Caylloma Mine Updated Estimates
VANCOUVER, BC - Fortuna Silver Mines, Inc. reported updated Mineral Reserve and Mineral Resource estimates as of December 31, 2014 for the Caylloma Mine located in Arequipa, Peru and for the San Jose Mine located in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Combined Proven and Probable Reserves for Caylloma and San Jose are reported at 6.8 Mt containing 41.3 Moz silver and 251.8 koz gold, representing year-over-year increases of 14 percent in contained silver ounces and 7 percent in contained gold ounces
Combined Inferred Resources for Caylloma and San Jose are reported at 11.5 Mt containing an estimated 77.4 Moz silver and 483.9 koz gold, reflecting year-over-year increases of 31 percent in contained silver ounces and 30 percent in contained gold ounces.
As of December 31, 2014 the San Jose Mine has Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 3.8 Mt containing 28.3 Moz of silver and 219.5 koz of gold, in addition to Inferred Resources of 7.1 Mt containing a further 58.9 Moz of silver and 400.8 koz of gold.
Year-over-year, the San Jose Mineral Reserves increased 5 percent in tonnes, 24 percent in contained silver and 12 percent in contained gold after production-related depletion and metal price reductions of 21 percent and 19 percent for silver and gold, respectively. Silver grades increased by 19 percent to 233 g/t and gold grades increased 7 percent to 1.81 g/t.
The largest gain in reserves for the San Jose Mine is located in the Stockwork Zone in the central part of the Trinidad deposit, where 1.1 Mt were upgraded to Measured and Indicated Resources through infill drilling and mine development activities. These upgraded resources have been converted to Mineral Reserves partially offset by production-related depletion.
Measured and Indicated Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves increased 19 percent year-over-year to approximately 1.0 Mt, relating primarily to an increase in the breakeven cut-off grade used for estimating Mineral Reserves due to a reduction in metal prices.
Inferred Resources increased year-over-year by 32 percent in terms of tonnes, 27 percent in silver grade, 12 percent in gold grade, 68 percent in contained silver ounces and 48 percent in contained gold ounces. The year-over-year variation in Inferred Resources is primarily related to the expansion of Trinidad North and reinterpretation of adjacent mineralized structures offset by the upgrading and conversion to Mineral Reserves of Inferred Resources in the Stockwork Zone of the main Trinidad Deposit as well as in a portion of Trinidad North.
The 2015 Brownfields exploration program at San Jose includes 12,000 meters of exploration drilling to further test the potential for extensions of the high-grade silver-gold mineralization identified at Trinidad North (see Fortuna news release dated January 21, 2015 for fourth quarter 2014 drill results).
An Infill drilling program of 9,200 meters for the upgrading of Inferred Resources into Measured or Indicated Resources is budgeted for the San Jose Mine. The cost of the infill drilling program is US$1.59 million.
As of December 31, 2014, the Caylloma Mine has Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 3.0 Mt containing 13.0 Moz of silver and 32.3 koz of gold, in addition to Inferred Resources of 4.4 Mt containing a further 18.6 Moz of silver and 83.1 koz of gold.
Despite production-related depletion and a 21 percent reduction in silver price, year-over-year, the Caylloma Mineral Reserves decreased only 2 percent in tonnes and 4 percent in contained silver. This positive result is primarily due to the upgrading of 1.2 Mt of Inferred Resources into Measured or Indicated Resources at the Animas, Animas NE and Bateas veins; these resources were subsequently evaluated and converted to Mineral Reserves.
The silver grade in reserves decreased marginally to 134 g/t, lead grade increased 33 percent to 2.24 % and zinc grade increased 26 percent to 3.13 %. The increase in lead and zinc grades is attributed to the upgrading of 1.2 Mt averaging 3.03 % Pb and 4.02 % Zn to Measured and Indicated Resources and their subsequent conversion to reserves.
Measured and Indicated Resources exclusive of Mineral Reserves decreased year-over-year by approximately 15 percent to 1.7 Mt due primarily to an increase in the resource cut-off grade for narrow veins from US$50/t to US$100/t and an increase in mineral identified as non-accessible partially offset by a modest increase due to a reduction in metal prices.
Inferred Resources decreased 1.8 Mt or 30 percent to 4.4 Mt due primarily to a successful infill drilling program upgrading 1.2 Mt to Measured and Indicated Resources, as well as the aforementioned change in cut-off grade for reporting narrow vein resources. Inferred Resources increased in grade by 10 percent for Ag, 18 percent for gold and 7 percent for zinc while the average Pb grade decreased by 6 percent.
An Infill drilling program of 9,500 meters for the upgrading of Inferred Resources into Measured or Indicated Resources is budgeted for the Caylloma Mine. The cost of the infill drilling program is budgeted at US$0.83 million.
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