Remember International Minerals are one of the 8 companies who have been directly with the governement on the mining law........

DJ Mining CEO Optimistic About New Mining Law For Ecuador
Thursday, June 05, 2008; Posted: 06:08 PM

NEW YORK, Jun 05, 2008 (Dow Jones Commodities News Select via Comtex) -- IMZLF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- style='font-size:11px;'>By Matt Whittaker Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

The head of a small precious metals mining company said Thursday that miners and investors should be optimistic about forthcoming mining legislation in Ecuador, a country that in April shocked the market by shutting all exploration in the country for 6 months.

"We think the market's going to be pleasantly surprised when they see this new mining law," said Stephen J. Kay, president and CEO of International Minerals Corp. (IMZ), a junior gold and silver company that has been participating in the drafting process of a new Ecuadorian mining law.

As with other companies operating in the Andean nation, International Minerals' shares took a "relatively big hit" in April after Ecuador's acting legislature froze mining activity for six months and reduced the number of concessions allowed private mining companies to three of no more than 5,000 hectares each.

But it remains unclear whether the government may allow companies to keep multiple mining concessions by combining them, if the total meets the 15,000 hectare limit, Kay told participants at a New York Society of Security Analysts metals and mining conference Thursday.

International Mineral would, in theory, be able to consolidate its 16 concessions in Ecuador into three and stay under the land-size limit, he said.

The new mining law, which will supersede the 6-month mandate, will be modeled after Chile's mining structure, with its state-owned Empresa Nacional de Minería, or Enami, Kay said.

He said Ecuador's Oil and Mining Minister Galo Chiriboga will begin a tour educating the market about the draft law with a presentation in Miami likely later this month.

That would be a bold step, because the market would not react kindly to substantial changes made between the draft release and the final law, and mining investment is important for the nation, Kay said.

"This is their last chance for mining in Ecuador," Kay said of the nation attracting important mining investment that has fled the country to the tune of some $850 million in stock market capitalization since the April decree.

-By Matt Whittaker, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5959; matt.whittaker@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswire