Silver Bull Confirms the Success of the Long Hole Twinning Drill Program on the Sierra Mojada Project, Coahuila, Mexico
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/14/13 -- Silver Bull Resources, Inc. (TSX: SVB)(NYSE MKT: SVBL) ("Silver Bull") is pleased to announce that the underground drill program conducted between July 2012 and December 2012 which twinned a series of historical "long hole" drill holes at the eastern end of the "Shallow Silver Zone" and "Zinc Zone" has successfully shown the historical long hole data set is a fair representation of the grade and width of the silver and zinc mineralization in this area. The high correlation between the historical long hole data set and Silver Bull's recently completed core twinning holes means that over 39,000 meters of historical drilling focused in mainly high grade silver and zinc mineralization will now have a more significant influence in any resource calculation at Sierra Mojada.
Discovery of long hole vs surface hole bias in Silver Bull's July 2012 NI43-101 Resource Report: In Silver Bull's most recent NI43-101 resource report on the Sierra Mojada project completed in July 2012 by SRK Consulting (Canada) Inc. ("SRK"), SRK noted that there appeared to be a large apparent bias between surface drill holes and the long hole dataset. As a result, SRK severely restricted the influence of over 2,700 long holes totaling approximately 39,000 meters of drilling in the resource estimation.
In its recommendations in the July 2012 NI43-101 report, SRK recommended that Silver Bull initiate an underground diamond drill program in areas that had been sampled exclusively by long holes and channel samples in order to validate the higher grade portions of the ore body with drill core.
Results for the long hole twinning program: Between July and December 2012, Silver Bull completed over 6,500 meters of underground diamond core drilling, twinning a number of long holes over a 1.5 kilometer east-west strike at the eastern end of the Shallow Silver and Zinc Zones. At the completion of the twinning drill program, Silver Bull engaged SRK to re-evaluate the data to confirm the validity of the historical long hole data set. To do this, SRK ran a series of tests employing various metrics to compare the twin holes with the long holes and surface holes, using 5m by 5m by 5m blocks which represent the block size used in the last resource estimate.
SRK concluded that the grades and widths seen in the historical long hole data set were confirmed by the diamond drilling, and that the twinning program validated this data set. As a result of the twinning program Silver Bull is now able to confidently use the long hole data set with a less restrictive range of influence than has previously been used in any resource estimate for the project.
In its analysis of the data, SRK went on to explain that in comparing the surface drill holes to the long holes in the previous report, the large bias was created due to the fact that these two data sets represented two very different grade domains within the deposit. The long holes are situated in a very high grade domain, while the surface drill holes lie in a lower grade domain. The twinning program demonstrates that there is a marginal bias in the long holes at very high grades ranges but that they agreed well with all core drilling for grades below 125 g/t silver.
Updated NI43-101 Resource Report and JDS Engineering: Silver Bull is now focused on issuing a new NI43-101 resource update and expects this will be out before the end of March 2013. This new report will include over 10,000 meters of additional surface drilling, 6,500 meters of underground drilling, and the increased influence for over 39,000 meters from the long hole data set. For the report, Silver Bull has also updated the geological model for the Sierra Mojada project, continued bulk density data sampling on the various ore types, and collected an additional 400 channel samples for metallurgical test work.
JDS Energy & Mining Inc. has been commissioned to complete the next NI43-101 report as a lead-in to a Preliminary Economic Assessment, which is planned for Q3 2013.
About Silver Bull: Silver Bull is a well funded US registered mineral exploration company listed on both the NYSE MKT and TSX stock exchanges and based out of Vancouver, Canada. The flagship "Sierra Mojada" project is located 150 kilometers north of the city of Torreon in Coahuila, Mexico, and is highly prospective for silver and zinc. Silver Bull also has 2 mineral licenses in Gabon, Central Africa, which are prospective for gold, manganese, and iron ore.
The technical information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Barry, MAusIMM, a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Tim Barry, MAusIMM, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director
Cautionary note regarding forward looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bull's future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding the timing of the next resource update, the timing of the PEA, the ability to demonstrate a high correlation and increase the confidence of the long hole data set, and the ability to incorporate the long hole data set in the next resource update. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bull's exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bull's management. Words such as "expects", "anticipates", "targets", "goals", "projects", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates", "continues", "may", variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including such factors as the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2012, as amended, and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.
Contacts:
Silver Bull Resources, Inc.
Matt Hallaran
Investor Relations
+1 604 336 8096
info@silverbullresources.com