Late 2006 iMac compatible with mountain lion

Question

Following specs on my  i-mac
purchased 12/2006
Hardware Overview:
  Model Name:          iMac
  Model Identifier:          iMac5,1
  Processor Name:          Intel Core 2 Duo
  Processor Speed:          2.16 GHz
  Number Of Processors:          1
  Total Number Of Cores:          2
  L2 Cache:          4 MB
  Memory:          3 GB
  Bus Speed:          667 MHz
  Boot ROM Version:          IM51.0090.B09
  SMC Version (system):          1.9f4
  Serial Number (system):          W86470BWX9E
  Hardware UUID:          00000000-0000-1000-8000-0017F2C7CB85
Currently running Snow Lepoard
Is this machine capable of upgrading operating system to current version of mountain lion?

Answer 1

No, only mid 2007 Intel Mac models and later can install and run OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
However, your iMac model can install and run OS X 10.7 Lion.
My opinion, your iMac is too old. While you can install and run OS X 10.7 Lion, OS X 10.7 and 10.8 use a lot more CPU, GPU, RAM and hard drive resources that your model iMac simply lacks.
Your iMac model can, barely, take enough RAM to run OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard well enough.
You are better off staying on Snow Leopard than upgrading the OS.
You will be disappointed in the performance of OS X 10.7 Lion on your model iMac.
Your iMac is not up to the real world specs to run 10.7 Lion well, either.