Discovery Returns 1.8 Metres Averaging 1400g/t Ag
VANCOUVER, BC - Southern Silver Exploration Corp. reported that it has intersected bonanza-grade silver, lead and zinc mineralization in assays from a newly discovered polymetallic structure identified under gravel cover and outboard of the previously known and historically mined ore bodies at the Cerro Las Minitas project in Durango, Mexico.
The Company said that drill hole 11CLM-008 intersected a 1.8 metre interval averaging 1400g/t Ag, 19.7% Pb and 14.5% Zn within a 3.3 metre interval averaging 818g/t Ag, 12.9% Pb and 10.9% Zn which forms part of a 10.9 metre interval averaging 268g/t Ag, 4.5% Pb and 3.8% Zn. The drill hole was the first test of a new discovery within an IP geophysical target located under gravel cover approximately 250 metres to the west of the contact with the central intrusive body. The geophysical signature is open for up to 400 metres strike. A second deeper geophysical anomaly occurs to the west of the current hole and is a target for upcoming drilling on the property. The Company has now completed ten holes for a total of 2,900 metres in phase one of the project. Assays are pending from portions of 11CLM-008 and two other drill holes (11CLM-007 and 11CLM-010) and will be released upon receipt. Drill hole 11CLM-009 drilled short of the intended target and was repositioned to site 11CLM-010. The positive results to date have lead to the expansion of the project into a second phase program of 25 to 30 diamond drill holes totaling 10,000 metres which will begin in early July. This new drilling will be funded by a placement announced on June 20, 2011 and will target specific occurrences located within the area of historic mining and several additional targets derived from the recently completed surface IP geophysical program over portions of the property including extensions of this newly discovered high-grade zone in 11CLM-008. Surface work on several regional targets continues. The Cerro Las Minitas property comprises 17 concessions which total 10,980 hectares and an approximate 25 kilometre lineal strike length. The property is located about 70 kilometres to the northeast of the city of Durango in Durango State, Mexico, and is accessed easily by road. Mining has been conducted on the property since colonial times and has identified several types of silver-, lead- and zinc-enriched massive-sulphide pipes, veins and carbonate-replacement deposits (CRDs), as well as mineralized skarns at the margins of a large intrusive body. The Santa Eulalia replacement deposit (45Mt of 310g/t Ag, 7.1% Zn and 8.2% Pb) and the skarn deposit of San Martin (60Mt of 118g/t silver, 0.9% copper and 3.9% zinc) are examples of two major Mexican mines occurring in similar geological environments.