Ivanhoe Mines reports unprecedented 22.3-metre intersection of 13.05% copper in a shallow, flat-lying discovery at the Kamoa North copper exploration area on the Kamoa-Kakula mining licence Drill hole DD1450 intersection includes grades

January 30, 2019

Ivanhoe Mines reports unprecedented

22.3-metre intersection of 13.05% copper

in a shallow, flat-lying discovery at the Kamoa North copper

exploration area on the Kamoa-Kakula mining licence

Drill hole DD1450 intersection includes grades

of up to 40% copper and is within 190 metres of surface

DD1450 is the thickest, highest-grade copper intersection

drilled to date at Kamoa-Kakula, highlighting the potential

for significant additional resource expansion

KOLWEZI, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO – Robert Friedland and Yufeng “Miles”

Sun, Co-Chairmen of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN; OTCQX: IVPAF), announced today that

exploration hole DD1450 drilled at the Kamoa North prospect area, on the 397-square-

kilometre Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, has intersected 13.05% copper over 22.3

metres (true thickness), at a 2% copper cut-off grade, in a remarkably-thick, flat-lying,

ultra-high-grade deposit beginning at a depth of only 190 metres below surface.

Drill hole DD1450 includes multiple, one-metre intersections with copper grades higher

than 20% copper, including a 40%-copper intercept (see Figure 1 on page 3 for a

detailed mineralization profile).

At a cut-off of 5% copper, DD1450’s intersection is 15.92% copper over 16.8 metres (true

thickness). Using a lower cut-off grade of 1% copper, the intersection is 10.29% copper

over 29.4 metres (true thickness), beginning at a depth of only 190 metres below

surface.

The new drill hole, DD1450, is located approximately 18 kilometres north of the Kamoa-

Kakula Project’s planned initial mine at the Kakula Deposit and approximately eight

kilometres north of Kamoa’s Kansoko Mine development (see Figure 2, page 4).

DD1450 is one of 22 recently-drilled holes at Kamoa North. A complete list of assay

results, at various cut-off grades, from the recent holes is in Table 1 on page 11.

DD1450 is further evidence of the emergence of Kamoa North as a prospective new,

shallow mining area on the Kamoa-Kakula mining licence. Previous drill holes in the

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area had delineated zones of shallow, flat-lying, thick, high-grade copper, but DD1450 is

the thickest, highest-grade copper intersection since drilling commenced on the

Kamoa-Kakula Project more than a decade ago.

“DD1450 exceeds anything previously encountered in all of our years of delineating

resources on the project,” said Mr. Friedland. “The flat-lying, 10% copper intersection in

hole DD1450 is almost 30 metres, or 100-feet thick – essentially equivalent to a 10-

storey building – and the high-grade copper is less than 200 metres below surface. If we

apply a 5% copper cut-off to the intersection, the grade increases to approximately 16%

copper and it’s still almost 17 metres thick, or approximately 56 feet.

“Hole DD1450 is three times richer on a copper-grade-times-thickness measurement

than any previous hole drilled at Kamoa-Kakula. Now our immediate exploration focus

is to find more of this near-surface, bonanza-grade ore.”

“On behalf of everyone at Ivanhoe Mines, I want to wish our Chinese partners at Kamoa-

Kakula and our Congolese stakeholders a happy Year of the Pig,” Mr. Friedland added.

Close-spaced drilling is underway in the vicinity of DD1450 with the intention of better

understanding the controls and the orientation of the ultra-high-grade zone. Initial

indications suggest growth faulting in the proximity of DD1450 may have played a part

in enhancing fluid flow during the mineralizing process. The exceptional grade and

thickness of the intersection means that even a zone of limited dimensions could prove

extremely significant if targeted early from a future Kamoa North decline.

The tier-one Kamoa-Kakula Project is approximately 25 kilometres west of the mining

centre of Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project is a joint

venture between Ivanhoe Mines, Zijin Mining and the DRC government.

An independent Mineral Resource estimate published in February 2018 established

Kamoa-Kakula as the world’s fourth-largest copper discovery. Kamoa-Kakula’s copper

grades are the highest, by a wide margin, of the world’s top 10 copper deposits.

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Figure 1. Mineralization profile for drill hole DD1450 at Kamoa North, beginning at

a depth of 190 metres below surface.

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Figure 2. Kamoa-Kakula mining licence, showing drill hole DD1450,

the Kamoa North Exploration Area, the Kamoa and Kakula Mineral

Resource areas and the adjacent, 100%-owned Western Foreland

exploration-licence area.

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Kamoa North exploration success highlights the potential for significant

resource expansion at Kamoa-Kakula and on the adjacent Western

Foreland exploration licences that are 100%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines

The newly delineated copper corridors at Kamoa North occur on the western flank of

the un-mineralized Kamoa Dome. The most significant corridor trends north and south

for more than nine kilometres before swinging to the northwest and is projected to

continue onto the adjacent Western Foreland exploration licences that are 100%-owned

by Ivanhoe Mines. The second corridor trends west-southwest, away from the Kamoa

Dome and toward the West Scarp Fault, over a distance of three to four kilometres.

The copper corridors are indicated with dashed and dotted lines in figures 3 and 4

(pages 6 and 7). The corridors are partly within the previously defined Inferred Mineral

Resources, but the definition provided by additional drilling has allowed significantly

increased continuity of grade to be established and then extended along strike into

previously untested areas. The recognition of high-grade trends in areas previously

tested by wider-spaced drilling reflects a growing understanding of the controls on

mineralization at Kamoa-Kakula.

Mineralization thicknesses range from three metres up to 30 metres at a 1% copper cut-

off. The mineralized horizon generally is in the region of 150 metres to 300 metres below

surface, except on the west side of the West Scarp Fault, where it strikes roughly north–

south and dips gently to the west at between five and 10 degrees.

Copper sulphide mineralization at Kamoa North tends to be bottom-loaded and shows

typical downward zonation from chalcopyrite to bornite to chalcocite. Chalcopyrite

dominates in the lower-grade intercepts and when mineralization extends into the

overlying pyritic siltstone. Fine-grained bornite and chalcocite dominate in the highest-

grade intersections.

The Kamoa North discovery area already is accessible by an all-season road that

connects with the provincial road to Kolwezi and is close to the newly installed

electricity line running from Kamoa North to the planned Kansoko and Kakula mines.

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Figure 3. Contours of copper grade at Kamoa North for 2% composites.

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Figure 4. True thickness of copper grade at Kamoa North for 2% composites.

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Figure 5. Kamoa North drilling plan showing collars of recent drill holes. DD1450

is highlighted in red.