Discovery Silver Corp T.DSV

News/ Q3 Results 2021 and Update

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Discovery Reports Q3 2021 Financial Results and Update

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Discovery Silver Corp.

Thu, November 25, 2021, 4:00 AM

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TORONTO, Nov. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Discovery Silver Corp. (TSX-V: DSV, OTCQX: DSVSF) (“Discovery” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce its financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2021 (“Q3 2021”), and to provide a summary of key events for the quarter and subsequent to quarter-end. All amounts are presented in Canadian dollars (“C$”) unless otherwise stated.

Discovery’s flagship project is our 100%-owned Cordero silver project (“Cordero” or the “Project”) located in Chihuahua State, Mexico. We are aggressively advancing the Project through drilling (+120,000 meters in past two years), and metallurgical testing and engineering studies, with a focus on delineating a high-margin project with size and scaleability.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Company’s cash position as of the date of this release is approximately $73.1 million

• Subsequent to quarter end we released our first-ever Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) report and launched a brand-new Sustainability section on our website. These materials set out the Company’s current practices and priorities going forward, including in the Company’s Vision, Mission and Values that form the foundation on which we advance our flagship Cordero Project.

• We completed detailed and comprehensive metallurgical testing program for Cordero which delivered several significantly positive outcomes related to processing and process design.

• We released an updated Mineral Resource Estimate (“Resource”) for Cordero which not only confirmed Cordero’s status as one of the world’s largest silver deposits and but also showed how advanced the Project has become with 87% of the Resource in the Measured and Indicated category. The release also outlined various subsets of the resource at higher cut-offs, clearly illustrating the high-margin potential of the Project.

• The Cordero Preliminary Economic Assessment (“PEA”) remains on schedule for later this quarter.

• Our Phase 2 drilling is on-going with four drill rigs on site, focusing on reserve definition, resource expansion and high-grade vein delineation.

SUMMARY OF Q3 2021 & SUBSEQUENT EVENTS:

Financial & Corporate:

Balance Sheet

As at September 30, 2021, we had a cash and cash equivalents and short term investment balance of $72.6 million (approximately $73.1 million as of the date of this release).

Inaugural ESG Report / Sustainability website launch

Subsequent to quarter end we released our first Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) report and launched a brand-new Sustainability section of our website. Report highlights include:

• Over $1.7 million in goods and services purchased from local Mexican businesses;

• Over $1.3 million in salaries and benefits paid to local employees;

• Total workforce of 124 includes 58 employees (89% Mexican) and 66 contractors (98% Mexican);

• Total GHG emissions of 167 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent;

• Total water withdrawal of 36,017 m³ and total water discharged of 36,007 m³; and

• Zero fatalities and only 5 first-aid incidents

The full ESG Report is available for download at: www.discoverysilver.com/sustainability

Projects:

Metallurgical Test Work

Our metallurgical test program tested samples of all of the four major rock types at Cordero. The samples were sourced from locations spatially throughout the entire deposit, including the Pozo de Plata and NE Extension zones in the North Corridor and from along the central and southwest parts of the South Corridor. Tests were completed at the Blue Coast Research Ltd. (“Blue Coast”) laboratory located in Parksville, BC, Canada. Highlights from the test work include:

Sulphide flotation test work

• Silver recoveries of 80-89%, lead recoveries of 83-91% and zinc recoveries of 81-90% from locked cycle tests.

• Higher recoveries were achieved at coarser grind sizes (~200 microns).

• Saleable concentrate grades confirmed and levels of penalty elements for concentrates were immaterial.

Oxide & transition cyanidation test work

• Silver recoveries of 54-80% & gold recoveries of 61-75% at coarse crush / grind sizes from coarse bottle roll testing.

• Results indicate that a heap leach on the oxide & transition material at Cordero may be economic and follow-up column leach test work is currently underway.

Further details on our metallurgical test results can be found in our news release dated September 7, 2021.

Resource (Phase 1) drilling

On August 25, 2021, the Company announced results from the final drill holes that were used to support the new resource estimate. The final drill holes were from multiple zones in both the North and South Corridors. Drilling in the South Corridor along the Josefina vein trend intercepted high-grade veins within broader zones of disseminated mineralization. Infill drilling within the central part of the South Corridor was also successful in confirming continuity of mineralization within the higher-grade bulk-tonnage domain.

Highlight intercepts include:

• 217.3 m averaging 194 g/t AgEq from 39.3 m (75 g/t Ag, 0.45 g/t Au, 1.1% Pb and 1.0% Zn) in hole C21-481 including:

• 25.5 m averaging 404 g/t AgEq from 147.2 m (236 g/t Ag, 0.55 g/t Au, 1.2% Pb and 1.9% Zn) in hole C21-482 including:

• 56.8 m averaging 139 g/t AgEq from 358.7 m (40 g/t Ag, 0.05 g/t Au, 0.7% Pb and 1.7% Zn) in hole C21-442

• 52.5 m averaging 128 g/t AgEq from 214.8 m (42 g/t Ag, 0.08 g/t Au, 0.7% Pb and 1.3% Zn) and 54.9 m averaging 133 g/t AgEq from 392.8 m (39 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 0.9% Pb and 1.3% Zn) in hole C21-493

Updated Mineral Resource Estimate

Subsequent to quarter end we announced our updated Resource. The Resource is pit-constrained with an estimated waste-to-ore ratio of 1.1 and is supported by 224,000 m of drilling in 517 drill holes and reinterpreted structural and geological models of the deposit. 87% of the contained metal is in the Measured and Indicated category. The Resource will be used to support an updated PEA scheduled for completion later in Q4 2021. The size of the Resource positions Cordero as one of the largest silver projects globally. Highlights include:

Sulphide Resource (assumed to be processed via mill/flotation)

• Measured & Indicated Resource of 837 Moz AgEq¹ at an average grade of 48 g/t AgEq¹ (541 Mt grading 20 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 0.29% Pb and 0.51% Zn)

• Inferred Resource of 119 Moz AgEq¹ at an average grade of 34 g/t AgEq¹ (108 Mt grading 14 g/t Ag, 0.03 g/t Au, 0.19% Pb and 0.38% Zn)

• High-grade subset – at a $25/t NSR cut-off a Measured & Indicated Resource of 509 Moz AgEq¹ at an average grade of 101 g/t AgEq¹ (42 g/t Ag, 0.11 g/t Au, 0.64% Pb and 1.04% Zn)

Oxide/Transition Resource (assumed to be processed by heap leaching)

• Measured & Indicated resource of 74 Moz AgEq¹ at an average grade of 23 g/t AgEq¹ (98 Mt grading 19 g/t Ag and 0.05 g/t Au)

• Inferred Resource of 22 Moz AgEq¹ at an average grade of 20 g/t AgEq¹ (35Mt grading 16 g/t Ag and 0.04 g/t Au)

• High-grade subset – at a $15/t NSR cut-off, a Measured & Indicated Resource of 26 Moz AgEq¹ at an average grade of 60 g/t AgEq¹ (52 g/t Ag and 0.09 g/t Au)

Further details on our Resource can be found in our news release dated October 20, 2021. Supporting Technical Disclosure and underlying assumptions for the Resource can be found at the end of this release.

Phase 2 drilling

At the end of the quarter, we announced results from the first 13 holes from our Phase 2 drill program. The holes were predominantly focused on the South Corridor and in the Northeast Extension of the North Corridor and were targeting improved definition of high-grade zones within the bulk-tonnage domain and will be included in a prefeasibility study on the Project planned for 2022.

Highlight intercepts include:

• 73.1 m averaging 241 g/t AgEq¹ from 75.0 m (104 g/t Ag, 0.06 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb and 2.5% Zn) in hole C21-510

• 133.8 m averaging 103 g/t AgEq¹ from 69.0 m (39 g/t Ag, 0.07 g/t Au, 0.8% Pb and 0.7% Zn) in hole C21-523

• 28.6 m averaging 300 g/t AgEq¹ from 265.5 m (101 g/t Ag, 0.12 g/t Au, 1.6% Pb and 3.2% Zn) including 9.4 m averaging 759 g/t AgEq¹ (257 g/t Ag, 0.26 g/t Au, 4.1% Pb & 8.1% Zn) in hole C21-519

• 38.0 m averaging 229 g/t AgEq¹ from 687.0 m (54 g/t Ag, 0.07 g/t Au, 1.3% Pb and 2.9% Zn) in hole C21-517

Phase 2 drilling will continue through the remainder of the year and will be focused on three key areas: (1) upgrading inferred resources for inclusion in a prefeasibility study planned for 2022; (2) resource expansion of bulk-tonnage mineralization; and (3) testing of the width, grade and continuity of the extensive high-grade vein systems that transect the deposit. There are currently four drill rigs operating on site.

For further details on the drill results noted above refer to our news releases dated August 25 and September 30, 2021.

LOOKING AHEAD:

We are looking forward to releasing our PEA, a landmark milestone for the Company, later this quarter. The overarching objective is to deliver a technically robust study that outlines one of the largest producing primary silver operations in the industry with manageable upfront development capex and operating costs in the bottom half of the industry cost curve. The study will incorporate staged expansions to reduce initial capex and an elevated cut-off grade strategy and effective use of stockpiling to accelerate the payback period. The study will be vetted by industry leading consultants and supported by our recently released Mineral Resource Estimate and three rounds of metallurgical testwork.

Our drill planning for next year is currently being finalized. our ongoing Phase 2 drill program focused on reserve definition for an expected pre-feasibility study on the project for 2022. Alongside this infill drilling we will remain focused on potential resource expansion of bulk-tonnage mineralization as well as ongoing testing of the grade and continuity of the high-grade veins that transect the deposit. Our property wide mapping and sampling program also continues to progress well with targets expected to be finalized through the remainder of the year ahead of initial drill testing early next year.

We are also eager to advance and expand our ESG efforts following the recent publication of our inaugural ESG report. During 2021, we have added key positions to our management team in Mexico in the areas of environment, community relations and human resources to help develop and implement our ESG strategy across the organization. We anticipate publishing our 2021 ESG Report in Q2 2022 and look forward to sharing our progress.

SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA:

The following selected financial data is summarized from the Company’s condensed interim consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto (the “Financial Statements”) for the three months ended September 30, 2021.

A copy of the Financial Statements and MD&A is available at www.discoverysilver.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Net loss		Q3 2021			Q3 2020
(a) Total	$	(8,752,766)		$	(5,127,665)
(b) basic and diluted per share	$	(0.03)		$	(0.02)
Net loss & total comprehensive loss	$	(8,739,307)		$	(4,914,927)
Total weighted average shares outstanding		325,155,725			282,624,020

 

	September 30, 2021			December 31, 2020
Cash, cash equivalents & short-term investments	$	72,637,485		$	82,547,897
Total assets	$	109,227,233		$	111,564,881
Total current liabilities	$	1,753,280		$	982,260
Total liabilities	$	1,758,054		$	1,023,349
Working capital	$	71,594,510		$	82,435,046
Total Shareholders’ equity	$	107,469,179		$	110,541,532

About Discovery

Discovery’s focus is on advancing its flagship 100%-owned Cordero project, one of the world’s largest silver projects. Cordero is located close to infrastructure in a prolific mining belt in Chihuahua State, Mexico, and is supported by an industry leading balance sheet with more than C$70 million available for aggressive exploration, resource expansion, engineering and development. Discovery was a recipient of the 2020 TSX Venture 50 award and the 2021 OTCQX Best 50 award.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
Taj Singh, M.Eng, P.Eng, CPA,
President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

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