News

June 07, 2010

Phase-One Drilling Program Improves Grades And Extent Of High-Grade Gold Mineralization At Ivanhoe Mines' 50%-Owned Kyzyl Gold Project In Northeastern Kazakhstan

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN --- Robert Friedland, Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, and David Woodall, Chief Executive Officer of Altynalmas Gold Ltd., announced today that gold mineralization has been expanded and upgraded by confirmatory drilling at Altynalmas's Kyzyl Gold Projectin northeastern Kazakhstan. Ivanhoe Mines owns 50% of Altynalmas.

Long intercepts of high-grade gold mineralization, including 38 metres of 17.13 grams of gold per tonne (g/t) in hole BAK-23-2010, 43 metres of 11.18 g/t gold in hole BAK-14-2009 and 22 metres of 10.31 g/t gold in hole BAK-27-2010, are among the results from 57 exploration holes, totalling 27,346 metres, that were drilled as part of a phase one program between October 2009 and April 2010.

"We have been able to significantly improve drill-core recovery from the gold zones to more than 90% using the wireline and triple-tube method in the current drilling program," Mr. Woodall said. "This is much better than the core recovery of approximately 75% that was managed by drilling during Soviet-era development on the Kyzyl deposits.

"Our latest drilling yielded improved grades and widths of gold intercepts over Soviet-era discoveries, while also confirming the proven quality of the Kyzyl resource."

Mr. Woodall said the key value drivers of the Kyzyl Gold Project are grade and metallurgical recoveries.

"We expected significant gold intercepts and are very pleased with the results produced so far by the current drilling program. We're confident that the pre-feasibility study resource model will be improved when these new drilling results are incorporated. The drilling results and the metallurgical test-work programs, achieving gold recoveries of between 86% and 90% using fluidized-bed roasting, indicate the robustness and quality of the project."

Mr. Woodall said the drilling results will be used in a pre-feasibility study being prepared by Scott Wilson Roscoe Postle and Associates (Scott Wilson RPA), of Toronto, Canada. The study, set for completion within the next month, is expected to upgrade a large percentage of the Kyzyl Gold Project's Resources into Mineral Reserves.

The assay results of 29 holes drilled into the middle zone of Lens 1 of the Bakyrchik Deposit are listed below (and also are shown on illustrations on Ivanhoe's website at www.ivanhoemines.com). Intersection widths and grade tenor correlate well with the results of the earlier, Soviet-era drilling results. All the holes intercepted significant widths of high-grade gold mineralization, with many of the holes having some intercepts grading close to one ounce of gold per ton (34.3 grams per tonne).


Notes:

1. Intersection assays are a composite of one-metre assays calculated from interval-weighted assays over the intersection length using a 2.0 g/t gold cut-off.
2. The included intervals are significantly higher in tenor and exceed 15.0 g/t gold within the 2.0 g/t gold cut-off intervals.
3. No high assay values have been cut.
4. Holes BAK-06-2009, BAK-26-2010, BAK-29-2010 and BAK-32-2010 are awaiting completion of assaying.
5. Interval widths are generally equivalent to true widths.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control

Exploration core was drilled HQ size (63.5-mm diameter) using western drill strings and triple-tube HQ3 core (61.1-mm diameter) was used for geotechnical logging within, and on the shoulders, of the mineralized zone. Assaying of the samples was completed at ALS Chemex, an independent ISO-credited laboratory in Vancouver, Canada, using fire assay fusion followed by a gravimetric analysis procedure.

Quality assurance and quality control is independently monitored and audited by Scott Wilson RPA with a quality-control program, which includes the use of matrix matched assay standard reference samples, blanks, duplicates, repeats and internal ALS Chemex quality-assurance procedures.

Qualified Person

Disclosures of a scientific or technical nature in this release have been reviewed by David Woodall, Chief Executive Officer of Altynalmas Gold Ltd. and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.

About Ivanhoe Mines

Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE, NASDAQ & TSX: IVN) is an international mining company with operations focused in the Asia Pacific region. Assets include the company's 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine development project in southern Mongolia; its 57% interest in Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources (TSX: SGQ; HK: 1878); an 81% interest in Ivanhoe Australia (ASX: IVA), a copper-gold-uranium-molybdenum-rhenium exploration and development company; and a 50% interest in Altynalmas Gold Ltd., a private company developing the Kyzyl Gold Project in Kazakhstan.

Ivanhoe Mines' shares are listed on the New York, NASDAQ and Toronto stock exchanges under the symbol IVN.

Information contacts
Investors: Bill Trenaman +1.604.688.5755 / Media: Bob Williamson +1.604.331.9830
Website: www.ivanhoemines.com

Forward Looking Statements:

Certain statements made herein, including statements relating to matters that are not historical facts and statements of our beliefs, intentions and expectations about developments, results and events which will or may occur in the future, constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking information and statements are typically identified by words such as "anticipate," "could," "should," "expect," "seek," "may," "intend," "likely," "plan," "estimate," "will", "believe" and similar expressions suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an outlook. These include, but are not limited to, statements respecting Altynalmas Gold's planned exploration and development work; the planned development work at the Bakyrchik mine; the completion of the planned prefeasibility study; the ability to consistently achieve recovery rates between 86% and 90%, and the likely significant increase in the project's indicated resource in the near future.

All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by Ivanhoe Mines' management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" elsewhere in the Company's MD&A. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements.