International Tower Hill Mines Announces Completion of Livengood Land Acquisition, Approval of 2017 Work Program, and Appointment of Karl Hanneman as CEO
1177 West Hastings Street
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Vancouver, BC
Canada V6E 2K3
Tel: 604.683.6332
Fax: 604.408.7499
www.ithmines.com
NR17-01 February 1, 2017
International Tower Hill Mines Announces Completion of Livengood Land
Acquisition, Approval of 2017 Work Program, and
Appointment of Karl Hanneman as CEO
Vancouver, British Columbia, February 1 , 2017 – International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (TSX: ITH,
NYSE-MKT: THM) (“ITH” or the “Company”) announces that it has completed payment of the $14.7
million derivative land payment, approved a $6.3 million 2017 work p rogram to advance the Livengood
Gold P roject (all $US) , and commenced a management transition plan with the appointment of Karl
Hanneman as Chief Executive Officer.
Completion of Livengood Land Acquisition
On January 12, 2017, t he Company paid $14.7 mill ion for the timely and full satisfaction of the final
derivative payment due with respect to the acquisition of certain mining claims and related rights in the
vicinity of the Livengood Gold Project in Alaska (the “Project”) . On January 17, 2017, the Full Deed of
Reconveyance releasing the Deed of Trust on the acquired property was recorded and the Company is
now in full ownership and has no further liability with respect to this acquisition.
After closing the $22.0 million private placement as previously announced on December 28, 2016 and
payment of the final land payment, the Company had uncommitted cash of $7.5 million as of January 20,
2017.
Approval of 2017 Livengood Work Program
On January 23, 2017, at the first Board of Directors meeting after the election of Marcelo Kim as Board
Chair, the Board a pproved a 2017 budget of $6.3 million. The work program incorporated in this budget
will seek to build upon the Project improvements announced with the October 24, 2016 P re-Feasibility
Study ( 2016 PFS), focusing on improving the mineralization and alteration models used to support the
resource block model, evaluating alternative block models for production schedule opportunities, and
completion of several phases of metallurgical work to better define and optimize the flowsheet and
recovery parameters. The 2017 work program has been specifically designed to target those aspects of the
project that could deliver the highest NPV increase for the least expenditure. Preliminary work on the
block model and metallurgical recovery variability indicates a potential NPV benefit of up to $280 million
and $100 million respectively (see section below 2017 Work Program Details). The engineering firm of
BBA Inc. (BBA), who provided support for the 2016 PFS, will be retained to continue work in the 2017
program. Work is also planned to advance the environmental baseline efforts needed to support future
permitting.
However, the Company cautions that, until this m ulti-phase metallurgical program and the updated block
model are completed and the results thereof are incorporated into a revised financial model, there can be
no assurance that the overall recovery increases, potential process optimizations, or block mod el
improvements, will, in fact, be realized, or that any such increases, optimizations or improvements will
have the overall effect suggested above.
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Management Transition
On January 26, 2017, t he Board approved a management transition plan, effective Jan uary 31, 2017, in
which Karl Hanneman, currently the Chief Operating Officer (C OO), will become the Chief Executive
Officer (CEO), managing both the CEO and COO responsibilities. T om Irwin, the current CEO, will
transition into a part-time position of Senior Advisor prior to his standing for election to the Board at the
May 2017 Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Mr. Hanneman has more than 35 years of Alaska-based mining industry experience. Prior to joining ITH
as Livengood Project Manager in 2010, he p layed a key role on the team at Teck that worked to
successfully resolve significant permitting issues at the Red Dog Mine and was Alaska Regional Manager
for Teck during the exploration, development, and permitting of the Pogo Gold Mine by Teck/Sumitomo.
Mr. Hanneman has led or participated in a number of industry and State of Alaska sponsored
organizations, including the Alaska Minerals Commission, Council of Alaska Producers, Resource
Development Council, and the Alaska Miners Association. Mr. Hanneman serves as a director of Usibelli
Coal Mine, Inc., a private company with an operating coal mine in Alaska, and Northrim BanCorp, Inc., a
public bank holding company engaged in commercial banking in Alaska. Mr. Hanneman holds a B .S.
(Honors) degree in Mining Engineering from the University of Alaska.
Tom Irwin, CEO, said “ I am pleased we have completed this important phase of the optimization work
and look forward to participating with the new CEO, the new Board Chair and the Board as they progress
the Project. ITH has an exceptionally talented team and Karl is the right person to lead the Company as
we further advance the Livengood Gold Project.”
Karl Hanneman, COO, said “The fundamentals of the Project are compelling: one of the largest gold
resources in North America that is not owned by a major, an accessible location in a stable jurisdiction,
and a project that is highly leveraged to the gold price . Tom’s leadership has helped build a strong
foundation for progress and I am pleased to have been ask ed to lead the team on the continued
development of this exciting investment opportunity.”
Marcelo Kim, Chair of the Board said, “ On behalf of the Board of Directors, I would like to thank Tom
for all his great work and dedication in advancing the Liveng ood Project and look forward to having him
join the Board at the 2017 AGM. The Board has unanimously backed Karl to be the new leader of th e
Company and think that he is the best candidate to lead this team as ITH embarks on a work program to
continue de-risking the Project down an eventual permitting path.”
As part of its 2017 plans, the Company has been invited to the BMO Capital Markets 26 th Global Metals
& Mining Conference on February 26 - March 1, 2017 in Hollywood, Florida. Marcelo Kim, Board
Chair, and Karl Hanneman, CEO, will attend on behalf of the Company.
2017 Work Program Details
The 2017 work program will implement specific recommendations presented in the 2016 PFS.
Specifically, with respect to improving the mineralization and alteration model, m etallurgical testwork to
date has indicated that gold recovery for rock type 7 (RT7), and perhaps rock type 9 (RT9), is negatively
impacted by the presence of antimony in the form of quar tz-stibnite and jamesonite mineralization. The
Project is currently limited in its ability to model in three dimensions the spatial distribution of this
antimony mineralization, because only 50% of the Project drill intercepts were assayed for antimony. As
part of the work program, t he stored pulps of all drill intercepts in the 2016 PFS modeled pit will be
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. - 3 - February 1, 2017
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assayed to allow modeling and variance analysis to be completed t hat could potentially improve the
geologic model used to support the block model and thereby potentially improve overall P roject gold
recovery by the isolation of zones in the model with varying recoveries.
With respect to evaluating alternative block models, during 2016 BBA developed a grade -shell block
model for ITH using LeapFrog softw are and inverse distance squared interpolation. BBA interpreted the
geological data to support projection of mineralization envelopes along the trend of the intrusive dike
mineralization, which dips approximately 20 degrees to the south. Metal Mining Consultants Inc. was
then retained to use this preliminary grade -shell block model to produce a production schedule , which,
when imported into the ITH financial model used for the 2013 feasibility study (2013 FS), resulted in an
approximately $280 million dol lar NPV improvement ( NPV@5% and $1500) compared to the Multiple
Indicator Kriging (MIK) block model that was actually used in the 2013 FS . However, t here was
insufficient time available to validate the grade -shell model and integrate it into the mine planning,
production schedule, and financial analysis for the 2016 PFS prior to releasing the results of the 2016 PFS.
Completion of a geostatistical analysis to potentially cap grades and quantitatively evaluat e the m odel
projections against the drill intercepts is work that still must be completed in the 2017 program before th e
grade-shell model could be relied upon and used to update the 2016 PFS. While there can be no certain ty
that the final model would result in any improvement to the results of the 2016 PFS, the preliminary work
to date demonstrates the sensitivity of the P roject to the modelled head grade and strip ratio and justifies
additional effort to attempt to improve and validate an updated resource model.
Work in connection with the 2016 PFS has indicated that the P roject economics are sensitive to recovery,
grind size, reagent consumption and test conditions (oxygen, pH, lead nitrate). The metallurgical work
included in the 2017 program will complete additional testwork on the 100 kg of each of 5 rock types
remaining from the PFS Phase 9 composites in order to allow better optimization of these critical
variables. Metallurgical results reported in the 2016 PFS show a range of recovery for certain rock types
that can vary up or down by more than 5% from the values used in the 2016 PFS, depending upon rock
type, sample and test conditions. To illustrate the potential sensitivity of improved (or decreased)
recovery, ITH estimates that, if the metallurgical work, in combination with the improved resource model,
was able to demonstrate an overall recovery improvement of 5% for RT7 and RT9, it would result in an
improvement of approximately $100 million (NPV@5% and $1,250) as compared to the 2016 PFS. A
decrease in overall recovery of 5% would have an equivalent negative effect.
However, the Company cautions that, until this multi- phase metallurgical program and the updated block
model are completed and the results thereof are incorporated into a revised financial model, there can be
no assurance that the overall recovery increases, potential process optimizations, or block model
improvements, will, in fact, be realized, or that any such increases, optimizations or improvements will
have the overall effect suggested above.
About the Livengood Gold Project
For full details with respect to the assumptions underlying the current reserve and resource estimates and
pre-feasibility study economic analysis for the Livengood Gold Project (2016 PFS) , please see the
technical report entitled “Canadian National Instrument 43-101 Technical Report on the Livengood Gold
Project, Pre -Feasibility Study, Livengood, Alaska”, dated October 24, 2016, and available under the
Company’s profile on SEDAR or on the Company’s website.
Qualified Person
Chris Puchner (CPG 07048), a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43- 101, has reviewed
and approved the technical information contained in this news release and has approved the disclosure
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. - 4 - February 1, 2017
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herein. Mr. Puchner is not independent of ITH, as he is the Chief Geologist of the Company and holds
common shares and incentive options.
About International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. controls a 100% interest in the Livengood Gold Project, located
along the paved Elliott Highway, 70 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.
On behalf of
International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
(signed) Karl Hanneman
Chief Executive Officer
Contact Information: Richard Solie, Jr., Manager - Investor Relations
E-mail: [email protected]
Direct line: 907-328-2825 / Toll-Free: 1-855-428-2825
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward -looking statements and forward- looking information (c ollectively, “forward -
looking statements”) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other
than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements with respect to the proposed use of the
proceeds of the December 2016 private placement by the Company, the ability of the Company to carry out and
complete optimization studies with respect to the Livengood Gold Project, the potential for the results of the 2017
work program to have a positive eff ect on the 2016 PFS economics, and the magnitude of the anticipated effects, the
ability of the Company to advance the Livengood Gold Project, the potential development of any mine at Livengood,
business and financing plans and business trends are forward- looking statements. Although the Company believes
that such statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct.
Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, antici pate, intend, estimate,
postulate, proposed, planned, potential and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future
events. The Company cautions investors that any forward- looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of
future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward- looking statements
as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, risks associated with the outcome of the expected
remedial de-listing review by the TSX, the use of proceeds from the December 2016 private placement , the potential
inability of the Company to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and
other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the C ompany’s annual report on Form 10- K and other reports filed with
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and certain securities commissions in Canada
and other information released by the Company and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the
Company’s Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and its United States public
disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sec.gov, and readers are urged to review these materials, including the
latest technical report filed with respect to the Company’s Livengood Gold Project.
This news release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United
States or Canada.