Mr. John Lee reports
SILVER ELEPHANT DRILLS 39.9 METERS GRADING 157 G/T SILVER INCLUDING 3 METERS GRADING 583.5 G/T SILVER AT PACA IN BOLIVIA
Silver Elephant Mining Corp. has released diamond drill results from the Paca deposit within its 100-per-cent-controlled Pulacayo-Paca silver project in the Potosi department in Bolivia.
Further to the company's news release dated June 12, 2024, a total of 28 holes were drilled in the Paca north area totalling 1,458 metres. The assays for 13 holes (seven exploration, six infill) have been received and are reported herein. The remainder of the assays are expected in early August.
Notable results from the seven exploration holes include PC24-18 which intercepted 39.9 metres of 159 grams per tonne silver from surface, including 3.0 metres of 583.5 g/t silver and PC24-23 which intercepted 23.1 metres of 138 g/t silver from surface, including 2.7 metres of 360 g/t silver. Both PC24-18 and PC24-23 were drilled in the southwest of the Paca north area.
This drill program was paid for by Andean Precious Metals Corp. Pursuant to the sales and purchase agreement and master services agreement detailed in the news release dated Sept. 12, 2023 (the sales and purchase agreement), Silver Elephant plans to sell and deliver up to 800,000 tonnes of Paca oxide materials to Andean for a total of between $5-million (U.S.) and $7-million (U.S.) depending on the silver price. At the current silver price and production run rate, the company expects to receive $2.5-million (U.S.) before Jan. 31, 2025. Andean has also agreed to reimburse Silver Elephant for operating expenses under the sales and purchase agreement.
John Lee, chief executive officer of Silver Elephant, comments: "All seven exploration drill holes intercepted silver mineralization outside of Paca resource area. We are very excited about the potential addition to Paca oxide resource as any oxide sales exceeding 800,000 tonnes will be subject to a new offtake agreement between Silver Elephant and Andean. In June, Silver Elephant delivered 29,270 tonnes of Paca oxide materials to Andean."
The drill program confirmed a highly deformed, disseminated mineralization located within a north-south structural trend.
The Paca project hosts a high-grade silver resource according to a technical report by Mercator Geological Services, dated effective Oct. 13, 2020, titled "Mineral Resource Estimate Technical Report for the Pulacayo Project, Potosi Department Antonnio Quijarro Province Bolivia." The mineral resource estimate from the technical report is as shown in the attached table.
Oxide resources are based on a pit-constrained estimate using a 90 g/t Ag cut-off. Sulphide resources are based on a pit-constrained estimate using a 200 g/t AgEq cut-off. AgEq equals silver equivalent (recovered) equals (Ag g/t multiplied by 89.2 per cent) plus ((Pb per cent multiplied by (95 U.S. cents/lb (pound) Pb (lead)/14.583 Troy oz (ounce)/lb/$17 (U.S.) per Troy oz Ag) multiplied by (10,000 multiplied by 91.9 per cent)) plus ((Zn (zinc) per cent multiplied by ($1.16 (U.S.)/lb Zn/14.583 Troy oz/lb/$17 (U.S.) per Troy oz Ag) multiplied by (10,000 multiplied by 82.9 per cent)). Sulphide zone metal recoveries of 89.2 per cent for Ag, 91.9 per cent for Pb and 82.9 per cent for Zn were used in the silver equivalent (recovered) equation and reflect metallurgical testing results disclosed previously for the Pulacayo deposit. Matthew Harrington, PGeo, is the independent qualified person for the resource estimate.
The technical report was effective Oct. 13, 2020, and is available under the company's profile on SEDAR+. This news release includes an estimate of mineral resources as disclosed in the technical report. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Quality assurance and quality control
Silver Elephant adopts industry-recognized best practices in its implementation of QA/QC methods. A geochemical standard control sample, one duplicate and one blank sample are inserted into the sample stream at every 25th sample. Samples are shipped to ALS Global Laboratories in Ururo, Bolivia, for preparation. They are then shipped for analysis to ALS Global laboratories in Lima, Peru. Samples are analyzed using intermediate level four-acid digestion. Silver over limits (ore grade) are analyzed using fire assay with a gravimetric finish. ALS Laboratories sample management system meets all the requirements of the International Standards ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015. All ALS geochemical hub laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for specific analytical procedures.
All samples are taken from PQ or HQ diametre core were split in half by a diamond-blade masonry saw. One-half of the core is submitted for laboratory analysis and the other half is preserved for reference at the company's secured core facility. All the core is geotechnically analyzed, photographed and then logged by geologists prior to sampling.
About Pulacayo-Paca
The Paca project is part of the company's Pulacayo-Paca project with a total indicated resource of 106.7 million oz silver, 1.4 billion pounds of zinc and 690 million pounds of lead published in the technical report and tabulated herein. Silver Elephant and its subsidiaries have spent over $35-million on Pulacayo and Paca, which is considered to be an advanced project with over 96,000 metres of drilling, and a historic feasibility study.
Combined indicated mineral resources includes Pulacayo pit-constrained and out-of-pit plus only Paca pit-constrained resources. Oxide resources use a 50 g/t Ag cut-off. Sulphide resources use a 100 g/t AgEq cut-off. AgEq equals silver equivalent (recovered) equals (Ag g/t multiplied by 89.2 per cent) plus ((Pb per cent multiplied by (95 U.S. cents/lb Pb/14.583 Troy oz/lb/$17 (U.S.) per Troy oz Ag) multiplied by (10,000 multiplied by 91.9 per cent)) plus ((Zn per cent multiplied by ($1.16 (U.S.)/lb Zn/14.583 Troy oz/lb/$17 (U.S.) per Troy oz Ag) multiplied by (10,000 multiplied by 82.9 per cent)). Sulphide zone metal recoveries of 89.2 per cent for Ag, 91.9 per cent for Pb and 82.9 per cent for Zn were used in the silver equivalent (recovered) equation and reflect metallurgical testing results disclosed previously for the Pulacayo deposit. Matthew Harrington, PGeo, is the independent qualified person for the resource estimate.
A subsidiary of Silver Elephant entered into a mining production contract (MPC) with Corporacion Minera de Bolivia (COMIBOL), a branch of the Bolivian Ministry of Mining and Metallurgy on Oct. 3, 2019. The MPC grants the company's subsidiary an exclusive right to develop and mine at the Pulacayo and Paca concessions for up to 30 years.
The Pulacayo-Paca project is at the centre of a major silver mining district in Bolivia and is within 250 km driving distance to the San Cristobal mine, the Cerro Rico mine, Pan American's San Vicente mine, Eloro's Iska Iska project and New Pacific's Silver Sands project.
Qualified person
The technical contents of this news release have been prepared under the supervision of Carlos Zamora, who is not independent of the company in that he is employed by it. Mr. Zamora is a qualified person as defined by the guidelines of National Instrument 43-101.
About Silver Elephant Mining Corp.
Silver Elephant is a silver mining company, with its flagship Pulacayo-Paca silver project in production since October, 2023, in Bolivia.
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