Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment For Ollachea Gold Project

LIMA, Peru - Minera IRL Limited reported that Mining Plusis currently completing a Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) detailing revised plans for its flagship Ollachea Gold Project located in the Department of Puno, Southern Peru.

Minera has explored the Ollachea deposit since October 2008. In December of 2012, AMEC Peru and Coffey Mining Pty Ltd. produced a Feasibility Study on the viability of mining the Ollachea deposit from underground and processing mineralized material in a 1.1 million t/a facility. Minera has modified the original project design in an effort to reduce upfront CAPEX and improve project economics, and therefore the 2012 Feasibility Study is no longer current. For this reason, Minera retained Mining Plus to consider the viability of a low-CAPEX start-up for Ollachea with an underground mine, gravity concentration and carbon in leach (“CIL”) plant designed to treat 1,500 tonnes per day (“tpd”) over the first three years (targeting a defined and remodeled high-grade area), ramping up to 3,000 tpd during the fourth year.

Diego Benavides, CEO, said, “These results reinforce our confidence in the viability of a simplified and optimized mine project with reduced capital costs, a short payback period, an underexplored gold resource open to expansion to the east and at depth, and increased potential for long-term value creation for our Company, our shareholders and the local community. We look forward to building an exciting future for Ollachea, supported by a robust base case developed by a remarkable team of consultants that offers sustained production over an 11-year life of mine with an after-tax NPV of $189 million and IRR of 38%.”