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ORIGINAL: SilverCrest Expands Las Chispas Resource: Indicated Resource: 1.0 Million Tonnes 1,234 gpt AgEq for 39.8 Million Oz AgEq, Inferred Resource: 3.6 Million Tonnes 581 gpt AgEq for 68.1 Million Oz AgEq
2019-03-14 09:50 ET - News Release
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 14, 2019) - SilverCrest Metals Inc. (TSXV: SIL) (NYSE American: SILV) ("SilverCrest" or the "Company") is pleased to announce an updated mineral resource estimate for the Las Chispas Property, located in Sonora, Mexico, effective February 8, 2019 (the "Third Mineral Resource Estimate" or "February 2019 Resources"). The infill drilling program at Las Chispas has delineated an initial Indicated Mineral Resource estimate of 1.0 million tonnes grading 6.98 grams per tonne ("gpt") gold (or "Au") and 710.6 gpt silver (or "Ag"), or 1,234 gpt silver equivalent ("AgEq"; based on 75 (Ag):1 (Au), defined in the table below), containing 39.8 million ounces of AgEq. Inferred Mineral Resources are estimated at 3.6 million tonnes grading 3.32 gpt Au and 332.5 gpt Ag, or 581 gpt AgEq, containing 68.1 million ounces of AgEq. Of the 30 known veins in the district, ten veins were included in the updated resource estimate: Babicanora, Babicanora Hangingwall (HW), Babicanora Footwall (FW), Babicanora Norte, Babi Sur, Granaditas, Las Chispas, Giovanni (including La Blanquita and Giovanni Mini), William Tell, and Luigi. For comparative purposes, please refer to the technical reports titled "Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Las Chispas Property, Sonora, Mexico" effective February 12, 2018, as amended May 9, 2018 (the "Maiden Resource Report") and "Technical Report and Updated Mineral Resource Estimate for the Las Chispas Property, Sonora Mexico", effective September 13, 2018 (the "Second Resource Report").
The Third Mineral Resource Estimate is based on the following: (1) 61 additional drill holes in the Babicanora Vein, including Area 51 zone, Babicanora HW and Babicanora FW, (2) infill drilling of Babicanora Vein including Area 51, (3) reporting separately the Babicanora FW and Babicanora HW veins from the Babicanora Vein, (4) discovery of the Babi Sur Vein with 39 drill holes, (5) expansion of the Babicanora Norte Vein with 18 additional holes, and 6) a change to a minimum vein width (true) of 0.5 metres, down from 1.5 metres, which has increased the grade primarily in the Babicanora Norte Vein with an estimated true width of 0.85 metres, which will be diluted when applying mining parameters as part of the upcoming Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA").
N. Eric Fier, CPG, P.Eng and CEO, remarked, "Less than three years ago we first started drilling the Las Chispas Property and we are now announcing our third resource estimate, including our first Indicated Resource Estimate. We are particularly excited about the high-grade resources delineated at the Babicanora (including HW), Babicanora FW and Babicanora Norte Veins. These three adjacent veins cumulatively host Indicated Resources of 1.0 Million tonnes grading 1,234 gpt AgEq (39.8 million ounces of AgEq). These high-grade resources are near surface and conceptually can be developed using the same underground infrastructure, which may be a key driver of the economics for the project. This Third Mineral Resource Estimate will be used to finalize the ongoing PEA planned for release in Q2, 2019. The Company will continue exploration with seven core drills focused on infill drilling to upgrade additional inferred resources into the indicated category and five core drills testing up to five new vein prospects in H1, 2019. SilverCrest continues to move forward on two paths; 1) work on critical studies to de-risk the project in order to make a construction decision by H1, 2020, and 2) continue to build value with the highly successful exploration program to test the other 20 veins on the property to potentially expand the resource base."