Silvercorp Reports Newly Exposed Mineralization At The TLP Mine From Its 2015 Exploration Tunneling Program

The 2015 exploration program at the TLP mine consists of exploration tunneling and underground diamond drilling on major production vein structures T11, T14, T15, T16, T21, T22E, T23, T33 and T35E and their parallel subzones and splay structures to upgrade and expand the known mineral resources and to explore for new mineralized zones. Exploration tunneling, consisting of drifting, crosscutting and raising, has continuously exposed high-grade mineralized zones within production vein structures between levels 920m and 650m, and underground drilling, mainly comprising stepout and test holes, has successfully expanded known mineral resource blocks and further traced the downdip and strike extensions of the target vein structures from the current mining and development levels.

Highlights of selected high-grade mineralized zones exposed in drift tunnels include:

• Drift Tunnel PD890-T23-890-17SYM/NYM exposed mineralization of 85 meters ("m") in length and 0.68m in true width grading 1,092 grams per tonne ("g/t") silver ("Ag"), 1.45% lead ("Pb") and 0.13% zinc ("Zn") within vein structure T23 on the 890m level;
• Drift Tunnel PD930-T23-930-15SYM exposed mineralization of 93m in length and 0.60m in true width grading 614g/t Ag, 1.40% Pb and 0.14% Zn within vein structure T23 on the 923m level; and
• Drift Tunnel PD840-T33-870-15SYM exposed mineralization of 103m in length and 0.71m in true width grading 462g/t Ag, 1.61% Pb and 0.36% Zn within vein structure T33 on the 870m level.

Highlights of selected intersections of drill holes include:

• Hole ZKG0321 intersected a 3.19 meter ("m") interval from 109.68m to 112.87m, 1.88m true width, of vein T15W grading 1,599 grams per tonne ("g/t") silver ("Ag"), 5.55% lead ("Pb") and 1.07% zinc ("Zn") at the 788m elevation, including a 0.85m interval, 0.50m true width, grading 5,937g/t Ag, 20.21% Pb and 3.78% Zn, and a 4.33m interval from 143.25m to 147.58m, 2.60m true width, of vein T15 grading 297g/t Ag, 1.08% Pb and 0.39% Zn at the 772m elevation.

A total of 9,380m of diamond drilling in 37 holes were completed with 2 underground rigs in the first three quarters of 2015. Drill stations were mainly located in underground workings on the present development and mining levels. Drill holes were drilled to test multiple vein structures between the 960m and 400m elevations. A total of 582 core samples were collected from intersections of altered and mineralized vein structures. As of September 30, the Company received assay results for 36 holes, including 5 holes drilled in late 2014. Assay results for 6 holes are pending. 25 of the 36 holes intersected one or multiple mineralized zones and other holes intersected target structures.

Exploration tunneling was conducted between the 990m and the 650m levels via access adits PD960, PD930, PD890, PD840, PD820, PD800 and PD730. A total of 6,287m of exploration tunneling, including 3,158m drift tunneling and 2,437m crosscut tunneling, was driven along and across major production vein structures, and 2,568 channel samples were collected. As of September 30, 2015, the on-going exploration tunneling program exposed a total of 1,414m mineralization, 0.70m in average width, grading 408g/t Ag, 3.44% Pb and 0.36% Zn. The exposed mineralization constitutes 45% of the completed 3,158m drift tunneling.

Tables 1 and 2 below list the assay results of some selected mineralized intersections in drill holes and mineralized zones exposed in drift tunnels.

Table 1: Selected drilling results from the TLP Mine in the first three quarters of 2015

Table 2: Selected mineralized zones exposed by exploration tunneling at the TLP Mine in the first three quarters of 2015

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. The half 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, China, 226 km northeast of Beijing, and the Zhenzhou Nonferrous Exploration Institute Lab in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, and both labs are ISO9000 certified analytical lab. For analysis the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1mm and then split to a 200-300g subsample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two subsamples 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, zinc and copper with AAS.

Channel samples are collected along sample lines perpendicular to the mineralized vein structure in exploration tunnels. Spacing between sampling lines is typically 5m along strike. Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut with continuous chisel chipping. Sample length ranges from 0.2m to more than 1m, depending on the width of the mineralized vein and the mineralization type. Channel samples are prepared and assayed with AAS at Silvercorp's mine laboratory (Ying Lab) located at the mill complex in Luoning County, Henan Province, China. The Ying lab is officially accredited by the Quality and Technology Monitoring Bureau of Henan Province and is qualified to provide analytical service. The channel samples are dried, crushed and pulverized. A 200g sample of minus 160 mesh is prepared for assay. A duplicate sample of minus 1mm is made and kept at the laboratory archives. Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish, and silver, lead, zinc and copper are assayed by two-acid digestion with AAS finish.

A routine quality assurance/quality control procedure is adopted at each lab to monitor the analytical quality at the lab. Certified reference materials (CRMs), 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 exploration 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 3-5% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias.

Data from both the Company's and the labs' QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists.

Ruijin Jiang, P. Geo. reviewed the exploration data and prepared the scientific and technical information regarding exploration results contained herein. Alex Zhang, P. Geo, VP exploration of the Company, is the Qualified Person on the project as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and he has verified 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. The Company's vision is to deliver shareholder value by focusing on the acquisition of under developed projects with resource potential and the ability to grow organically.  For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorp.ca.


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Contact

Lorne Waldman, Senior Vice President
Silvercorp Metals Inc.
Phone: (604) 669-9397, Toll Free: 1(888) 224-1881
Email: investor@silvercorp.ca
Website: www.silvercorpmetals.com