GREAT PANTHER SILVER LIMITED (TSX:GPR) has announced the discovery of deeper mineralized silver-gold zones at the Guanajuatito Mine at the northwest end of the Guanajuato Mine Complex.
The deep drilling program is being conducted at 25-50 metre intervals from several drill stations on the Guanajuatito Mine cross-cut, located on the 100 metre level. The drilling program has been successful in extending silver-gold mineralization below the current level of mining on the 80 metre level, down to the 245 metre level. The new mineralization has been defined over a strike length of approximately 100 metres and for an additional 150 metres vertically.
Using information from mining the upper levels and the new drilling, two mineralized zones are interpreted from the data - the Veta Madre zone, and a slightly deeper Footwall zone. Typically, the mineralized portion of the zones pinches and swells with true widths varying from less than one metre to 4.6 metres. Typifying the above observations are Veta Madre intersections for UGG10-008 that intersected 8.52g/t gold and 1,300g/t silver over a true width of 0.61 metres, and UGG10-009 that intersected 0.87g/t gold and 241g/t silver over a true width of 3.59 metres. The best and deepest (245 level) Footwall zone intersection returned 2.77g/t gold and 839g/t silver over a true width of 1.72 metres in UGG10-021.
Drilling is being conducted from drill stations in a hanging wall cross-cut on the 100 metre level. Modeling of the structures is presently being completed and ramp access has intersected the Veta Madre on the 120 metre level. Future plans call for a hanging wall exploration drive sublevel to be driven both northwest and southeast to accommodate additional drill stations at 50 metre intervals to test the mineralized zones in the Guanajuatito Mine area from the 100 metre level down to the 390 metre level (approximately 400 metres down dip), and along 500 metres of strike.
Andrew Sharp, Guanajuato Mine Manager stated, "Ore development on the 120 level is underway and the provision of ventilation for the first ore level is a priority. Once this commences, ramp development to subsequent stope levels for future production will re-commence. Given the good exploration results to date, further exploration potential along strike and the advancing ramp depth, additional capital has been committed in the form of a deeper electrical distribution network."
The Guanajuatito Mine was the first area at Guanajuato to be drilled by Great Panther in 2005 and one of the first to commence mining. While the upper levels (from the +20 metre level down to the 80 metre level) were drilled from surface, and subsequently mined out (76,668 tonnes at 254g/t Ag and 1.69g/t Au, for 876,000 Ag eq oz using a 60:1 silver:gold ratio), this zone was never included in any NI 43-101 compliant resource. The new drilling on the deeper levels will, however, be brought into the Company's next resource update later this year.
Robert F. Brown, P. Eng. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company is the Qualified Person for the Guanajuato Mine, under the meaning of NI 43-101. A full QA/QC program is being followed including the regular insertion of splits, blanks, and standards into the core sampling sequence. Analysis of the drill core samples will be conducted at the Guanajuato Mine on-site laboratory, independently operated by SGS.
Source: GREAT PANTHER SILVER LIMITED