in the vicinity of drill hole SD12-147.

The final phase of 2012 surface exploration drilling was conducted in the south end of the active Springer pit and tested areas both within the current mine plan and also below the proposed Phase 5 Springer pit. Drill hole SD12-147, drilled along the eastern edge of the known Springer mineralization, intercepted 446.3 metres grading 0.34% copper and 0.31 g/t gold. Prior to this drilling, the resource block model relied on an older, short drill hole with lower copper grades and no gold assay data, so the effect of hole SD12-147 on the pending block model update will be to extend the copper/gold mineralization both to depth and to the east and provide better copper/gold grade information.

All holes drilled in this program intersected long intervals of copper/gold mineralization above the current mine cut-off grades, as shown on the table below. The copper oxide level averaged 6.5% over the long intervals, shown on the table, which is much less than the average copper oxide level of 14% in the ore delivered to the mill in 2012. The lower oxide level results in better copper recovery in the flotation circuit. Also, some holes intercepted shorter intervals with copper grades averaging over 1% as highlighted by SD12-152 which intercepted 67.5 metres grading 1.27% copper and 0.90 g/t gold well below the planned pit, and hole SD12-150 which intercepted 31.9 metres grading 1.20% copper and 0.84 g/t just below the planned pit, and SD12-157 which intercepted 23.5 metres grading 1.20% copper and 1.16 g/t gold within the planned Springer pit.