North of 60 Mining News - The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North

MRK: TSX-V

Chairman: John McBride

President and CEO: David Wiley

Chief Geologist: Michael J. Byron, Ph.D.

Merc International Minerals Inc. focuses on precious metal projects with historic resource estimates that could be enhanced through both modern-day exploration and dramatically higher gold-silver prices.

In January the company entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100 percent interest in 15 mining leases and 3 mining claims located within the underexplored Indin Lake Greenstone Belt of Northwest Territories directly west and northwest of the company's Damoti Lake Gold Project.

The newly staked ground has significantly expanded gold exploration targets within an area that lies along the West Bay - Indin Lake Fault Zone, a regional structure that extends over 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the shores of Great Slave Lake to areas north of the Indin Lake Greenstone Belt.

This fault zone contains both the historic Giant and Con gold mines (which together reported 13 million ounces of production) to the south and the Colomac Gold Mine (about 500,000 ounces of production) within its northern extent. Merc believes this structure has played a major role in the development and localization of the Indin Lake gold mineralization; much the same role as that of other large regional fault zones, such as the Destor-Porcupine Fault's influence on gold deposit formation within the Timmins Gold Camp. The Indin Lake Greenstone Belt remains one of the few underexplored historic gold camps in Canada.

By April Merc had staked 107 additional mining claims (193,791 acres or 78,425 hectares) which link the Indin Lake claims under option, and thereby consolidated much of the Indin Lake Gold Camp's ground.

Merc now controls the majority of the prospective Indin Lake Greenstone belt in this historic gold camp with a total ground position, including the Damoti Lake project, of 209,763 acres (84,888 hectares).

The junior launched a 7,000-meter diamond drill program in the Indin Lake Gold Camp in March, along with an extensive prospecting and mapping program on several high-priority deposits and mineralized showings along the Leta Arm Fault.

On May 31, Merc reported completion of phase 1 of the 2011 program (4,319 meters), which focused on the Treasure Island deposit and the Diversified, and North Inca properties.

Merc said the work confirmed historic reports of gold along a contact region; tested and extended existing zones in all dimensions; and confirmed new zones at depth.

The explorer said it believes significant opportunities exist within a 500-meter-wide mineralized structure that runs between and beyond the North Inca property to the south and Lexindin to the north, a distance of 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles).

In June Merc reported significant gold mineralization in drilling results from on Treasure Island, North Inca and Diversified.

By September, the explorer said its drilling and prospecting results this season moved the company closer to defining an ore body within a mineralized corridor spanning at least 10 kilometers (6 miles).

Further, the intersection of mineralization at the historic #3 Deposit encouraged Merc to believe the Diversified and North Inca deposits are part of the same structure and are connected along strike.

The company also reported completing airborne magnetometer and VLF surveys that it expects to identify new exploration targets bearing the same signatures as areas of known mineralization on the properties.

Merc said it spent C$2.5 million on exploration in the nine months that ended April, primarily related to the start of its exploration program in the Indin Lake Gold Camp.

The company also said it intended to satisfy a remaining spending commitment of C$4.25 million from a 2010 flow-through financing on its Indin Lake Gold Camp through its planned 2011 exploration activities.

In 2010 the company focused on the Damoti Lake project where exploration results outlined broad zones of near-surface gold mineralization with associated high-grade cores. Merc said additional drilling and exploration at Damoti Lake will be contingent upon the incorporation of current drill results into an expanded geological model with the Indin Lake Gold Camp data to assist in target generation.

Cash and short-term deposits: C$7.24 (April 30, 2011)

Working capital: C$6.33 million (April 30, 2011)

Market capitalization: C$20.09 million (Sept. 23, 2011)

430 Westmount Ave., Unit F

Sudbury, ON, Canada P3A 5Z8

Tel: (705) 560-2382 • Fax: (705) 560-0765