Silver One Resources Announces Drilling of Historic Leach Pads and Stockpiles at its Candelaria Mine Project
Boart Longyear, a highly qualified and experienced international drilling company, will conduct the drilling with a track mounted drill rig. Permits are in place to drill within 10 feet of the base liner and includes a contingency plan to correct the accidental piercing of the liner.
Silver One's President and CEO, Greg Crowe commented, "We look forward to receiving the results of this drilling phase which could represent a prime business opportunity moving forward. Past records indicate that the leach pads and stockpiles contain a historic resource of over 37 million tons and 4 million tons with silver grades of 1.29 ounces per ton (40 g/t Ag) and 0.75 ounces per ton (23 g/t Ag) respectively. Assays of preliminary samples show that significant amounts of silver are cyanide-soluble. Candelaria's historic silver grades in leach pads and stockpiles are significantly higher than the 17 g/t silver cutoff grades of the Rochester mine held by Coeur Mining located 220 kilometres north of Candelaria."
Candelaria was historically the highest-grade silver producer in the state of Nevada, averaging over 1,250 g/t silver from high-grade vein mining between the mid-1800s and the mid-1900s. Open pit mining operations were undertaken in the 1970s through 1998 by several companies, including Nerco and Kinross. Kinross closed the open pit and leach operation in 1998 due to low silver prices. Leaching of the historic pads was not completed leaving a substantial amount of silver unprocessed. It is estimated that the property has produced over 68 million ounces of silver.
Preliminary Assays and Metallurgical Testing
Silver One geologists have collected eight samples from the heap leach pads and 107 samples from the stockpiles. Samples from the leach pads were collected from pits that were pre-dug to a depth of 40 centimetres and submitted for assays and bottle roll tests to confirm grades and estimate silver recoveries.
Gold assays from the heap leach pads ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 g/mt (0.14 g/mt average) while silver assays varied from 13 to 67 g/mt (47 g/mt average). The cyanide soluble gold ranged from 0% to 35% (17% average) of the assayed gold. The cyanide soluble silver ranged from 28% to 54% (42% average) of the assayed silver. Bottle roll tests on composites are currently in progress with results expected December 2017.
The gold assays from the stockpiles ranged from 0.05 to 0.55 g/mt (0.14 g/mt average) and the silver assays ranged from 9 to 138 g/mt and average 34 g/mt. No preliminary bottle roll tests are planned for the stockpile material. Metallurgical testing of stockpiles and leach pads will be conducted on sonic drill samples.
Historical Resource Estimate — Candelaria Project
SSR Mining Inc. (formerly, Silver Standard Resources Inc.) acquired the Candelaria Project in 2001 and reported in a technical report titled "Candelaria Project Technical Report" dated May 24, 2001 (filed on SEDAR on June 20, 2002), prepared by Pincock Allen & Holt, the historical mineral resource estimate shown in the table below. The qualified person has not done sufficient work to classify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. Silver One is not treating this historical estimate as current mineral resources.
Candelaria Mine Project | |||||||
Historical Resource Estimate | |||||||
Area/Type | Classification | Tons | Factored Ag Grade (optAgtotal) | Sol. Au Grade (opt Ausoluble) | AqEq Grade (opt AgEqtotal) | Ag Ounces (Agtotal) | Aq Equiv. Ounces (AqEqtotal) |
Mount Diablo | Measured | 3,391,000 | 4.44 | 0.004 | 4.67 | 15,054,000 | 15,838,000 |
Indicated | 10,231,185 | 2.84 | 0.003 | 3.01 | 29,005,000 | 30,796,000 | |
Subtotal, Measured + Indicated | 13,623,000 | 3.23 | 0.003 | 3.42 | 44,060,000 | 46,633,000 | |
Mount Diablo | Inferred | 5,191,000 | 2.12 | 0.003 | 2.30 | 11,015,000 | 11,939,000 |
Northern Belle | 9,162,000 | 2.26 | 0.002 | 2.37 | 20,661,000 | 21,714,000 | |
Leach Pads | 37,328,000 | 1.29 | --- | 1.29 | 48,153,000 | 48,153,000 | |
L.G. Stockpiles | 4,000,000 | 0.75 | --- | 0.75 | 3,000,000 | 3,000,000 | |
Subtotal. Inferred | 55,681,000 | 1.49 | 0.002 | 1.52 | 82,829,000 | 84,806,000 |
Notes
1) Lode resources tabulated at a 0.5 opt Agsoluble cutoff grades, with only Agtotal shown in this table.
2) Leach pads and low grade stockpile resources tabulated for entire accumulation of material.
3) Total silver grades factored from soluble silver grades using regression formulas developed by Snowden.
4) Silver equivalent grade includes the contribution from the gold grade (soluble) using an Ag:Au equivalency ratio of 57.8:1.
5) Tonnages are short tons of 2,000 pounds. Precious metals are in troy ounces (oz) or troy ounces per short ton (opt)
The historical mineral resource estimate used "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource", which are categories set out in NI 43-101. Accordingly, Silver One considers these historical estimates reliable as well as relevant as it represents key targets for exploration work by Silver One. The data base for the historical resource estimate
(1) on the Mount Diablo Deposit consisted of 538 drill holes by previous owners and 10 drill holes by Silver Standard Resources Inc. For drill holes that were twinned, the author used the lower of the two values assigned to the original holes. The mineral resource estimate used a kriging estimation method to establish mineralized zones with a cut-off grade of 0.5 opt Ag. Ordinary kriging was used to interpolate grades in the block model. The block models were set up with block dimensions of 25 feet by 25 feet in plan and 10 feet in height. The maximum search range used in the higher-grade zone was 235 feet, in the lower grade zone it was 1,000 feet and in the background zone it was 350 feet. Block models more than 300 feet from the nearest composite only constituted 3 percent of the total number of estimated blocks and were assigned to an inferred category,
(2) on the Northern Belle Deposit consisted of 226 drill holes by previous owners, of which a portion of these holes were duplicated for the Mount Diablo Deposit database. The mineral resource estimate used a kriging estimation method to establish mineralized zones with a cut-off grade of 0.5 opt Ag. The mineral resource estimate used multiple indicator kriging to interpolate grades in the block model. Block models were set up with block dimensions of 50 feet by 50 feet in plan and 20 feet in height. The maximum search range used in the higher-grade zone was 85 feet, in the intermediate-grade zone was 120 feet and the lower-grade zone was 140 feet and in the lower undifferentiated material below the current pit topography was 260 feet. Block models more than 300 feet from the nearest composite only constituted 3 percent of the total number of estimated blocks and were assigned to an inferred category;
(3) on the Leach Pads consisted of 24,633,000 tons located on Leach Pad 1 and 12,695,000 on Leach Pad 2. The estimate for Leach Pad 1 is based on the fact that silver production indicates 51.5% of total silver was recovered by heap leaching operation, while 81.2% of the soluble silver contact was recovered. Further, the estimate for Leach Pad 2 is based on the fact that silver production indicates 42.4% of total silver was recovered by heap leaching operation, while 71.3% of the soluble silver content was recovered;
(4) on the Low-Grade Stockpile is based on limited and incomplete data and documentation. Material placed on the on the stock piles ranged from 0.5 to 0.65 opt Ag,
Qualified Person
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Greg Crowe, P.Geo, President and CEO of Silver One, and a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101.
About Silver One
Silver One is a silver focused exploration company that holds an option to acquire a 100% interest in the past producing Candelaria Silver Project, located in Nevada, from SSR Mining Inc. (formerly, Silver Standard Resources Inc.) and holds a 100% interest in three significant silver assets located in Mexico: Penasco Quemado in the State of Sonora, La Frazada in the State of Nayarit, and Pluton in the State of Durango. The Mexican mining assets were acquired from First Mining Financing, which became a key shareholder resulting from the transaction.
For more information, please contact:
Silver One Resources Inc.
Monica Hamm, VP, Investor Relations
Phone: (604) 974-5274
Email: mhamm@silverone.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Information set forth in this news release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions as of the date of this news release. These statements reflect management's current estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations. They are not guarantees of future performance. Silver One cautions that all forward looking statements are inherently uncertain and that actual performance may be affected by a number of material factors, many of which are beyond Silver One's control. Such factors include, among other things: risks and uncertainties relating to Silver One's limited operating history, ability to obtain sufficient financing to carry out its exploration and development objectives on the Candelaria Project, obtaining the necessary permits to carry out its activities and the need to comply with environmental and governmental regulations. Accordingly, actual and future events, conditions and results may differ materially from the estimates, beliefs, intentions and expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Silver One undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information.
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