ICI advances drill project

Strong interpersonal relationships with joint venture partners, solid financing and a board of directors with a wealth of mining knowledge have allowed Inter-citic Minerals to make headway in probing one of China's most promising under-explored gold deposits.

Its president James J. Moore, who has overseen operations in China since 1998 and has led the exploration and development of the company's Dachang Gold Project in Northwest China's Qinghai Province over the past three years, shares his views on the company's success in the country.

Q: Can you introduce Inter-citic Minerals and the Dachang Gold Project to us?

A: Inter-citic Minerals is a Toronto-based TSX-listed Canadian gold exploration and development company with properties in China, including our extensive Dachang Gold Project in Northwest China's Qinghai Province.

We are now completing our fourth season of exploration at Dachang in a joint venture with our partner, the Qinghai Geological Survey Institute. Dachang is a large, newly discovered sediment-hosted gold deposit contained within a much larger and under-explored district.

Q: What makes Inter-citic Minerals a unique company?

A: The fact that Dachang is a gold discovery alone makes it unique. There aren't more than a handful of real gold discoveries in the world. Dachang has every indication of being economic.

The fact that Dachang continues to grow is also unique. I'd also say that the fact that our partnership is excellent makes us unique.

We looked at over 50 projects in China before deciding to pursue Dachang. We looked hard before we found an early stage exploration property where we could acquire a large land position in a welcoming and under-explored jurisdiction like Qinghai Province, with a good partner like QGSI.

Q: Can you describe Inter-citic Minerals' exploration at Dachang?

A: In 2004 and 2005, we identified over 50 major gold soil anomalies on the 279 sq km property through systematic soil and trench sampling.

Drilling on these anomalies showed us they were mapping mineralized, near-surface faults. Last year, 96 of our 101 drill holes at Dachang encountered near-surface gold mineralization.

Our hit rate so far in 2007 has been equally good, which leads us to believe we are looking at an economic open-pit at Dachang.

It's important to note that our 2-million-ounce inferred resource is contained in only two of these 50+ anomalies. The rest are just waiting for us to get to them.

Q: What accounts for Inter-citic Minerals' successful operations in China?

A: When Inter-citic Minerals acquired Dachang in late 2003, there were dozens and dozens of foreign gold companies with projects in China.

Now, there are only a handful left. Those who have left say it's a "China problem".

We've found that operating in an emerging market like China can be challenging, but most of the failed gold projects failed for good reason - poor quality assets, poor partnerships, lack of patience and China experience.

You have to be committed to China and spend the time required to understand what it takes to operate here.

Q: What about licensing issues in China?

A: We have frankly found licensing to not be a major problem in China. We have spent a great deal of time understanding the regulatory system and performing as required to maintain our licenses, which have always been renewed on time.

Our business license, valid until 2033, is one of the longest granted in China.

We believe there is a great future for gold exploration in Western China. It's huge, mineral-rich and largely unexplored. The governments are welcoming of investment and make excellent partners.

www.inter-citic.com

(China Daily 11/13/2007 page28)