Development Plan Underway At Westwood

 

TORONTO - IAMGOLD Corporation reported an increase in the resource base at the Westwood development project located two kilometres from the Company's Doyon mine in the Abitibi region of Northern Quebec.

"Our most recent Westwood exploration results give us further confidence in Westwood's ultimate development plan. Our exploration and development teams achieved significant results and are to be commended," said Joseph F. Conway President & CEO. "The acceleration of the project is also a pivotal step in our strategy to maximize the value of our existing assets and infrastructure which will also allow us to strengthen our presence within the Abitibi region."

Exploration drilling expenditures at Westwood are expected to be C$7.8 million for 2009. 8 drills rigs are currently active (1 on the surface, 7 underground) targeting approximately 73,500 metres in 2009. 65,270 metres have been drilled on the project since July 2008. Approximately 21,109 metres were drilled within known zones to reduce the spacing between drill holes and increase the confidence level in the resources, while approximately 44,161 metres were focused on targeting extensions and defining mineralization potential of the known zones on strike and at depth. Zone 2-30 mineralization was intersected by an exploration drift in June 2008 and mining development along the zone started in September 2008. The continuity and grade of the mineralization has been demonstrated over a length of 200 metres. The average grade sampled is roughly 25% higher than expected based on previous diamond drill holes.

Mineralized zones are comprised within three main mineralized trends known as Westwood, Zone 2 and North Corridor.

The revised estimate identifies an Inferred Resource of 9.4 million tonnes of mineralization at an average grade of 11.4 g/t Au containing 3.4 million ounces of gold using a 6.0 g/t Au cut-off grade. The revised resource estimate shows a 17% decrease in tonnage (due to reduction of the minimum width from 3 metres to 2 metres and reinterpretation) and a 31% increase in grade, generating a 9% increase in gold ounces from the previous undiluted resource estimate released in July 2008 using a 4.0 g/t Au cut-off grade.

The company’s address is 401 Bay street, Suite 3200, PO Box 153, Toronto, ON M5H 2Y4, (416) 360-4710, fax: (416) 360-4750, email: [email protected].