Upbeat Silver news .......
posted on
Mar 08, 2011 08:54AM
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07:06 EST Tuesday, March 08, 2011
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 8, 2011) - Endeavour Silver Corp. (TSX:EDR)(NYSE Amex:EXK)(DBFrankfurt:EJD) announced today that for the seventh consecutive year, the Company has grown its silver and gold resources in Mexico.
Endeavour released today its updated NI 43-101 reserve and resource estimates to December 31, 2010 (see table below) for its two producing silver mines (the Guanacevi Mine in Durango State and the Guanajuato Mine in Guanajuato State) and two exploration projects (the Parral Project in Chihuahua and Arroyo Seco Project in Michoacán) in Mexico.
Endeavour's reserves dipped by year-end as a result of mine production exceeding forecast targets and mine development falling behind schedule. Notwithstanding the decrease in reserves the Company's Indicated Resources gained 16% to 27.4 million oz. and Inferred Resources increased by 62% to 29.7 million oz. In addition, the Company plans to accelerate mine development this year in order to once again expand the reserves in 2011. The reserve and resource highlights are as follows:
2010 Reserve/Resource Highlights
Bradford Cooke, Chairman and CEO, commented, "We are gratified to see our combined reserves and resources rise once again to a record high last year, notwithstanding our 6th consecutive year of production growth. The numbers speak to the ability and success of our exploration team at discovering new, high grade silver-gold deposits year after year within these historic Mexican silver districts."
"Last year, it was our Epsilon/La Blanca/Noche Buena discoveries in the San Pedro area of Guanacevi, the Lucero/Karina/Fernanda/Daniela discoveries in Guanajuato and the San Juanico extension in Parral that helped drive our resource growth. In 2011, Endeavour will continue to focus on the organic growth of its reserves/resources in Guanacevi and Guanajuato through its ongoing strategic acquisition and exploration programs within these districts."
"However, we are also looking to new acquisitions such as the San Sebastian properties in Jalisco and other pending property deals to help fuel our resource growth this year. Management will continue to evaluate M&A opportunities as a means to accelerate Endeavour's growth profile."
Barry Devlin, M.Sc., P. Geo., the Vice President of Exploration for Endeavour, is the Qualified Person who reviewed this news release and supervised the updated reserve and resource estimates. Endeavour mine and exploration personnel prepared the updated reserves and resources to December 31, 2010 for the Guanacevi and Guanajuato mines.
Endeavour retained Micon International Limited (Micon) to independently audit the updated reserves and resources for the Guanacevi and Guanajuato mines and also for the Parral project. The Qualified Persons for Micon are William J. Lewis, B.Sc., P.Geo., Charley Murahwi, M.Sc., P.Geo, MAusIMM, Dibya Kanti Mukhopadhyay, MAusIMM, Robert J. Leader, P.Eng.,. Micon's report for the Parral project has been filed on Sedar and the reports for Guanacevi and Guanajuato will be filed on SEDAR before the end of March once they have been completed. The Arroyo Seco report was authored by David St Clair Dunn B.Sc.,P.Geo and Barry Devlin M.Sc., P. Geo, who are both Qualified Persons and it will be filed on Sedar at the same time as the Guanacevi and Guanajuato reports.
Reserves and Resources (as of December 31, 2010) | |||||
Reserves Proven & Probable | |||||
Description | Tonnes | Ag g/t | Au g/t | Ag oz | Au oz |
Proven | |||||
Guanacevi | 576,000 | 313 | 0.62 | 5,796,000 | 11,400 |
Guanajuato | 141,000 | 189 | 2.50 | 856,000 | 11,300 |
Total Proven | 717,000 | 289 | 0.98 | 6,652,000 | 22,700 |
Probable | |||||
Guanacevi | 815,800 | 237 | 0.40 | 6,219,000 | 10,500 |
Guanajuato | 100,000 | 158 | 2.20 | 508,000 | 7,100 |
Total Probable | 915,800 | 228 | 0.60 | 6,727,000 | 17,600 |
Total Proven & Probable | 1,632,800 | 255 | 0.77 | 13,379,000 | 40,300 |
Resources Indicated | |||||
Description | Tonnes | Ag g/t | Au g/t | Ag oz | Au oz |
Indicated | |||||
Guanacevi | 1,653,700 | 258 | 0.56 | 13,719,000 | 29,600 |
Guanajuato | 1,443,000 | 163 | 2.18 | 7,554,000 | 101,100 |
Total Indicated | 3,096,700 | 214 | 1.31 | 21,273,000 | 130,700 |
Total Indicated | 3,096,700 | 214 | 1.31 | 21,273,000 | 130,700 |
Resources Inferred | |||||
Description | Tonnes | Ag g/t | Au g/t | Ag oz | Au oz |
Guanacevi | 1,426,000 | 261 | 0.60 | 11,982,000 | 27,500 |
Guanajuato | 1,475,000 | 155 | 2.11 | 7,345,000 | 100,000 |
Total Inferred | 2,901,000 | 207 | 1.37 | 19,327,000 | 127,500 |
Silver-Gold-Lead-Zinc Resources (as of December 31, 2010) | |||||||||
Description | Tonnes | Ag g/t | Au g/t | Ag oz | Au oz | Pb | % | Zn | % |
Resources Indicated | |||||||||
Guanacevi | 655,200 | 166 | 0.21 | 3,497,000 | 4,500 | 0.61 | 1.02 | ||
Parral | 1,631,000 | 49 | 0.90 | 2,590,000 | 47,200 | 2.87 | 2.86 | ||
Total Indicated | 2,286,200 | 83 | 0.70 | 6,087,000 | 51,700 | 2.22 | 2.33 | ||
Description | Tonnes | Ag g/t | Au g/t | Ag oz | Au oz | Pb | % | Zn | % |
Resources Inferred | |||||||||
Guanacevi | 644,100 | 125 | 0.14 | 2,582,000 | 3,000 | 1.15 | 2.13 | ||
Parral | 1,302,900 | 63 | 0.88 | 2,659,000 | 36,900 | 2.55 | 2.28 | ||
Arroyo Seco | 738,200 | 220 | 0.07 | 5,221,000 | 1,700 | 0.65 | 0.18 | ||
Total Indicated | 2,685,200 | 121 | 0.48 | 10,462,000 | 41,600 | 1.69 | 1.67 | ||
Notes: | |
1. | Reserve cutoff at Guanacevi is 122 g/t Ag |
2. | Reserves cutoff at Guanajuato is 102 g/t Ag |
3. | Mining mining width is 1.5 meters |
4. | Dilution is 15% after it has been diluted to a minimum mining width if required |
5. | Resources cutoff for the Guanajuato and Guanacevi projects is 100 Ag eq |
6. | Resources Silver equivalent is 50:1 for Silver to Gold |
7. | Reserve Silver equivalent is 62:1 for Silver to Gold which is the three year trailing average ratio as required in reserve estimation |
8. | At the Paral project a cut off using a NSR of $40 is used with the prices listed below |
9. | The cutoff used for Arroyo Seco was 100 g/t Ag |
Net Smelter Return (NSR) Cut-off Parameters for the Parral Project | |
Description | Parameter |
Gold Price | US $1,000 per oz |
Silver Price | US $16 per oz |
Lead Price | US $0.65 per lb |
Zinc Price | US $0.65 per lb |
Gold Recovery (Overall) | 75% |
Silver Recovery (Overall) | 71% |
Lead Recovery (Overall) | 80% |
Zinc Recovery (Overall) | 74% |
Smelter Terms | Based on generic contract |
These reserve and resource statements were classified following the definitions and guidelines of the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum CIM standards and definitions on Mineral Resources and Reserves and the guidelines of NI 43-101.
ENDEAVOUR SILVER CORP.
Bradford Cooke, Chairman and CEO
About Endeavour Silver Corp. – Endeavour Silver is a mid-cap silver mining company focused on the growth of its silver production, reserves and resources in Mexico. Since start-up in 2004, Endeavour has posted six consecutive years of growing silver production, reserves and resources. The organic expansion programs now underway at Endeavour's two operating silver mines in Mexico combined with its strategic acquisition and exploration programs should help Endeavour achieve its goal to become the next premier mid-tier silver mining company.