FEBRUARY 19, 2014
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA–(Marketwired – Feb. 19, 2014) – Silvercorp Metals Inc. (“Silvercorp” or the “Company”) (TSX:SVM)(NYSE:SVM) is pleased to report the highlights of its recently completed 2013 step-out drilling program at the HPG and TLP mines in the Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China. The 2013 down-dip drilling exploration tested high-grade zone extensions of the current major veins, targeting the down dip extensions, some 200 to 250 metres (“m”) below the limits of existing resources.
The 2013 drilling program included both underground and surface diamond drilling and totaled 3,459m of core drilling in 14 holes at the HPG mine and 10,289m of drilling in 16 holes at the TLP mine. Twelve of 16 holes at TLP and eight of 14 holes at HPG intercepted significant high-grade mineralization. The results from this drilling program have further extended the down-dip potential of the major mineralized veins at both the HPG and TLP mines and this mineralization remains open to depth.
Highlights of selected intercepts of drill holes include:
HPG Mine:
-- Surface Drill Hole ZK-H17-0012 intercepted a 1.42 metre ("m") interval
from 784.85m to 786.27m downhole, with a 0.65m true width of vein H13,
grading 263 grams per tonne ("g/t") gold ("Au"), 335 g/t silver ("Ag")
0.73% lead ("Pb"), and 1.74% zinc ("Zn") at the minus 82m elevation. The
same hole also hit a 1.24m interval, (0.57m true width), of vein H11,
grading 9.65g/t Au, 286g/t Ag, 4.30% Pb, and 2.19% Zn at the minus 34m
elevation;
-- Hole ZK0416 intercepted a 1.90m interval from 167.85 m to 169.75 m,
(1.54m true width), of vein H17 grading 1.43g/t Au, 239g/t Ag, 9.43% Pb,
and 1.69% Zn at the +327m elevation; and
-- Hole ZK0111 intercepted a 1.90m interval from 76.37 m to 78.86 m, (1.71m
true width), of vein H17 grading 1.94g/t Au, 150g/t Ag, 5.53% Pb, and
2.98% Zn at the +316m elevation.
TLP Mine:
-- Surface Hole ZK-III-3120 intercepted a 1.20m interval from 926.33m to
927.53m, (0.80m true width), of vein T3, grading 2.54g/t Au, 220g/t Ag,
0.35% Pb, 0.27% Zn at the +2m elevation;
-- Surface Hole ZK-III-2728 intercepted a 1.38m interval from 563.14m to
564.52m, (0.65m true width), of vein T3E, grading 2.21g/t Au, 338g/t Ag,
0.95% Pb, 1.30% Zn at the +225m elevation; and
-- Surface Hole ZK-III-2510 intercepted a 1.81m interval from 428.29m to
430.10m, (1.48m true width), of vein T33, grading 1.07 g/t Au, 140g/t
Ag, 0.69% Pb, and 0.69% Zn at the +404m elevation.
The significant gold mineralization intercepted at depth at the HPG mine, (especially the deepest surface drill hole ZK-H17-0012 that intersected Vein H13 grading 263 g/t Au and 335 g/t Ag) is encouraging as it indicates the presence of a high-grade gold-silver-lead-zinc system about 300m below where the lowest mining tunnels are located. This may represent a change in the style of mineralization from silver-lead-zinc dominated at shallows to a gold dominated style at depth, providing potential for metal resource expansion at depth.
Tables 1 and 2 below lists the assay results of some selected mineralized intersections in the 2013 program drill holes.
Table 1: Selected drilling results from the HPG Mine
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From To Interval True Width Elevation
Hole ID (m) (m) (m) (m) (m)
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ZK0416 167.85 169.75 1.90 1.54 327
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ZK00+2508 53.49 55.20 1.71 1.46 398
140.98 142.58 1.60 1.57 358
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ZK00+2509 104.65 105.70 1.05 0.95 354
152.42 153.40 0.98 0.85 323
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ZK0111 76.37 78.86 2.49 1.52 373
163.80 165.70 1.90 1.71 316
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ZK0215 154.08 155.82 1.74 1.48 326
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ZK03+2501 73.08 74.01 0.93 0.79 393
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ZK01+2502 129.61 131.41 1.80 1.57 329
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ZK-H17-0012 320.02 323.62 3.60 1.29 311
725.28 726.52 1.24 0.57 -34
784.85 786.27 1.42 0.65 -82
914.05 914.35 0.30 0.14 -184
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(i) Underground Drilling; (ii) Surface Drilling
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Mineralized
Hole ID Ag(g/t) Au(g/t) Pb(%) Zn(%) Vein Notes
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ZK0416 239 1.43 9.43 1.69 H17 UG(i)
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ZK00+2508 58 0.03 8.39 0.16 H13 UG
141 0.24 9.19 0.05 H17
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ZK00+2509 20 0.08 1.18 1.77 New Zone UG
45 0.20 2.61 1.67 H17
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ZK0111 59 3.10 1.20 1.78 H13 UG
150 1.94 5.53 2.98 H17
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ZK0215 41 0.81 0.96 0.17 H17 UG
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ZK03+2501 240 0.38 1.48 1.42 H13 UG
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ZK01+2502 90 0.13 4.08 4.50 H15 UG
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ZK-H17-0012 86 0.26 2.43 7.85 H5 S(ii)
286 9.65 4.30 2.19 H11
335 263.26 0.73 1.74 H13
25 3.31 0.84 0.55 H17
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(i) Underground Drilling; (ii) Surface Drilling
Longitudinal sections for the veins showing the location of the drill hole results available at the following link: HPG Long Sections
Table 2: Selected drilling results from the TLP Mine
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From To Interval True Width Elevation
Hole (m) (m) (m) (m) (m)
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ZK-III-3514 387.50 389.50 2.00 1.30 250
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ZK-III-1526 820.71 821.65 0.94 0.63 121
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ZK-III-3120 926.33 927.53 1.20 0.80 3
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ZK-III-3515 535.1 537.04 1.94 1.33 92
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ZK-III-2318 214.70 216.13 1.43 0.73 545
545.55 546.47 0.92 0.59 222
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ZK-III-1928 214.89 215.73 0.84 0.38 546
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ZK-III-2728 553.24 556.47 3.23 1.56 234
563.14 564.52 1.38 0.65 225
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ZK-III-2729 639.15 640.40 1.25 0.50 139
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ZK-III-0726 246.86 248.31 1.45 0.89 530
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ZK-III-1820 532.03 532.83 0.80 0.47 380
652.46 653.57 1.11 0.64 263
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ZK-III-2510 428.29 430.10 1.81 1.48 404
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(i) Underground Drilling; (ii) Surface Drilling.
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Mineralized
Hole Ag(g/t) Au(g/t) Pb(%) Zn(%) Vein Notes
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ZK-III-3514 12 0.03 3.10 0.03 T3 UG(i)
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ZK-III-1526 7 0.00 2.97 0.14 T3E? S(ii)
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ZK-III-3120 220 2.54 0.35 0.27 T3 S
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ZK-III-3515 168 0.00 0.30 0.08 T3 UG
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ZK-III-2318 115 0.44 1.03 1.47 New Zone UG
111 0.00 0.36 0.33 T3
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ZK-III-1928 80 0.00 1.15 0.04 T1 UG
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ZK-III-2728 117 0.51 2.51 0.20 T3 UG
338 2.21 0.95 1.30 T3E
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ZK-III-2729 9 0.00 5.54 0.50 T3 UG
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ZK-III-0726 141 0.00 0.25 0.15 T1W1 UG
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ZK-III-1820 less than
22 0.05 3.95 0.06 New Zone S
less than
140 0.05 0.71 0.02 New Zone
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ZK-III-2510 145 1.07 4.53 0.69 T33 S
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(i) Underground Drilling; (ii) Surface Drilling.
Longitudinal sections for the veins showing the location of the drill hole results available at the following link: TLP Long Sections
The planned 2014 exploration drilling program at the HPG and TLP mines will include two drill rigs at underground drilling stations and one drill rig at the surface to further test the extension of the deep mineralisation as demonstrated by the above drill holes.
Quality Control
Drill cores are NQ size. Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contact or shear/alteration contact, were split into halves by saw cutting. One half of the cores are stored in the Company’s core shacks for future reference and checking, and the other half core samples are shipped in security sealed bags to the Chengde Huakan 514 Geology and Minerals Testing and Research Institute in Chengde, Hebei Province, and the Analytical Lab of the Inner Mongolia Geological Exploration Bureau in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia. Both analytical labs are ISO9000 certified. For analysis the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1mm and then split to a 200-300g sub-sample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two sub-samples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with aqua regia for gold analysis with AAS, and the other is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, and zinc.
A routine quality assurance/quality control procedure is adopted at each lab to monitor the analytical quality of the lab. Certified reference materials (“CRM”), pulp duplicates and blanks are inserted into each lab batch of samples. QA/QC data at the lab are attached to the assay certificates for each batch of samples.
The Company maintains its own comprehensive quality assurance and quality control program to ensure best practice in sample preparation and analysis of the drill core samples. Project geologists regularly insert CRM, field duplicates and blanks, to each batch of core samples, to monitor the sample preparation and analysis procedures at the labs. The analytical quality of the labs is further evaluated with external checks by sending about 3% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias.
Data from both the Company’s and the commercial labs’ QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists.
Rujin Jiang , P. Geo., is the Qualified Person on the project as defined under National Instrument 43-101. He has verified the information and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.
About Silvercorp
Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in China, which has paid a cash dividend since 2007. The Company is currently developing the GC project in southern China, which it expects will become its next operating mine. The Company’s vision is to deliver shareholder value by focusing on the acquisition of small-scale projects with resource potential and self-fund the growth of those assets. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorp.ca.
CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER — FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain of the statements and information in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as “expects”, “is expected”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “plans”, “projects”, “estimates”, “assumes”, “intends”, “strategies”, “targets”, “goals”, “forecasts”, “objectives”, “budgets”, “schedules”, “potential” or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates at the Company’s material properties; the sufficiency of the Company’s capital to finance the Company’s operations; estimates of the Company’s revenues and capital expenditures; estimated production from the Company’s mines in the Ying Mining Camp; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; availability of funds from production to finance the Company’s operations; and access to and availability of funding for future construction, use of proceeds from any financing and development of the Company’s properties.
Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licenses; title to properties; property interests; joint venture partners; acquisition of commercially mineable mineral rights; financing; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into the Company’s existing operations; competition; operations and political conditions; regulatory environment in China and Canada; environmental risks; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; insurance; risks and hazards of mining operations; key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management; internal control over financial reporting as per the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and bringing actions and enforcing judgments under U.S. securities laws.
This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company’s forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company’s Annual Information Form for the year ended March 31, 2013 under the heading “Risk Factors”. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.
The Company’s forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management’s assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Silvercorp Metals Inc. Investor Relations (604) 669-9397 1(888) 224-1881 [email protected] www.silvercorpmetals.com
