Ivanhoe Electric and Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden Receive Initial Results from the First Typhoon™ Survey in Saudi Arabia Three Chargeability Anomalies have been Identified by Typhoon™ on the Umm Ash Shalahib Exploration License to the South of
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Ivanhoe Electric and Saudi Arabian Mining Company Ma’aden
Receive Initial Results from the First Typhoon™ Survey in Saudi
Arabia
Three Chargeability Anomalies have been Identified by Typhoon™
on the Umm Ash Shalahib Exploration License to the South of
Ma’aden’s Al Amar Gold-Copper-Zinc Mine
The Umm Ash Shalahib Typhoon Survey Will Eventually Cover more
than 65 km2 and is Approximately 30% Complete
Ma’aden and Ivanhoe Electric Formed Their 50/50 Joint Venture in
2023 to Explore for Copper, Gold, Silver and other Electric Metals on
over ~48,500 km2 of Underexplored Arabian Shield
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA – Ivanhoe Electric Inc. (“Ivanhoe Electric”) (NYSE American:
IE; TSX: IE) Executive Chairman, Robert Friedland and President and Chief Executive
Officer Taylor Melvin are pleased to announce results from the initial Typhoon™ survey
conducted in Saudi Arabia by the 50/50-owned joint venture company (the “Joint
Venture”) established between Ivanhoe Electric and Saudi Arabian Mining Company
Ma’aden (“Ma’aden”) (Saudi Stock Exchange Tadawul: 1211).
Ma’aden and Ivanhoe Electric established the Joint Venture to unlock the significant
mineral potential in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Joint Venture has exclusive
access to explore approximately 48,500 km2 of underexplored land on the Arabian
Shield that Ma’aden will make available to the Joint Venture.
Mr. Friedland commented: “We are thrilled today to announce these initial results from
our ongoing Typhoon™ survey in Saudi Arabia. Our joint team is deploying Ivanhoe
Electric’s Typhoon™ surveying technology and utilizing our Computational
Geosciences imaging software to accelerate the exploration process in Saudi Arabia.
Our team generated these initial results in just over two months. We have identified
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three prospective anomalies for follow-up drill testing on the most prospective areas of
this survey, which are south of Ma’aden’s Al Amar Gold-Copper-Zinc Mine. Developing
drill targets this quickly is possible because of the combination of our talented
exploration team and Ivanhoe Electric’s disruptive, proprietary technologies. We are
just getting started in the Kingdom.”
Mr. Melvin commented: “It’s a great accomplishment for our Joint Venture to identify
drill targets so quickly after commencing surveying activities at the Al Amar Belt. These
initial results demonstrate the powerful exploration platform of Ivanhoe Electric’s
Typhoon™ surveying system and Computational Geosciences’ imaging software.
Typhoon’s™ high-voltage specifications are ideal for the resistive rock cover at the
Umm Ash Shalahib Exploration License. CGI’s machine learning-based software rapidly
generated clear chargeability and resistivity datasets that allowed our geological team
to start data interpretation and identification of drill targets. The initial results at Umm
Ash Shalahib are a testament to Typhoon™ and CGI’s capabilities and the work of the
Joint Venture’s exploration team. We look forward to completing our survey and drilling
these attractive initial targets.”
Initial Typhoon™ survey yields three prospective chargeability anomalies
for subsequent drill testing
The twenty-four exploration licenses that make up the Al Amar Belt cover 1,934 km2 as
shown in Figure 1.
The Al Amar Belt is considered highly prospective for Volcanic Massive Sulfide (VMS)
and epithermal deposit types with historical work identifying zinc, copper, lead, silver
and gold mineralization.
The Arabian Shield is more broadly considered highly prospective for both VMS and
epithermal styles of mineralization. A notable VMS deposit in the Arabian Shield is the
Jabal Sayid copper mine operated as a joint venture between Barrick Gold Corporation
and Ma’aden that produced 68,492 tonnes of copper in 2022. Ma’aden’s Mahd Ad
Dhahab ‘Cradle of Gold’ gold mine is an example of an epithermal deposit on the shield
that has been mined since pre-Islamic times.
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Figure 1. Map of ~48,500 km2 of exploration land available to the Joint Venture showing
the current Exploration Licenses and Exploration License Applications available.
As disclosed in the news release on November 29, 2023, the Joint Venture commenced
exploration activities at the Umm Ash Shalahib exploration license, which largely
surrounds Ma’aden’s existing Al Amar gold-copper-zinc mine (which is not part of the
Joint Venture). The area comprises steep hills with flat valleys (wadis) providing good
access. To date, over 25 km2 of the exploration license area has been surveyed by
Typhoon™ and will continue over the entirety of the 65 km2 exploration license area.
The survey of the entire exploration license is expected to be fully completed by the end
of March 2024.
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As the operator during the exploration phase, Ivanhoe Electric is well underway with
Typhoon™ surveying starting at the south of the exploration license and moving north
as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Umm Ash Shalahib Exploration License surrounding the Al Amar Gold-
Copper-Zinc Mine with Typhoon™ Survey Program areas.
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Figure 3. Initial inversion results approximately 200 meters below surface from
Block 1 in the South of the Umm Ash Shalahib Exploration License
These results have been prepared by Ivanhoe Electric’s subsidiary Computational
Geosciences Inc. (CGI), who use propriety software and machine learning tools to
rapidly invert the raw data produced by Typhoon™ into geophysical results for
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interpretation. The data processing and artificial intelligence software developed by CGI
complements our Typhoon™ technology and represents the only software product that
can efficiently process the full spectrum of geophysical data produced by Typhoon™.
These initial results show three zones of interesting chargeability approximately 200
meters below surface:
• The Eastern anomaly has a very good correlation with a zone of mineralization
historically identified at surface. Based on the government regional geological
map, the area is also shown to be underlain by the same volcanic rocks that host
the historic mineralization.
• The Southern anomaly is also adjacent to an area immediately to the west that
was historically trenched and drilled in the 1970s by the Bureau de Recherches
Géologiques et Minières (BRGM), the French state geological survey group, and
more recently in 2017 and 2018 by Ma’aden. Both BRGM and Ma’aden report
intervals of zinc mineralization of 7.5 meters to 15 meters of 6.2% zinc and 7.7%
zinc, respectively, and an interval of 31.5 meters @ 2.98% copper. Geological
mapping and sampling of trenches has been initiated by the Joint Venture as well
as compiling the historical drill and trench results. Further work is required to
assist in this structural interpretation.
• The Western anomaly appears to be along the stratigraphic trend from the
Southern anomaly and is completely unmapped.
The chargeability zones to the southwest are likely caused by wadi fill to the west and a
band of serpentinite mapped on the regional geological map and are not expected to
represent sulfide mineralization that normally causes chargeability anomalies.
None of these anomalies have been drill tested by the Joint Venture. This work will
follow the interpretation process.
Typhoon™ sees what other technologies cannot
Typhoon™ is the brand name for Ivanhoe Electric’s proprietary electrical geophysical
surveying transmitter, which can survey for the presence of sulfide minerals potentially
containing copper, nickel, gold and silver.
Typhoon™ achieves its results through its unique specifications, which include a
current output of up to 200 amps and a voltage output of up to 10,000 volts. The
transmitter uses switches and capacitance systems, which generate a very pure and
stable transmitted signal, resulting in an extremely high signal-to-noise ratio.
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Typhoon™ was developed specifically to conduct large surveys and identify deep
geophysical anomalies in environments that have highly resistive surface conditions,
such as those seen in the Arabian Shield. Typhoon™ is well-suited to detect the
presence of sulfide minerals containing copper, nickel, gold and silver in areas where
potential deposits are hidden by cover and where target depths exceed the range of
conventional geophysical surveying systems. The Arabian Shield's bedrock is
frequently hidden by sand and gravel cover that can exceed 1 kilometer in depth, similar
to the conditions at Ivanhoe Electric's Santa Cruz project in Arizona, USA.
Typhoon™ is also capable of transmitting both induced polarization and
electromagnetic signals, meaning that the same transmitter can be used to search for a
wide variety of mineral deposit types, including VMS copper and gold deposits, as well
as epithermal gold, and porphyry copper and gold deposits.
The Joint Venture is currently utilizing an existing Typhoon™ unit from Ivanhoe
Electric. In addition, Ivanhoe Electric has also made a second existing unit available to
the Joint Venture. This second Typhoon™ unit will be displayed at the Future Minerals
Forum in Riyadh on January 10 – 11, 2024 before being deployed to Al Amar.
The Joint Venture has also purchased three new generation Typhoon™ units. The first
of these new generation Typhoon™ units is expected to be delivered in Q1 2024, with
the balance in the first half of 2024. The units in use will be withdrawn as the new
generation units are deployed in the field by the Joint Venture.
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Qualified Persons
Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature included in this news release have been
reviewed, verified and approved by Charles N. Forster, P.Geo., and Mark Gibson,
P.Geo., both who are Qualified Persons as defined by Regulation S-K, Subpart 1300
promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and by Canadian
National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Forster is a Senior Advisor to Ivanhoe Electric and Mr.
Gibson is Chief Geophysics Officer of Ivanhoe Electric. Historical drill results provided
by Ma’aden and BRGM have not been independently verified by the Qualified Persons.
About Ivanhoe Electric
We are a U.S. company that combines advanced mineral exploration technologies with
electric metals exploration projects predominantly located in the United States. We use
our accurate and powerful Typhoon™ geophysical surveying system, together with
advanced data analytics provided by our subsidiary, Computational Geosciences Inc.,
to accelerate and de-risk the mineral exploration process as we seek to discover new
deposits of critical metals that may otherwise be undetectable by traditional exploration
technologies. We believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the
potential to yield major new discoveries of critical metals. Our mineral exploration
efforts focus on copper as well as other metals including nickel, vanadium, cobalt,
platinum group elements, gold and silver. Through the advancement of our portfolio of
electric metals exploration projects, headlined by the Santa Cruz Copper Project in
Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah, as well as other exploration
projects in the United States, we intend to support United States supply chain
independence by finding and delivering the critical metals necessary for the
electrification of the economy. Website: www.ivanhoeelectric.com.
About Ma’aden
Ma’aden is the largest multi-commodity mining and metals company in the Middle East
and among the fastest-growing mining companies in the world, with revenues of SAR
40.2 billion (US$10.7 billion) in 2022. Ma’aden is developing the mining industry into the
third pillar of the Saudi economy in line with Vision 2030, and aims to be a role model in
responsible and sustainable operations. Ma’aden operates 17 mines and sites, has
6,000+ direct employees and exports products to over 30 countries. Ma’aden is
embarking on massive growth over the next 18 years across phosphate, aluminum,
gold, copper and new minerals. Ma’aden is also Ivanhoe Electric’s second largest
stockholder holding approximately 9.9% of the currently issued common stock.
Website https://www.maaden.com.sa/