Industrial Minerals Corporation Limited, a minerals processing company focused on developing the Southern Oregon Mineral Sands Project, announced today that its primary chromite product, called SpheriChrome™, will be officially launched at "The Bright World of Metals," the 12th International Foundry Trade Fair (GIFA) at Dusseldorf, Germany June 28-July 2, 2011.

Industrial Minerals branded its chromite product SpheriChrome because of its spherical nature and uniform grain sizing. These characteristics provide iron and steel foundries with a specialty casting sand that enables them to produce high quality products while reducing after casting defects and emissions. These attributes are treasured by iron and steel foundries, which are the principal users of the mineral.

SpheriChrome offers foundrymen the ability to:

Pack in molds more tightly, resulting in a smoother cast finish

Reduce casting defects

Have an effective substitute for zircon in foundry applications

Improve tensile strength

Reduce finishing and cleaning costs

Potentially reduce the need for resin in the foundry process, which means fewer toxic emissions

SpheriChrome is found in the mineral sands of southern Oregon and is being excavated by Industrial Minerals' wholly-owned subsidiary, Oregon Resources Corp (ORC).

The SpheriChrome excavation site currently operated by Industrial Minerals is the only primarily chromite excavation operation based in the U.S. The highly efficient and scalable processing facility is expected to produce in excess of 70,000 tons of SpheriChrome in the next 12 months.

"We look forward to the official launch of SpheriCrome and the opportunity to provide foundries throughout the world with this unique mineral product," said Philip Garratt, chief executive officer of Industrial Minerals. "Strong interest has been shown by national and international customers because of the qualities found in SpheriChrome, and we are expecting to begin volume shipments in the very near future."

GIFA is truly an international show and considered one of the most important foundry trade fairs in the world with exhibitors from the U.S., Austria, Italy, Taiwan, China, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Turkey, Greece, France and Germany, among others in attendance.

ORC will be at GIFA and available to meet with customers and answer questions. Our SpheriChrome product will be featured at Huttenes Albertus' booth (Hall 12 – 50) where our representatives will be available. HA International will be hosting a presentation on SpheriChrome on Wednesday, June 29th in room 225 on the first floor. This presentation will highlight the value added and quality benefits for users of existing conventional chromite sand when switching to SpheriChrome as well as the potential for zircon substitution.