Imperial Metals Builds for the Future

Article Excerpt

IMPERIAL METALS $12.50 (Toronto symbol III; SI Rating: Speculative) (604-669-8959; www.imperialmetals.com; Shares outstanding: 30.8 million; Market cap: $384.7 million) is a Vancouver-based mining company that explores for and produces base and precious metals. Its producing assets are a 100% interest in the Mount Polley open pit copper/gold mine in central British Columbia, plus a 50% interest in the Huckleberry open pit copper/molybdenum mine in west central B.C. In 2006, Imperial Metal’s share of production from the two mines was 90.9 million pounds of copper, 42,800 ounces of gold, 546,000 ounces of silver and 153,000 pounds of molybdenum. The Mount Polley property covers over 19,000 hectares. Mount Polley’s current mine life is six years. Total proven and probable reserves are 476 million pounds of copper and 517,000 ounces of gold. Exploration and drilling is ongoing, with 123 diamond drill holes completed in 2006. The Huckleberry copper/molybdenum open-pit mine covers over 1,900 hectares. The Huckleberry’s mine life has been extended into 2010 with the approval…