News
NEWS RELEASE
Silver Reserves and Resources Rise Sharply at
Guanacevi Mine Project, Durango, Mexico
March 28, 2006, - Vancouver, Canada - Endeavour Silver Corp. (EDR: TSX, EDRGF: PNK, and EJD: FSE) announces a sharp rise in silver reserves and resources at its Guanacevi Mines Project in Durango, Mexico.
Proven and probable mineral reserves rose from nil in 2005 to 3,481,200 oz silver (3,792,588 oz Ag equivalents) in 2006. Inferred mineral resources jumped 178% to 10,655,500 oz silver (12,005,200 oz Ag equivalents) in 2006 compared to 3,839,000 oz silver in 2005.
Range Consulting Group ("Range") was retained by Endeavour to complete a review of mineral reserves and resources for the Porvenir Mine (North Porvenir and El Porvenir properties combined), Porvenir Dos and Deep Santa Cruz mineralized zones. Their technical report entitled "Mineral Resource and Reserve Estimate, Guanacevi Project, Durango, Mexico" is authored by Eric Olson, MAusIMM, who is an independent Qualified Person under the definition by National Instrument 43-101. The draft report was prepared in compliance with N.I. 43-101, has been reviewed by Endeavour, and will be finalized and filed on Sedar on or before March 31, 2006.
The mineral reserves were estimated by Range by the manual method using Endeavour drill hole and underground sample data to March 15, 2006 as follows:
Porvenir Mine Reserves
Silver Gold
Silver
Gold
Ag Equivalent
Classification
Tonnes
(gpt)
(gpt)
Oz
Oz
(gpt)
(opt)
Zone 1
Proven
18,403
426
0.64
252,100
379
470
278,251
Probable
26,293
425
0.63
359,300
533
468
396,077
Proven and Probable
44,696
425
0.63
611,400
912
468
674,328
Zones 2 and 3
Proven
75,793
645
0.93
1,571,700
2,266
701
1,707,660
Probable
63,386
637
0.92
1,298,100
1,875
692
1,410,600
Proven and Probable 139,179
641
0.93
2,869,800
4,141
697
3,118,260
All Zones Combined
Proven
94,196
602
0.87
1,823,800
2,645
656
1,985,911
Probable
89,679
575
0.83
1,657,400
2,408
627
1,806,677
Proven and Probable
183,875
589
0.85
3,481,200
5,053
642
3,792,588
Reserves are based on a $7.00 silver price, a $427 gold price, minimum mining width of 1.0 m, mine extraction rate of 87%, mine dilution of 10% at 70 gpt silver, and cutoff grades of 404 gpt Ag for zone 1 and 353 gpt Ag for zones 2 and 3. Silver equivalents are calculated as silver oz plus gold oz multiplied by the equivalence ratio (69 for zone 1 and 60 for zones 2 and 3). The equivalence ratio is calculated as the silver recovery/gold recovery multiplied by the silver net smelter return/gold net smelter return. Net smelter return is the payable value minus the costs of freight, smelting, refining and royalties.
The mineral resources are in addition to the reserves and were estimated by the polygonal method using drill hole data that met the minimum geologic width and cutoff grade as follows:
Porvenir Mine Inferred Resources
Silver Gold Silver Gold Ag Equivalent
Classification
Tonnes
(gpt)
(gpt)
Oz
Oz
(gpt)
(opt)
Zone 1
197,677
411
0.99
2,612,100
6,292
479
3,046,250
Zones 2 & 3
194,898
369
0.62
2,312,200
3,885
412
2,545,300
All Zones Combined
392,575
390
0.81
4,924,300
10,177
446
5,591,550
Porvenir Dos Inferred Resources
Silver
Gold
Silver Gold Ag Equivalent
Vein
Tonnes
(gpt)
(gpt)
Oz
Oz
(gpt)
(opt)
Santa Cruz
170,017
407
0.84
2,224,700
4,592
458
2,504,800
Conglomerate
40,115
474
0.73
611,300
942
519
668,760
All Zones Combined
210,132
420
0.82
2,836,000
5,534
477
3,173,560
Deep Santa Cruz Inferred Resources
Silver
Gold
Silver
Gold
Ag Equivalent
Vein
Tonnes
(gpt)
(gpt)
Oz
Oz
(gpt)
(opt)
Shell A
18,879
653
0.59
396,400
358
689
418,240
Shell B
74,237
572
1.21
1,365,200
2,888
646
1,541,370
Shell C
46,916
542
1.07
817,500
1,614
607
915,950
Shell D
12,737
772
1.94
316,100
794
890
364,530
All Zones Combined
152,769
589
1.15
2,895,200
5,654
668
3,240,090
Resources are based on a minimum mining width of 1.0 m at a 200 gpt Ag cutoff grade without considering dilution or extraction rates. Silver equivalents are calculated as the ratio of a US$427 gold price and a US$7.00 silver price (1:61). Additional factors such as metal recoveries and net smelter returns will affect the silver equivalent calculation but are not yet known for the Porvenir Dos and Deep Santa Cruz zones.
In addition to the updated and N.I. 43-101 compliant mineral reserve and resource estimate, there is an historic reserve of 564,304 tonnes grading 265 gpt silver and 0.61 gpt gold (4.37 million oz silver) reported by Minera Tayahua S.A de C.V. ("MT") for a different part of the El Porvenir property. However, this historic reserve is not compliant with N.I. 43-101, Endeavour has not verified the 92 underground channel samples on three levels in the old El Porvenir mine on which the MT estimate is based, and therefore the historic reserve estimate should not be relied upon. Endeavour confirms this historic estimate is relevant to its plans for further exploration on the El Porvenir property and has plans to map, sample and drill this area in the 2nd Quarter of 2006.
Endeavour continues to employ four drill rigs on the Guanacevi Mine Project exploring the North Porvenir, Deep Santa Cruz and other mineralized zones. At Deep Santa Cruz, the underground drill has moved to the second crosscut and intersected mineralization outside of the previous area drilled by Penoles. At North Porvenir, the deepest holes to the north on sections 18 and 19 also continue to intersect mineralization more than 300 m deep. There is now a 400 meter vertical elevation difference between the highest drill hole and the lowest drill hole in the El Porvenir and North Porvenir mines. Mineralization throughout this vertical extent shows no sign of higher base metal contents, indicating the silver mineralization continues at depth.
Bradford Cooke, Chairman and C.E.O. stated, "Our talented exploration and mining team has succeeded once again in meeting the aggressive targets we set for them in 2005. Total silver reserves and resources now exceed 13 million oz at Guanacevi, good for a 6 year mine life assuming 100% conversion of resources to reserves. This updated mineral reserve and resource estimate is further evidence of the robust size and grade of silver mineralized zones in the Santa Cruz vein system."
Godfrey Walton, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person supervising the surface drilling and underground sampling programs on the Santa Cruz property. He has instituted a Quality Control sampling program of blanks and duplicates to monitor the integrity of all assay results. All samples are split by Endeavour personnel at the Guanacevi camp, assayed at the Guanacevi plant, and with blanks and duplicates are driven to Durango where they are delivered to BSI Inspectorate Lab in Durango. Pulps are air freighted to Reno, Nevada for analyses at BSI's Reno laboratory. Samples are dried, crushed and split and a 30 gram sample is taken for analysis. Gold and silver at both Guanacevi and BSI are determined by fire assay with an atomic absorption (AA) finish.
Endeavour Silver Corp. (EDR: TSX, EDRGF: PNK, and FSE: EJD) is a silver mining company focused on the growth of its silver resources and production in Mexico. The expansion program now underway at the high grade Santa Cruz silver mine in Durango, Mexico, should propel Endeavour into the ranks of the top five primary silver producers in the world.
On Behalf of the Board of Directors,
ENDEAVOUR SILVER CORP.
/s/ "Bradford J. Cooke"
Bradford J. Cooke
Chairman and CEO
For more information, please contact Hugh Clarke Toll free: 877-685-9775, tel: (604) 685-9775, fax: (604) 685-9744, email investorrelations@edrsilver.com or visit our website, www.edrsilver.com. The TSX has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.
CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER - FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained herein regarding the Company and its operations constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements that are not historical facts, including without limitation statements regarding future estimates, plans, objectives, assumptions or expectations of future performance, are "forward-looking statements". We caution you that such "forward looking statements" involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include fluctuations in precious metal prices, unpredictable results of exploration activities, uncertainties inherent in the estimation of mineral reserves and resources, fluctuations in the costs of goods and services, problems associated with exploration and mining operations, changes in legal, social or political conditions in the jurisdictions where the Company operates, lack of appropriate funding and other risk factors, as discussed in the Company's filings with Canadian and American Securities regulatory agencies. Resource and production goals and forecasts may be based on data insufficient to support them. Godfrey Walton, P.Geo. and/or Bradford Cooke, P.Geo. are the Qualified Persons for the Company as required by NI 43-101. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements.
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