Two Additional Core Holes Completed At Las Maras

VANCOUVER - Outcrop Silver & Gold Corporation reported the results of two additional core holes in the Las Maras shoot on the Santa Ana high-grade silver project in Colombia. DH308 intercepted 0.9 meters true thickness of 767 grams equivalent silver per tonne. DH306 and DH308 extend Las Maras high-grade mineralization at depth and to the south.

Definitive flotation tests in progress by SGS labs will provide higher confidence diagnostic flotation recovery tests and allow Micon International to use higher metal recoveries in Santa Ana's maiden resource report. Initial metallurgical testing showed recoveries of 94% of contained silver and 96% of contained gold in a concentrate containing 6,540 grams per tonne of silver and 83 grams per tonne of gold. A third drill rig has been added at Santa Ana.

"The resource report will be delayed until the first quarter in order to capture the benefit of optimized higher recoveries," said, Joseph Hebert Chief Executive Officer. "Further, a third drill rig was added at Santa Ana in December in order to complete planned deeper delineation drilling of some of the high-grade shoots which can now be included in the resource estimation. Las Maras high-grade mineralization extends to over 350 meters and is open at depth. Other shoots to be included in the resource report are only drilled to an average depth of 170 meters."

Twenty-seven drill holes have been completed in Las Maras to date. Seventeen have returned high-grade assays including 2.1 meters of 2,034 grams equivalent silver per tonne and 5.9 meters of 1,697 grams equivalent silver per tonne. Recent drilling targeted step-down intercepts from hole DH290. Las Maras remains open at depth.

Outcrop has continued a sequence of more definitive processing flotation tests that will allow Micon International, the resource estimate report author, to use higher metal recoveries than would be possible with the testing completed to date. Outcrop Silver reported excellent preliminary metallurgical test results which show that gold is 90% in native free state, with 8% native silver and electrum comprise 8% by mass, and  88% of silver occurs in a single mineral argentite. These metal distributions present a very simple "ore" mineralogy, allowing a simple processing design. The results show average recoveries of 94% for silver and 96% for gold in concentrate, grading 6,540 grams per tonne of silver and 82.94 grams per tonne of gold.  

The current second phase of metallurgical tests includes locked cycle kinetic flotation, cleaner stage flotation, concentrate gold screening and concentrate mineralogical characterization. This more comprehensive metallurgical testing will significantly derisk the Santa Ana Project by determining processing parameters that will optimize metal recoveries. This sequence of testing will allow higher metal recoveries to be used in the estimation report by Micon International.