UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the month of DECEMBER, 2005.
Commission File Number: 001-32558
IMA EXPLORATION INC.
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(Translation of registrant's name into English)
#709 - 837 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6C 3N6, Canada
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(Address of principal executive offices)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports
under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F: FORM 20-F [X] FORM 40-F [ ]
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as
permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): _______
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as
permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): _______
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information
contained in this Form, is also thereby furnishing the information to the
Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
YES [ ] NO [X]
If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in
connection with Rule 12g3- 2(b): 82-_____________
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf of the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
IMA EXPLORATION INC.
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Date: December 1, 2005 /s/ Joseph Grosso
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Joseph Grosso,
President & CEO
BC FORM 51-102F3
MATERIAL CHANGE REPORT
1. NAME AND ADDRESS OF COMPANY
IMA Exploration Inc. (the "Issuer")
#709 - 837 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC
V6C 3N6
Phone: (604) 687-1828
2. DATE OF MATERIAL CHANGE
December 1, 2005
3. PRESS RELEASE
The press release was released on December 1, 2005 through various
approved public media and filed with the TSX Venture Exchange and the
British Columbia, Ontario, Alberta and Quebec Securities Commissions.
4. SUMMARY OF MATERIAL CHANGE(S)
See attached press release for details.
5. FULL DESCRIPTION OF MATERIAL CHANGE
See attached press release for details.
6. RELIANCE ON SUBSECTION 7.1(2) OR (3) OF NATIONAL INSTRUMENT 51-102
Not Applicable
7. OMITTED INFORMATION
Not Applicable
8. EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Joseph Grosso
Phone: (604) 687-1828
9. DATE OF REPORT
December 2, 2005.
IMA EXPLORATION INC.
(A Grosso Group Company)
Suite 709 - 837 West Hastings Street,
Terminal City Club Tower,
Vancouver, B.C. V6C 3N6
Tel: 604-687-1828 Fax: 604-687-1858 Toll Free: 800-901-0058
Internet: www.imaexploration.com E-mail: info@imaexploration.com
TSX Venture Exchange: IMR American Stock Exchange: IMR
Frankfurt & Berlin Exchanges: IMT (WKN 884971)
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NEWS RELEASE - DECEMBER 1, 2005
IMA ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY METALLURGICAL RESULTS FROM NAVIDAD
IMA EXPLORATION (IMR-AMEX, IMA-V) is pleased to provide preliminary
metallurgical results from its 100% owned Navidad silver project, located in
Patagonia, Argentina. Metallurgical work completed to date on samples from the
Navidad deposits has demonstrated that Navidad mineralization is amenable to
concentration by simple, cost effective, and environmentally benign differential
flotation processes. In addition to flotation testwork, the company is also
currently investigating the production of silver metal through
hydrometallurgical means from low-grade, high-recovery silver concentrates.
Preliminary results from alkaline pressure oxidation followed by thiosulphate
leaching of pyrite concentrate are highly encouraging and will be released once
a sufficient number of tests have been completed to ensure repeatability. These
tests are ongoing and are expected to take several months to complete.
Flotation testwork has been conducted to date on nine composite samples from
Galena Hill, three samples from Navidad Hill, and two samples from Calcite Hill
by G&T Metallurgical Services Ltd. of Kamloops B.C. (G&T), an ISO 9001:2000
accredited firm. Head grades from these composite samples as reported by G&T are
shown in Table 1 below. The composite samples tested were constructed from
intervals of quartered core at G&T where they were crushed and homogenized in
preparation for metallurgical testing. All work was performed under the
supervision of Tom Shouldice, P. Eng., General Manager - Operations at G&T.
Peter Taggart, P.Eng, of P. Taggart & Associates Ltd., provided overall program
direction, acting as IMA's representative. Both Tom Shouldice and Peter Taggart
are designated Qualified Persons for results reported in this release under
National Instrument 43-101 regulations.
CALCITE HILL
Limited flotation testwork on mineralization from Calcite Hill yielded excellent
results. Two distinct styles of mineralization are present at Calcite Hill; the
first contains abundant medium-grained galena and high lead values with moderate
silver values. The second mineralization type contains native silver,
argentite-acanthite, stromeyerite, and possesses high silver values with
generally low lead and other base metal grades. Grind sensitivity tests on these
samples indicated that optimal performance could be achieved with a relatively
coarse grind of approximately 150 microns (K80). Comparative work index analyses
suggest the Calcite Hill mineralization will be harder than that examined from
the other Navidad deposits, yet still of moderate grindability with Bond Work
Indices of 14 to 19 kWh/t.
Two composite samples (Calcite Hill 10a and 11a), corresponding to the two
mineralization types, were submitted to G&T for testwork. Head grades of these
composite samples, and the drillholes from which they were collected, are listed
in Table 1.
Table 2 shows metallurgical results achieved from stable locked cycle flotation
tests performed on these samples. The lead-rich sample (Calcite Hill 10a)
yielded a very high quality lead concentrate containing 80.4% lead and 709 g/t
silver at a lead recovery of 92% and silver recovery of 86%. The silver-rich
sample (Calcite Hill 11a) produced a silver concentrate grading 10,500 g/t
silver at a silver recovery of 88%.
NEWS RELEASE DECEMBER 1, 2005
IMA EXPLORATION INC. PAGE 2
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GALENA HILL
Mineralization at Galena Hill consists predominantly of fine-grained galena and
pyrite with lesser amounts of sphalerite and chalcopyrite. Electron microprobe
studies have shown silver to be contained within the lattice of both galena and
pyrite, with the bulk of the silver present within pyrite. Flotation tests to
date have focused on producing separate lead and silver (pyrite) concentrates
through differential flotation. Primary grind sensitivity test results suggest
that a nominal flotation feed approximating 80 microns K80 will provide adequate
mineral liberation. The Bond work index of Galena Hill mineralization (NVGH-13)
is 13.5 KWh/tonne, indicating that grinding power consumption will be modest.
Fourteen rougher and 37 open circuit cleaner tests were performed on the Galena
Hill composite samples. The results of three locked cycle tests confirm data
produced in the open circuit tests. Table 3 shows results achieved when
subjecting three of the Galena Hill composite samples to locked cycle flotation
test protocols. Figures 1 and 2 show the range of silver and lead results
obtained by the many open circuit cleaner tests.
Lead metallurgical performance was generally good with 74 to 84% of the lead
reporting to the lead concentrates which grade between 62.0 and 75.3% lead and
include 386 to 968 g/t silver. Subsequent to galena flotation, a pyrite
concentrate was produced that recovered 37 to 57% of the total silver and
contains 1,083 to 3,546 g/t silver. Total locked cycle test silver recoveries
(lead concentrate plus silver concentrate) range from 54 to 82%.
Ongoing work targeting improved silver recoveries includes additional flotation
tests using alternate reagents, and mineralogical studies to identify distinct
pyrite types present in concentrates and tails. The company is confident that
with additional testwork, our highly skilled and experienced metallurgical team
will unlock additional value at Galena Hill through improvements to
metallurgical performance.
Scoping work is currently underway at SGS Lakefield to examine
hydrometallurgical processes that may be used to produce silver metal from
flotation concentrates at the Project site. This would allow the production of
low-grade pyrite concentrates with consequently higher total silver recoveries
and would result in silver metal being produced on-site. Silver recoveries as
high as 93.2% have been obtained with batch flotation tests designed to maximize
silver recovery at the expense of concentrate grade. Results from these
hydrometallurgical studies will be released as they become available.
NAVIDAD HILL
Two distinct styles of mineralization from Navidad Hill were studied; head
grades and the drillholes from which they were collected are listed in Table 1.
Both types contain mixed sulfide and oxide mineralization, the first (NVNH-8a+b)
was collected from drillholes intersecting stratigraphically-controlled
mineralization on the northwest flank of Navidad Hill and the second (NVNH-9a)
from structurally-controlled mineralization on top of Navidad Hill. Both samples
contain high silver values (436 and 287 g/t Ag) but only the
stratigraphically-controlled mineralization contains significant lead (3.11%
Pb). Flotation testwork on both samples produced a single bulk sulphide
concentrate.
Table 4 shows the metallurgical results achieved from locked cycle tests
performed on Composite samples 8a and 9a from Navidad Hill. Results show that
silver recoveries of approximately 64 to 85% were achieved in concentrates
grading from 10,449 to 12,246 g/t silver. Considering the oxidized nature of
this mineralization, these results far exceed expectations. Work is ongoing to
improve upon these results.
NEWS RELEASE DECEMBER 1, 2005
IMA EXPLORATION INC. PAGE 3
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TABLE 1: HEAD GRADES OF COMPOSITE SAMPLES USED FOR METALLURGICAL TESTWORK.
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SAMPLE DEPOSIT DRILLHOLE(S) SILVER LEAD
(G/T) (%)
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NVGH-5b/6b Galena Hill NV04-56, 57 76 3.1
NVGH-6a NV04-57 143 4.86
NVGH-6b NV04-57 107 3.60
NVGH-7a NV04-42 466 3.9
NVGH-7b NV04-42 297 3.7
NVGH-12 NV05-175 264 8.0
NVGH-13 NV05-197 300 4.9
NVGH-14 NV05-197 82 1.3
NVGH-15 NV05-197 340 0.4
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NVNH-8a Navidad Hill NV04-100, 116 435 3.5
NVNH-8b NV04-100, 116 389 3.2
NVNH-9a NV04-54, 109 265 0.3
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NVCH-10a Calcite Hill NV04-88 72 8.5
NVCH-11a NV04-88 320 0.3
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Notes:
1. Samples with "a" and "b" suffix were composited from alternating intervals
from the same drill holes
2. Grades listed here are as measured by G&T after sample preparation and
homogenization.
TABLE 2: CALCITE HILL LOCKED CYCLE TEST RESULTS.
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ASSAY DISTRIBUTION (%)
MASS ------------------- -----------------
PRODUCT PERCENT PB (%) AG (G/T) PB AG
-------------- ------- ------------------- -----------------
COMPOSITE 10A
Flotation Feed 100 9.34 88 100 100
CONCENTRATE 10.7 80.4 709 92 86
Cleaner Tail 2.0 2.88 102 1 2
Rougher Tail 87.2 0.77 12 7 12
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COMPOSITE 11A
Flotation Feed 100 0.38 310 100 100
CONCENTRATE 2.6 6.75 10,500 46 88
Cleaner Tail 2.8 0.46 248 3 2
Rougher Tail 94.6 0.21 31 51 10
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Note:
Feed grades are calculated from assays of test exit products and may differ
slightly from head grades as shown in Table 1.
NEWS RELEASE DECEMBER 1, 2005
IMA EXPLORATION INC. PAGE 4
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TABLE 3: GALENA HILL LOCKED CYCLE TEST RESULTS.
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ASSAY DISTRIBUTION (%)
MASS ------------------- -----------------
PRODUCT PERCENT PB (%) AG (G/T) PB AG
-------------- ------- ------------------- -----------------
COMPOSITE 5B/6B
Flotation Feed 100 3.30 83 100 100
LEAD CONCENTRATE 3.6 75.3 386 81 17
PYRITE CONCENTRATE 2.8 6.51 1,083 6 37
Pyrite Cleaner Tail 14.2 1.70 98 7 17
Pyrite Rougher Tail 79.4 0.23 31 6 30
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COMPOSITE 7B
Flotation Feed 100 3.56 278 100 100
LEAD CONCENTRATE 4.2 62.0 968 74 15
PYRITE CONCENTRATE 3.6 9.59 3,546 10 46
Pyrite Cleaner Tail 10.2 3.01 439 9 16
Pyrite Rougher Tail 81.9 0.35 79 8 23
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COMPOSITE 12
Flotation Feed 100 8.02 263 100 100
LEAD CONCENTRATE 10.2 66.2 634 84 25
PYRITE CONCENTRATE 10.0 7.45 1,494 9 57
Pyrite Cleaner Tail 4.1 4.00 214 2 3
Pyrite Rougher Tail 75.7 0.48 53 4 15
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Note: Feed grades are calculated from assays of test exit products and may
differ slightly from head grades as shown in Table 1.
FIGURE 1: SILVER RECOVERY IN LEAD AND PYRITE CONCENTRATES
PRODUCED IN OPEN CIRCUIT TESTS.
[GRAPHIC OMITTED][GRAPHIC OMITTED]
Bar Graph showing silver recovery percent, Pyrite Con and Lead/Bulk Con
To view graph please visit the company website: www.imaexploration.com
NEWS RELEASE DECEMBER 1, 2005
IMA EXPLORATION INC. PAGE 5
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FIGURE 2: LEAD RECOVERY AND GRADE FROM OPEN CIRCUIT TESTS.
[GRAPHIC OMITTED][GRAPHIC OMITTED]
Graph showing Lead recovery (%) versus Lead Concentrate Grade (%)
To view graph please visit the company website: www.imaexploration.com
Note: Comp 15 is an example of high silver to lead ratio material from Galena
Hill and contained only 0.4% lead. Therefore the concentrate grades and
recoveries of lead should not be taken as representative of the
majority of the lead-bearing portion of the deposit.
TABLE 4: NAVIDAD HILL LOCKED CYCLE TEST RESULTS.
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ASSAY DISTRIBUTION (%)
MASS ------------------- -----------------
PRODUCT PERCENT PB (%) AG (G/T) PB AG
-------------- ------- ------------------- -----------------
COMPOSITE 8B
Flotation Feed 100 2.89 395 100 100
CONCENTRATE 2.4 44.7 10,449 37 64
Cleaner Tail 5.0 5.70 526 10 7
Rougher Tail 92.5 1.65 124 53 29
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COMPOSITE 9A
Flotation Feed 100 0.24 282 100 100
CONCENTRATE 2.0 2.12 12,246 17 85
Cleaner Tail 8.0 0.37 77 12 2
Rougher Tail 90.1 0.19 41 71 13
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Note: Feed grades are calculated from assays of test exit products and may
differ slightly from head grades as shown in Table 1.
NEWS RELEASE DECEMBER 1, 2005
IMA EXPLORATION INC. PAGE 6
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ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
/s/ Joseph Grosso
__________________________________
Mr. Joseph Grosso, President & CEO
For further information please contact Joseph Grosso, President & CEO, or Sean
Hurd, Vice President, Investor Relations, at 1-800-901-0058 or 604-687-1828, or
fax 604-687-1858, or by email INFO@IMAEXPLORATION.COM, or visit the Company's
web site at HTTP://WWW.IMAEXPLORATION.COM.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for
the adequacy or the accuracy of this release. CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US INVESTORS:
This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which we
have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining
guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with
the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent
properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. This news
release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to
comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological
interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery
processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions
and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may
differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements.
2005 NUMBER 25