2013
Silvercorp Provides Outlook for Fiscal 2014
February 13, 2013
Production Guidance
In Fiscal 2014, the Company expects to increase ore production to 1.5 million tonnes, and will produce 6.7 million ounces of silver, 20,800 ounces of gold, 104.7 million pounds of lead and zinc, 300,000 pounds of tin and 20.5 million pounds of sulphur.
Table 1 - Production guidance for Fiscal 2014:
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Ying
Mining GC BYP X Grand
PROJECT District Mine Mine Mines Total
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Ore processed (tonnes) 900,000 300,000 220,000 80,000 1,500,000
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Head Grades
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Silver (gram per tonne) 220 100 - 37
Gold (gram per tonne) 0.33 - 2.39 0.24
Lead (%) 3.4 0.8 - 2.7
Zinc (%) 1.3 2.2 - 2.6
Tin (%) - 0.1 - -
Sulphur (%) - 6.0 - -
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Metal Production
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Silver ('000 ounces) 5,900 740 - 60 6,700
Gold ('000 ounces) 4.7 - 15.8 0.3 20.8
Lead (million pounds) 63.6 4.8 - 3.9 72.3
Zinc (million pounds) 16.7 13.4 - 2.3 32.4
Tin (million pounds) - 0.3 - - 0.3
Sulphur (million pounds) - 20.5 - - 20.5
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At the
With the newly constructed 110KV power substation now in operation, the GC mine in
The BYP mine in
At the X mines (the XHP and XBG mines), the Company will continue to focus on exploration and mine development, with limited development ore being produced and processed.
Capital Expenditure Budget
The total capital expenditures for Fiscal 2014 are estimated at
Table 2 - Summary of the Company's Fiscal 2014 capital expenditure budget:
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Ying Mining
District GC Mine BYP Mine X Mines Grand Total
------------ ----------- --------- ---------- ------------
Quan- Quan- Quan- C- Quan- C- Quan-
tity tity tity ost tity ost tity
(m or Cost (m or Cost (m or ($ (m or ($ (m or Cost
PROJECT m2)($mm) m2)($mm) m2) mm) m2) mm) m2)($mm)
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Mine Shafts
Devel- and
opment Ramps 4,600 9.7 3,020 9.5 - 0.3 7,620 19.5
Horizon-
tal
Tunnels,
Raises &
Declines 78,600 14.6 9,850 6.4 8,400 2.7 6,500 1.2 103,350 24.9
Back-fill
facility 2.0 2.0
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Sub total 83,200 24.3 12,870 17.9 8,400 3.0 6,500 1.2 110,970 46.4
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Explor- Surface
ation drilling 5,700 0.6 2,400 0.2 500 0.1 7,000 0.7 15,600 1.6
Under-
ground
drill-
ing 164,300 6.4 45,600 1.4 4,100 0.2 13,000 0.5 227,000 8.5
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Sub
total 170,000 7.0 48,000 1.6 4,600 0.3 20,000 1.2 242,600 10.1
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Facili- Office
ties and
and Dormit-
Permi- ories 18,000 8.3 3,000 1.5 0.1 0.1 10.0
tting Land,
Tailings
& Others 1.3 5.8 0.6 0.1 7.8
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Sub total 9.6 7.3 0.7 0.2 17.8
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Equip-
ment 6.7 1.8 3.8 0.3 12.6
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Total Capital
Expenditure
Budget 47.6 28.6 7.8 2.9 86.9
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1.
The capital expenditures for four mines at the
--$9.7 million for the construction of two ramps (3,600 metres ("m") in total) and several vertical shafts (1,000m in total), to provide access to the respective mines at depth. Once completed in calendar year 2015, the two ramps, each with a dimension of 4.2m by 3.8m, will provide access to the zero metre elevation at the SGX mine and 500m elevation at LM West. Both ramps are expected to greatly improve productivity at the respective mines and to serve as a base for further mine development below those elevations. --$14.6 million for construction of 78,600m horizontal tunnels, declines and raises for mining, development and exploration; --$8.3 million for construction of office and dormitory buildings, totalling 18,000 square metres ("m2"), to enhance living and working conditions for employees and contract workers; --$1.3 million for tailings improvement and other surface facilities; and --$7.0 million for a 170,000m surface and underground drilling program. The drilling strategy in the second half of 2012 was revised. Instead of focusing on step out drilling at depths below the current mining depth, the Company began testing the lateral extensions and in-fill drilling at shallow depth or the upper portions of the major production vein structures at or above the current mining depth. This strategy has successfully defined additional high grade mineralization of production veins and discovered new veins at shallow depth where mine development exits. As such, the Company will continue to focus on delineating lateral extensions of the mineralization zones and in-fill drilling on resource blocks at the shallow depth or the upper portions of the veins. This change in exploration strategy will take advantage of existing underground mine development to access any new discovery of ore bodies and not require the development of additional access tunnels.
2.
At the GC mine, the capital expenditures for Fiscal 2014 are expected to be
--$9.5 million for the continued construction of two ramps and main shaft; --$6.4 million for the development of 9,850m of horizontal tunnels and raises; --$2.0 million for the construction of a tailings back-fill system; --$7.3 million for the remaining balance of the mill, tailings storage facility, office and accommodation, and other surface facilities; --$1.8 for mine equipment; and --$1.6 million for exploration to support a 48,000m surface and underground drilling program. The program will mainly focus on in-fill drilling on current resource blocks that were previously defined by wider spaced drilling. The 2012 in-fill drilling has successfully defined a number of wide and high grade mineralization zones in several vein structures.
3.
At the BYP mine, the capital expenditures for Fiscal 2014 are expected to be
4. X Mines (XHP and XBG Mines),
Capital expenditures at the X mines is budgeted at
The planned drilling program will test lateral and down-dip extension of high grade mineralization zones that were delineated in the 2012 program.
About Silvercorp
Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in
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Contacts:Silvercorp Metals Inc. Jonathan Hackshaw Director, Investor Relations 604-669-9397 or Toll Free: 1-888-224-1881 604-669-9387 (FAX) investor@silvercorp.ca www.silvercorp.ca