News Releases

 May 16, 2005
Imperial Reports Results for the First Quarter 2005

 Vancouver (May 16, 2005) - Imperial Metals Corporation (TSX:III) reports that during the first quarter of 2005 milling operations were restarted at the Mount Polley copper-gold mine following five months of extensive pre-production activities, including access road construction, clearing of the Wight Pit, Bell Pit pre-stripping and mill and site refurbishments.

Imperial's comparative results for the three months ended March 31, 2005 and March 31, 2004 are summarized below and discussed in detail in the Company's First Quarter Report under Management's Discussion and Analysis. The complete report is available on the Company website www.imperialmetals.com.
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(unaudited) in thousands      Three Months Ended  Three Months Ended
 except per share amounts         March 31, 2005      March 31, 2004
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Revenues                                     $46                $296
Operating (Loss)                         $(1,717)              $(925)
Net Income (Loss)                         $3,946               $(697)
Net Income (Loss) Per Share                $0.14              $(0.03)
Cash Flow (1)                            $(1,145)              $(744)
Cash Flow Per Share (1)                   $(0.04)             $(0.03)
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(1) Cash flow and Cash Flow Per Share are measures used by the Company to evaluate its performance, however, they are not terms recognized under generally accepted accounting principles. Cash Flow is defined as cash flow from operations before net change in working capital balances and Cash Flow Per Share is the same measure divided by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the period.

Net income for the three months ended March 31, 2005 includes $3.5 million in equity income from the Huckleberry mine and an income tax recovery of $2.2 million related to the change in the future income tax valuation allowance.

Imperial is an operating mining company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Its wholly owned Mount Polley copper-gold open pit mine is located 56 kilometres northeast of Williams Lake, British Columbia, and its 50% owned Huckleberry copper-molybdenum open pit mine is located 123 kilometres southwest of Houston, British Columbia.

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FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Brian Kynoch, President - 604.669.8959
Andre Deepwell, Chief Financial Officer - 604.488.2666 or
Sabine Goetz, Investor Relations - 604.488.2657 / info@imperialmetals.com
 
 

You can view the Next News Release 2005 item: Thu May 19, 2005, Imperial Revises and Completes Cdn$14.5 Million Working Capital Facility

You can view the Previous News Release 2005 item: Mon May 16, 2005, Mount Polley Drilling Continues to Extend Green Zone and New Zone Uncovered

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