VANCOUVER, Aug. 29, 2013 /CNW/ - Sierra Metals Inc.
(TSX:SMT)(BVL:SMT) ("Sierra Metals" or the "Company") is pleased to
announce that drilling at its Yauricocha Mine in Peru has extended mineralization to depth at
the previously identified exploration target below Central Mine
Area at the Yauricocha Mine, Peru. These results demonstrate that the
mineralization in the various ore bodies of the Central Mine Area
continues below the 1270 Level and remains open to depth.
Press Release Highlights:
• Drilling results continue to extend previously announced
exploration target to depth at the Central Mine Area of the
Yauricocha Mine.
• Drill hole CAT14-13-02 cut 4.2 meters true width of 24% zinc
("Zn") and 107 g/t silver ("Ag") in the Catas ore body, core length
from 105.2 m to 112.6 meters.
• Drill hole ROS 14-13-08 cut 9.8 meters true width of 1.14% copper
("Cu") and 18 g/t silver in the Rosaura ore body, core length from
378.0 to 404.0 meters.
• Drill hole ANT 14-13-02 cut 2.1 meters true width of 7.21%
copper, 1.31 g/t gold and 46.4 g/t silver in the Antacaca ore body,
core length from 227.1 to 230.0 meters.
• Mineralization remains open to depth and additional drilling is
planned. |
"These results support our previous
statements that high-grade ore continues to depth in the Central
Mine Area," said Daniel
Tellechea, the Company's President and CEO. "Drilling has
significantly extended mineralization of the Rosaura ore body over
a strike length of 150 meters and more than 250 meters to depth,
which will add tonnage to our resources when an updated NI 43-101
estimate is completed later this year. Additional drilling
will be done to extend other bodies below current workings with the
intent of increasing known reserves and resources in the
future."
Drilling in the Central Mine Area
The Company's 2013 drilling activities have
successfully extended mineralization of the previously announced
exploration target below the Central Mine Area to depth (see press
release dated September 12,
2012). Existing drill stations allowed drilling of the
Rosaura orebody to depth as well as in-fill drilling on the Catas
and Antacaca ore bodies.
The longitudinal section of the Central Mine
Area (Figure 1: Long Section Showing Drill Piercing Points in
Orebodies of the Central Mine.) shows the positions of the piercing
points of the drill holes reported herein. Drilling has shown
that the known extent of the Rosaura ore body has been expanded an
additional 150 x 250 meters beyond the NI 43-101 resource
boundary. The tonnage for this volume will be estimated
during the update to the current resource, which is scheduled for
late this year.
Although additional drilling is required to
substantiate the trend of metal content to depth, the Rosaura ore
body appears to become copper-dominant with depth. The
average copper grade in the drill intercepts reported herein is
1.15% Cu whereas the average copper grade in the NI 43-101 resource
ranges from 0.64-0.72% Cu, depending on the resource
category. In addition, lead and zinc grades are decreasing,
indicating the Rosaura ore body is changing from
polymetallic-dominant to copper-dominant with increasing depth and
apparently merging with the Catas-Antacaca ore bodies. This
trend is typical of this type of deposit, wherein copper contents
increase with depth.
Mineralization at Yauricocha is of high-temperature,
carbonate-replacement type. These deposit types have great
depth extents, and in Peru similar
deposits have been mined to depths of 1,400-1,600 meters, such as
El Porvenir and Yauliyacu.
The Company's geologists infer that there is no geologic reason why
mineralization at the Central Mine Area should be truncated or cut
off at depths that are economically feasible to mine, given the age
of the mineralization and the geologic history of the region since
ore deposition.
Drilling of Antacaca Sur requires development of
a new drill station on the 920 level, which is scheduled for
completion in mid 2014. The Company's geologists anticipate
that this drilling will also demonstrate a significant depth
extension to the Antacaca Sur ore body. The piercing points of
proposed holes that will be drilled to test the depth extension of
the Antacaca Sur ore body are shown in Figure 1.
Drill Results from Rosaura and
Rosaura North Ore bodies
Hole #* |
From-To
(m) |
Core
Length (m) |
Est. True
Width (m) |
g/t Ag |
% Pb |
% Cu |
% Zn |
g/t Au |
N14-13-01 |
243.0-268.0 |
25.0 |
13.1 |
19.2 |
0.06 |
1.51 |
0.06 |
0.51 |
N14-13-02 |
6.7-8.7 |
2.0 |
1.1 |
69.1 |
0.71 |
0.77 |
1.11 |
1.32 |
and |
314.8-336.8 |
22.0 |
12.6 |
15.8 |
0.06 |
0.94 |
0.11 |
0.27 |
N14-13-03 |
394.9-396.0 |
1.1 |
0.7 |
27.5 |
0.10 |
0.92 |
1.20 |
2.34 |
14-13-04 |
243.0-261.0 |
18.0 |
10.4 |
40.0 |
0.22 |
1.32 |
0.84 |
0.43 |
14-13-05 |
320.0-349.0 |
29.0 |
12.2 |
29.5 |
0.03 |
1.27 |
0.49 |
0.75 |
14-13-06 |
407.4-410.0 |
2.6 |
1.2 |
55.8 |
0.05 |
2.38 |
4.15 |
1.33 |
14-13-07 |
9.8-13.6 |
3.8 |
2.9 |
76.1 |
1.00 |
1.22 |
1.17 |
0.52 |
and |
260.0-269.0 |
9.0 |
6.4 |
31.2 |
0.08 |
1.20 |
1.10 |
0.16 |
and |
279.0-284.3 |
5.3 |
3.4 |
29.4 |
0.13 |
1.30 |
0.26 |
0.33 |
14-13-08 |
378.0-404.0 |
26.0 |
9.8 |
18.6 |
0.02 |
1.14 |
0.62 |
0.32 |
14-13-10 |
226.0-251.0 |
25.0 |
8.9 |
27.8 |
0.08 |
1.08 |
0.15 |
0.43 |
14-13-11 |
444.0-451.0 |
7.0 |
3.8 |
31.2 |
0.10 |
1.11 |
0.40 |
0.93 |
14-13-13 |
8.3-10.9 |
2.6 |
1.9 |
54.9 |
0.75 |
0.81 |
0.75 |
0.97 |
and |
181.7-190.2 |
8.5 |
3.9 |
134.9 |
3.46 |
0.47 |
4.16 |
0.89 |
14-13-14 |
5.9-8.9 |
3.0 |
2.1 |
279.4 |
0.34 |
0.31 |
0.29 |
0.51 |
and |
286.0-311.9 |
25.9 |
10.0 |
31.0 |
0.55 |
1.05 |
1.40 |
0.18 |
* Note: all holes have prefix ROS-
Drill Results from Catas Ore body
Hole #* |
From-To
(m) |
Core
Length (m) |
Est. True
Width (m) |
g/t Ag |
% Pb |
% Cu |
% Zn |
g/t Au |
14-13-01 |
75.3-75.9 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
63.4 |
0.24 |
0.13 |
4.53 |
0.81 |
and |
76.4-80.8 |
4.4 |
3.1 |
80.3 |
3.25 |
0.13 |
5.73 |
3.08 |
and |
95.1-95.7 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
25.0 |
1.11 |
0.63 |
25.54 |
0.99 |
and |
257.3-271.0 |
13.7 |
7.2 |
38.0 |
0.09 |
0.39 |
4.61 |
0.52 |
and |
271.0-273.0 |
2.0 |
1.3 |
11.8 |
0.03 |
0.80 |
0.02 |
6.90 |
and |
280.0-282.0 |
2.0 |
1.3 |
10.01 |
0.02 |
0.47 |
0.02 |
3.90 |
14-13-02 |
57.80-59.80 |
2.0 |
1.3 |
108.6 |
1.01 |
0.10 |
6.41 |
1.25 |
and |
61.0-61.4 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
64.7 |
1.52 |
0.12 |
3.20 |
1.20 |
and |
91.20-92.20 |
1.0 |
0.6 |
81.6 |
3.54 |
0.13 |
37.19 |
0.23 |
and |
105.2-112.6 |
7.4 |
4.2 |
107.1 |
1.32 |
0.13 |
24.04 |
0.98 |
and |
283.0-285.3 |
2.3 |
1.7 |
31.2 |
0.03 |
1.17 |
0.96 |
1.27 |
14-13-03 |
80.0-92.8 |
12.8 |
6.7 |
16.9 |
0.37 |
0.03 |
7.66 |
0.06 |
and |
134.0-134.8 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
158.7 |
1.69 |
0.19 |
9.90 |
0.48 |
and |
243.5-245.2 |
1.7 |
1.1 |
208.8 |
0.24 |
3.06 |
1.04 |
???? |
and |
319.0-324.0 |
5.0 |
3.8 |
93.9 |
0.02 |
2.31 |
0.10 |
0.46 |
and |
343.0-346.0 |
3.0 |
2.1 |
104.7 |
0.03 |
0.81 |
0.60 |
0.37 |
* Note: all holes have prefix CAT-
Drill Results from Antacaca Ore body
Hole #* |
From-To
(m) |
Core
Length (m) |
Est. True
Width (m) |
g/t Ag |
% Pb |
% Cu |
% Zn |
g/t Au |
14-13-01 |
206.3-209.0 |
2.7 |
1.8 |
38.3 |
0.59 |
0.98 |
1.46 |
0.57 |
14-13-02 |
227.1-230.0 |
2.9 |
2.1 |
46.4 |
0.06 |
7.21 |
0.02 |
1.31 |
14-13-03 |
224.5-244.0 |
19.5 |
12.2 |
19.5 |
0.03 |
0.72 |
0.11 |
0.45 |
incl. |
224.5-227.5 |
3.0 |
2.1 |
16.7 |
0.03 |
2.00 |
0.39 |
0.37 |
|
338.2-343.0 |
4.8 |
3.3 |
11.1 |
0.03 |
0.84 |
0.28 |
0.33 |
incl. |
341.0-343.0 |
2.0 |
1.1 |
18.5 |
0.02 |
1.24 |
0.37 |
0.39 |
14-13-04 |
343.0-361.0 |
18.0 |
11.8 |
15.6 |
0.04 |
0.59 |
1.00 |
0.60 |
incl. |
343.0-347.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
26.0 |
0.05 |
0.46 |
2.62 |
0.47 |
incl. |
352.0-356.0 |
4.0 |
3.0 |
19.8 |
0.02 |
0.84 |
1.18 |
1.36 |
and |
320.0-326.2 |
6.2 |
4.6 |
29.4 |
0.04 |
0.64 |
6.23 |
0.23 |
and |
331.0-335.0 |
4.0 |
3.1 |
16.8 |
0.03 |
1.64 |
0.04 |
0.47 |
* Note: all holes have prefix ANT-
Method of Analysis
Samples are prepared at the Yauricocha lab
facility at the Chumpe mill, which is on site. Core and
channel samples from the mine are assayed utilizing one of two
procedures. Silver, lead, zinc and copper are assayed by
atomic absorption. Gold is fire-assayed with an atomic
absorption finish. Diamond drill samples sent for analysis
consist of half NQ-size and BQ-size diamond core split on site.
Quality Control
The quality assurance-quality control (QA-QC)
program employed by Sierra Metals has been described in detail in
the NI 43-101 report on Yauricocha dated May
25, 2012, prepared by Gustavson Associates of Denver, which is available for review on
SEDAR.
The technical content of this news release has
been approved by Thomas L. Robyn,
Ph.D., CPG, RPG, a Qualified Person as defined in NI 43-101.
About Sierra Metals
Sierra Metals Inc. is a Canadian mining company
focused on production of precious and base metals from its
Yauricocha Mine in Peru, its
Bolivar Mine and Cusi Mine in Mexico. In addition, Sierra Metals is
exploring several precious and base metal targets in Peru and Mexico. Projects in Peru include Adrico (gold), Victoria (copper-silver) and Ipillo
(polymetallic) at the Yauricocha Property in the province of Yauyos
and the San Miguelito gold
properties in Northern Peru.
Projects in Mexico include
Bacerac (silver) in the
state of Sonora, La Verde (gold) at the Batopilas Property in
the state of Chihuahua, and
Las Coloradas (silver) at the
Melchor Ocampo Property in the state of Zacatecas.
The Company's shares trade on the Bolsa de Valores de Lima and the Toronto Stock Exchange
under the symbol
"SMT".
Forward-Looking Statements
Except for statements of historical fact
contained herein, the information in this press release may
constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
Canadian securities law. Other than statements of historical fact,
all statements are "forward-looking statements", which involve
various known and unknown risk and uncertainties and other factors,
including market conditions that may affect the Company's ability
to execute its current business plan. Actual results might
differ materially from results suggested in any forward-looking
statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update the
forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual
results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking
statements unless and until required by securities laws applicable
to the Company. Additional information identifying risks and
uncertainties is contained in filings by the Company with the
Canadian securities regulators, which filings are available at
www.sedar.com.
SOURCE Sierra Metals Inc.
Image with caption: "Figure 1: Long Section Showing Drill
Piercing Points in Orebodies of the Central Mine. (CNW Group/Sierra
Metals Inc.)". Image available at:
http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130829_C8960_PHOTO_EN_30236.jpg