Bear Creek Announces First Santa Ana Leachable Silver Deposit Resource; Drilling Continues to Expand Potential
VANCOUVER, Jan. 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Bear Creek Mining Corporation (TSX Venture: BCM) (“Bear Creek” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce results from the first resource estimate at the Company’s 100% owned Santa Ana silver deposit and new results from 7 additional diamond drill holes (1,766 meters), all of which occur outside of the current resource boundaries. Drilling at Santa Ana now totals 21,825 meters in 120 drill holes. Santa Ana is located 200 kilometers south of the Company’s world class Corani silver-base metal deposit in southeastern Peru. Highlights of this press release include:
– Current Silver resources are: – Indicated 21M tonnes grading 44 g/t Ag, 29.8M ounces silver – Inferred 42M tonnes grading 45 g/t Ag, 61.0M ounces silver – Drill hole SA-57A intersects 158m @ 50.3 g/t Ag, including 22m @ 127.6 g/t Ag and 8m @ 152.2 g/t Ag. – Drill hole SA-56B intersects 22m @ 50.6 g/t Ag and 0.7% Zn and 14m @ 66.1 g/t Ag and 1.6% Zn, located 560m north of all previous drilling in an area of additional old Spanish workings. – Drilling under thin soil cover continues to intersect higher-grade mineralization within lower-grade halos. – Mineralized footprint measures 1.8km x 850m and remains open to the north, south and west.
Andrew Swarthout, President and CEO of Bear Creek, states “We are very pleased with the first resource estimation completed on our 100% owned Santa Ana silver deposit. Drilling continues to expand the deposit and had we added the results from the last sixteen drill holes to the model, the resources could have increased by 10%-20%. More importantly, drilling still continues to expand the deposit even beyond these latest results. Santa Ana is open in three directions and we continue to intersect significant silver mineralization under cover. For example, a rock grid sample anomaly of 90 g/t Ag located on the west side of the post-mineral tuff indicates that the mineralization continues west under thin cover for at least an additional 200 meters.
Mr. Swarthout continues “Metallurgical testing indicates that the project will likely employ low-cost open-pit mining and heap leaching with 65% silver recoveries, opening up significant additional potential beyond the first resource estimate. Importantly, drill hole SA-57A has one of the longest grade-thickness intercepts drilled to date, beginning at surface, and located to the south of the current resource. There is also significant potential to encounter higher-grades as step out drilling continues. Santa Ana is a very large, straight-forward, buildable silver project with many up-side opportunities.”
RESOURCE ESTIMATION
The current resource estimates using a $12/ounce silver resource price are:
Bear Creek Mining, Santa Ana Deposit Mineral Resource Based on 20 g/t Cutoff and Prudent Open Pit Constraints January 15, 2007 ————————————————————————- Contained Metal ————————————————————————- Silver Lead Zinc Category Ktonnes Silver Lead Zinc Million Million Million Gm/t % % Ozs Lbs Lbs ————————————————————————- Indicated 21,038 44.0 0.29 0.53 29.8 134.5 245.8 Inferred 42,173 45.0 0.26 0.49 61.0 241.7 455.6 ————————————————————————-
The stripping ratio is approximately 1.8:1; however, the block model considers blocks with no nearby drill holes as waste and additional drilling will convert many of these blocks to resource, reducing the stripping ratio. Lead and zinc are not recovered in a heap leach; however, flotation testing will examine this up-side as higher-grade base metals are seen in several drill holes.
The resource estimate was prepared based on 17,991 meters of drilling in 104 diamond drill holes completed through November 2007 and was prepared by Independent Mining Consultants (IMC) of Tucson, Arizona, with John Marek, P.E. acting as the Independent Qualified Person under NI 43-101. The estimation utilized indicator kriging to establish the limits of mineralization and block grades were then calculated using a linear kriging method using 5-meter drill hole composites. The 20 g/t Ag cutoff was chosen based on operational assumptions substantiated by recent metallurgical test work completed at McClelland Labs and cost assumptions provided by both IMC and Resource Development Inc. (RDI) of Denver Colorado. Deepak Malhotra, PhD acted as Independent Qualified Person for process costs and recoveries.
ADITIONAL DRILLING RESULTS
Geologically, the resource block model mimics prepared cross-sections and plan maps that show NS and NE-SW trending, sub-vertical structural corridors within which high-grade mineralization surrounded by low-grade halos is found along bedding planes in the thick andesite flow, as well as, and more importantly, in sub-vertical, dilational zones within the bedding.
New drilling results are as follow. All intercepts are down-hole lengths and true widths have not been calculated.
————————————————————————- Drill Azi- Incli- Total From To Inter- Silver Lead Zinc Hole muth nation Depth (m) (m) val (grams (%) (%) (#) (deg- (deg- (m) (m) per rees) rees) DTH tonne) ————————————————————————- SA-55A 300 -50 343.4 2 16 14 46.0 0.3 0.2 ————————————————————————- SA-56 15 -50 233.0 18 30 12 32.7 0.1 0.2 ————————————————————————- 94 124 30 20.2 0.4 1.0 ————————————————————————- 128 134 6 52.7 0.3 0.4 ————————————————————————- 208 212 4 23.0 4.9 9.4 ————————————————————————- SA-56A 110 -60 171.8 10 28 18 36.0 0.2 0.4 ————————————————————————- SA-56B 290 -60 272.1 6 28 22 50.6 0.5 0.7 ————————————————————————- 72 134 62 25.3 0.5 1.1 ————————————————————————- includes 86 100 14 66.1 0.5 1.6 ————————————————————————- SA-57 300 -40 331.0 0 22 22 85.9 0.2 0.3 ————————————————————————- 52 70 18 44.9 0.3 0.3 ————————————————————————- 136 146 10 84.8 0.3 0.2 ————————————————————————- 266 274 8 63.8 0.9 0.4 ————————————————————————- 288 294 6 108.0 2.5 1.2 ————————————————————————- SA-57A 120 -60 207.0 4 162 158 50.3 0.4 0.6 ————————————————————————- includes 4 26 22 127.6 0.5 0.6 ————————————————————————- and 50 58 8 152.2 0.6 0.4 ————————————————————————- SA-58 270 -60 207.5 88 92 4 48.5 0.1 0.1 ————————————————————————- 118 136 18 21.3 0.6 1.3 ————————————————————————- 184 196 12 67.8 0.2 0.3 ————————————————————————-
(Full drill results can be found at http://www.bearcreekmining.com/. To access the silver drill hole map directly please refer to http://www.bearcreekmining.com/s/PhotosAndMaps.asp?ReportID=282787.)
Drilling continues to intersect blind, high-grade structures within large halos of lower grade heap-leach material (SA-57A). The continued intersection of mineralization under cover, in conjunction with a rock grid sample anomaly of 90 g/t Ag on the west side of the post-mineral tuff cover, indicates that the mineralization could continue to the west for an additional 200 meters beneath shallow, untested cover. Drilling was initiated on January 17 after the holiday break and continues with 2 rigs. The project focus is currently in-fill drilling to convert internal waste to resource due to the wide drill hole spacing, and expansion drilling on three sides of the deposit which are still open. This information is necessary for preparation of a preliminary scoping study. An additional drill is being considered during Q1 2008.
Santa Ana Engineering
Several engineering studies are being performed by the Vector Engineering office in Lima Peru to establish the costs of the heap leach and infrastructure components of the project.
AMENDMENT TO STOCK OPTION PLAN
Bear Creek also announces that it has received conditional approval from the TSX Venture Exchange to amend the Company’s stock option plan to include a provision that any stock options with an expiry date occurring during a management imposed black-out period or within five days thereafter will be automatically extended to a date that is 10 trading days following the end of the black-out period. This amendment is subject to the Company receiving disinterested shareholder approval at the Company’s 2008 annual general meeting scheduled for May, 2008. However, the amendment and extension provision are currently in effect and will continue to be effective and applicable following the AGM if the necessary shareholder approval is obtained.
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Regulatory footnotes:
All of Bear Creek’s exploration programs and pertinent disclosure of a technical or scientific nature are prepared by or prepared under the direct supervision of David Volkert, P.Geo., Bear Creek’s Vice President of Exploration and/or Marc Leduc, P. Eng., Vice President of Technical Services and the President and CEO, Andrew Swarthout, P.Geo., who serve as the Qualified Persons under the definitions of NI 43-101. The block model estimate was prepared by Independent Mining Consultants of Tucson Arizona. John Marek P.E. acted as the independent qualified person as defined by Canada’s National Instrument 43-101. Additionally the methods used in determining and reporting the resources are consistent with the CIM Best Practices Guidelines for the estimation of mineral resources and mineral reserves. The resource was estimated by using an indicator kriging method for material above and below 15 g/t Ag to define the mineralized area. Then linear kriging was used to estimate the grade of metal within the separate grade zones; using only sample composites contained within the zone being estimated. Additionally, high-grade composites (over 200 g/t Ag) were limited to a 15m search to reduce high grade smearing. For this resource estimate, metal prices based on a 3-year backward average and a 2-year forward price based on the recent metal markets were used. Assumptions used in the resource model by IMC are: Silver Price= $12.00/oz; Silver Recovery=; 65% Zinc Recovery= 0%; Lead Recovery= 0%; Smelter charges: Silver= $0.50 per ounce; Mining Costs per tonne= $1.25; Process cost per tonne= $4.00; G&A per processed tonne= $0.85; Pit Slopes= 40 degrees in all rock types. All diamond drilling has been performed using HQ diameter core with recoveries averaging greater than 95%. Core is logged and split on site under the supervision of Bear Creek geologists. Sampling is done on two-meter intervals and samples are transported by Company staff to Juliaca, Peru for direct shipping to ALS Chemex, Laboratories in Lima, Peru. ALS Chemex is an ISO 9001:2000-registered laboratory and is preparing for ISO 17025 certification. Silver, lead, and zinc assays utilize a multi-acid digestion with atomic absorption (“ore-grade assay method”). The QC/QA program includes the insertion every 20th sample of known standards prepared by SGS Laboratories, Lima. A section in Bear Creek’s website is dedicated to sampling, assay and quality control procedures.
Certain disclosure in this release, including management’s assessment of Bear Creek’s plans and projects, constitutes forward-looking statements that are subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors relating to Bear Creek’s operation as a mineral exploration company that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. .These risks, uncertainties and other factors are disclosed in Bear Creek’s continuous disclosure filings with Canadian securities regulators including its most recent annual information form, available on http://www.sedar.com/.. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Bear Creek expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
CONTACT: Andrew Swarthout – President and CEO; or Patrick De Witt – Investor Relations, Phone: (604) 685-6269, Direct: (604) 628-1111, E-mail: info@bearcreekmining.com; For further information, please visit the Company’s website (http://www.bearcreekmining.com/)
Bear Creek Mining Corporation
CONTACT: Andrew Swarthout – President and CEO; or Patrick De Witt -Investor Relations, Phone: (604) 685-6269, Direct: (604) 628-1111, E-mail:info@bearcreekmining.com; For further information, please visit the Company’swebsite (http://www.bearcreekmining.com/)