Silver Bull Files Updated NI43-101 Resource on SEDAR for the Sierra Mojada Project, Coahuila, Mexico
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Jun 9, 2015) - Silver Bull Resources Inc. (NYSE MKT:SVBL)(TSX:SVB) ("Silver Bull") is pleased to announce that further to its news release dated May 4, 2015, it has filed an updated NI43-101 Resource report titled "Technical Report on the Resources of the Sierra Mojada Project, Coahuila, Mexico" dated June 8, 2015 to SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Highlights from the report include:
- A "Measured and Indicated" (M&I) Global resource of 58.7 million tonnes grading at 3.6% zinc and 50 g/t silver for 4.670 billion pounds of zinc and 90.8 million ounces of silver inclusive of both potential open pit and underground resources.
- A high grade "Zinc and Silver Zone" (M&I) resource within the Lerchs-Grossman (LG) optimized Pit, as shown in tables 2, 3, and 4. The LG optimized pit has a resource of 56.8 million tonnes at an average grade of 3.4% Zinc and 50.0 g/t Ag at a US$13.50/tonne NSR cutoff for an estimated 4.282 billion pounds of zinc and 90.8 million ounces of silver.
- An additional underground "Measured and Indicated" resource outside of the LG Optimized Pit of 1.9 million tonnes at an average grade of 9.4% Zinc at a 6% cutoff for an estimated 388.5 million pounds of zinc.
The Global Resource: The global resource is an average of the zinc, silver, copper and lead mineralization across the entire ore body and is broken into two parts:
1) A potential open pit resource that has been defined using a "Lerchs-Grossman" (LG) optimized pit and which represents 96% of the total deposit, and
2) An additional underground resource which represents mineralization that was not included in the open pit due to its depth, but may be economic if mined from underground. Table 1 summarizes the combined total resource (LG Pit + underground).
| GLOBAL RESOURCE | ||||||||||
| CLASS | Tonnes | *Ag | Zn | Cu | Pb | *NSR | *Ag | Zn | Cu | Pb |
| (Mt) | (g/t) | (%) | (%) | (%) | ($/t) | (Mozs) | (Mlbs) | (MLbs) | (Mlbs) | |
| Measured | 36.5 | 48.5 | 4.6 | 0.05 | 0.3 | 46.9 | 55.0 | 3,689.7 | 36.8 | 277.1 |
| Indicated | 22.2 | 51.6 | 2.0 | 0.04 | 0.2 | 32.4 | 35.8 | 980.6 | 19.4 | 115.7 |
| Total M&I | 58.7 | 50 | 3.6 | 0.04 | 0.3 | 41.4 | 90.8 | 4,670.2 | 56.3 | 392.8 |
| Inferred | 0.5 | 44.7 | 4.7 | 0.02 | 0.5 | 26.5 | 0.3 | 54.3 | 0.2 | 6.0 |
Table 1. The Global Resource is the addition of the resource defined using Lerchs-Grossman optimized pit and the resource defined outside the LG pit.
Notes to accompany the Sierra Mojada Resource table
| 1 - The Global Resource is the addition of the resource defined by the LG optimized pit at US$13.50/ton NSR cut-off and the Underground Resource at a 6% Zn Cutoff. |
| 2 - *NSR, Ag grades, & Ag ounces are from the LG optimized pit only. |
| 3 - Mineral resources that are not reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. |
| 4 - Mineral resources are reported using a commodity price of US$18.00 silver and US$1.00 zinc and a 75% recovery for silver and a 41% recovery for zinc. |
| 5 - Tonnages are reported to the nearest 100,000 tonnes, grades are rounded to the nearest decimal place for Ag, Zn, & Pb and the nearest 2 decimal places for Cu. |
| 6 - Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade, and contained metal. |
| 7 - Tonnage and grade are in metric units; contained Zn, Cu, & Pb are in imperial pounds. |
| 8 - Tonnages and grades are as reported directly from block model, with mined out areas removed. |
In order to establish a 'reasonable prospect of economic extraction' under CIM guidelines (May 10, 2014) in a potential open pit context, the reported resource falls within an LG Optimized pit shell that uses a zinc price of US$1.00 per pound and a silver price of US$18/oz with a recovery of silver estimated at 75% and for zinc at 41%. Pit walls are set at 55 degrees overall, mining costs were assumed to be US$1.50/tonne, and silver and zinc processing costs were assumed to be US$12.00/tonne, which results in a total NSR cutoff for the resource of US$13.50/tonne. The underground zinc resource was estimated at a 6% cutoff.
Mineral resources were estimated by ordinary Kriging using GEMS™ modeling software in multiple passes using 10 meter X 10 meter X 10 meter blocks as the SMU size. The geologic wireframes were updated and a percentage model technique utilized to calculate accurate volumes. Grade estimates were based on 1 meter composited assay data with search radius restricted to a 20 meter search radius when a zone dependent cap limit was reached. Blocks have been classified as measured, indicated or inferred mineral resources.
The mineral resource has been estimated by Allan Reeves P.Geo. of Tuun Consulting Inc. and Tony Loschiavo P.Eng. of AKF Mining Services Inc. Both Mr. Reeves and Mr. Loschiavo are Independent Qualified Persons as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Reeves has spent approximately 250 days onsite over a 3 year period providing technical advice and direction to the Silver Bull team. Mr. Loschiavo has been involved with the project since 2012, primarily as an associate engineer with JDS Energy and Mine ("JDS") Inc. His involvement was with high level reviews for open pit and underground scenarios and with the NSR block model used in the JDS December 2013 PEA.
GLOBAL RESOURCE
To view Figure 1, please visit the following link: http://media3.marketwire.com/docs/svb0609fig1.pdf.
The High Grade Zinc and Silver Zones: The Global Resource encompasses two high grade zones; the zinc zone (inside and outside of the LG Optimized Pit), and the silver zone. It represents an overall average grade for the silver and zinc mineralization across the entire deposit. This average grade does not accurately reflect the discrete, high grade zoning of the silver and zinc mineralization that occurs within the resource. To better reflect high grade silver and zinc zones which form separate coherent bodies within the larger global resource we have broken out the zinc and silver mineralization using zinc and silver cutoff grades. Table 2 shows the zinc values within the LG pit, while Table 3 shows the zinc outside of the LG pit. Table 4 shows the silver values within the LG pit.
| ZINC ZONE within the Lerchs-Grossman Optimized Pit Resource | ||||||||||
| Category | Zn Cutoff | Tonnes | Zn | Ag | Cu | Pb | Zn | Ag | Cu | Pb |
| (%) | (Mt) | (%) | (g/t) | (%) | (%) | (MLbs) | (Mozs) | (MLbs) | (MLbs) | |
| MEASURED | 4 | 13.1 | 9.1 | 23.9 | 0.02 | 0.37 | 2637.3 | 10.1 | 5.8 | 106.3 |
| 6 | 8.8 | 11.2 | 19.7 | 0.02 | 0.34 | 2171.6 | 5.6 | 3.1 | 66.8 | |
| 8 | 6.2 | 13.0 | 16.4 | 0.01 | 0.30 | 1774.6 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 41.1 | |
| 10 | 4.4 | 14.7 | 13.0 | 0.01 | 0.25 | 1409.7 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 24.3 | |
| 11 | 3.6 | 15.6 | 11.9 | 0.01 | 0.24 | 1233.2 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 19.3 | |
| 12 | 3.0 | 16.4 | 11.0 | 0.01 | 0.24 | 1080.5 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 15.8 | |
| 13 | 2.4 | 17.4 | 10.0 | 0.01 | 0.23 | 918.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 12.0 | |
| 14 | 1.9 | 18.3 | 9.2 | 0.01 | 0.21 | 779.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 9.0 | |
| INDICATED | 4 | 2.4 | 7.1 | 33.7 | 0.04 | 0.32 | 382.4 | 2.6 | 2.0 | 17.0 |
| 6 | 1.2 | 9.3 | 26.4 | 0.03 | 0.29 | 251.8 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 7.9 | |
| 8 | 0.6 | 11.8 | 24.0 | 0.03 | 0.26 | 156.7 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 3.5 | |
| 10 | 0.3 | 14.1 | 22.2 | 0.02 | 0.25 | 105.5 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.9 | |
| 11 | 0.3 | 15.2 | 21.8 | 0.02 | 0.21 | 87.9 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 1.2 | |
| 12 | 0.2 | 16.1 | 22.5 | 0.02 | 0.20 | 74.8 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.9 | |
| 13 | 0.2 | 17.0 | 23.2 | 0.02 | 0.15 | 63.4 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | |
| 14 | 0.1 | 18.1 | 24.0 | 0.02 | 0.12 | 52.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | |
| INFERRED | 4 | 0.02 | 10 | 0 | 0.003 | 0.08 | 3.5 | 0 | 0.001 | 0.027 |
| 6 | 0.01 | 13.9 | 0 | 0.001 | 0.02 | 2.6 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.004 | |
| 8 | 0.01 | 13.9 | 0 | 0.001 | 0.02 | 2.6 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.004 | |
Table 2: Table showing the high grade Zinc Zone inside of the LG Optimized Pit defined using various zinc cutoff grades.
| ZINC ZONE outside of the LG Optimized Pit Resource | ||||||||
| Category | Zn Cutoff | Tonnes | Zn | Cu | Pb | Zn | Cu | Pb |
| (%) | (Mt) | (%) | (%) | (%) | (MLbs) | (MLbs) | (MLbs) | |
| MEASURED | 6 | 1.2 | 9.8 | 0.02 | 0.3 | 255 | 0.5 | 8.1 |
| 8 | 0.7 | 11.9 | 0.02 | 0.3 | 180 | 0.3 | 4.3 | |
| 10 | 0.4 | 13.7 | 0.02 | 0.3 | 127 | 0.2 | 2.5 | |
| 12 | 0.3 | 15.1 | 0.02 | 0.2 | 95 | 0.1 | 1.5 | |
| INDICATED | 6 | 0.7 | 8.8 | 0.02 | 0.5 | 134 | 0.4 | 7.4 |
| 8 | 0.4 | 10.3 | 0.02 | 0.4 | 81 | 0.1 | 2.8 | |
| 10 | 0.1 | 13.1 | 0.01 | 0.3 | 38 | 0.03 | 0.7 | |
| 12 | 0.1 | 15.2 | 0.01 | 0.2 | 23 | 0.02 | 0.3 | |
| INFERRED | 6 | 0.3 | 7.1 | 0.02 | 0.8 | 48 | 0.1 | 5.4 |
| 8 | 0.0 | 9.1 | 0.02 | 2.9 | 8 | 0.02 | 2.7 | |
| 10 | 0.0 | 10.7 | 0.03 | 8.9 | 2 | 0.004 | 1.4 | |
Table 3: Table showing the high grade Zinc Zone outside of the LG Optimized Pit defined using various zinc cutoff grades
| SILVER ZONE within the Lerchs-Grossman Optimized Pit Resource | ||||||||||
| Category | Ag Cutoff | Tonnes | Ag | Zn | Cu | Pb | Ag | Zn | Cu | Pb |
| (%) | (Mt) | (g/t) | (%) | (%) | (%) | (Mozs) | (MLbs) | (MLbs) | (MLbs) | |
| MEASURED | 25 | 19.5 | 79.5 | 2.4 | 0.08 | 0.46 | 49.8 | 1027.3 | 32.3 | 198.1 |
| 35 | 15.1 | 93.8 | 2.2 | 0.09 | 0.50 | 45.6 | 718.3 | 30.2 | 166.2 | |
| 45 | 11.9 | 108.3 | 2.1 | 0.11 | 0.52 | 41.6 | 543.2 | 28.0 | 137.8 | |
| 50 | 10.6 | 115.9 | 2.0 | 0.11 | 0.53 | 39.5 | 471.7 | 26.7 | 124.6 | |
| 55 | 9.5 | 123.3 | 2.0 | 0.12 | 0.54 | 37.7 | 414.2 | 25.8 | 113.1 | |
| 60 | 8.6 | 130.5 | 1.9 | 0.13 | 0.54 | 35.9 | 364.0 | 24.8 | 102.2 | |
| 65 | 7.7 | 137.7 | 1.9 | 0.14 | 0.54 | 34.3 | 328.5 | 23.8 | 93.1 | |
| 70 | 7.0 | 145.0 | 1.9 | 0.15 | 0.55 | 32.7 | 293.8 | 22.7 | 84.4 | |
| 75 | 6.4 | 151.4 | 1.9 | 0.15 | 0.54 | 31.4 | 270.9 | 21.8 | 76.9 | |
| INDICATED | 25 | 17.5 | 60.1 | 1.3 | 0.05 | 0.2 | 33.9 | 490.2 | 17.8 | 91.2 |
| 35 | 13.6 | 68.6 | 1.3 | 0.05 | 0.2 | 30.1 | 377.3 | 16.1 | 75.0 | |
| 45 | 9.9 | 79.6 | 1.3 | 0.06 | 0.3 | 25.3 | 279.5 | 13.3 | 57.1 | |
| 50 | 8.3 | 85.6 | 1.3 | 0.06 | 0.3 | 22.9 | 233.2 | 11.8 | 48.8 | |
| 55 | 7.0 | 92.0 | 1.2 | 0.07 | 0.3 | 20.6 | 192.0 | 10.3 | 41.9 | |
| 60 | 5.7 | 99.5 | 1.3 | 0.07 | 0.3 | 18.3 | 159.9 | 9.0 | 35.3 | |
| 65 | 4.9 | 106.2 | 1.3 | 0.08 | 0.3 | 16.6 | 136.9 | 8.0 | 31.2 | |
| 70 | 4.2 | 112.7 | 1.2 | 0.08 | 0.3 | 15.1 | 113.9 | 7.2 | 27.2 | |
| 75 | 3.6 | 119.5 | 1.2 | 0.08 | 0.3 | 13.7 | 97.3 | 6.5 | 23.5 | |
| INFERRED | 25 | 0.2 | 52.9 | 0.5 | 0.03 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 0.10 | 0.37 |
| 35 | 0.1 | 59.3 | 0.4 | 0.02 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.07 | 0.19 | |
| 45 | 0.1 | 67.8 | 0.2 | 0.02 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.04 | 0.07 | |
| 50 | 0.1 | 71.8 | 0.2 | 0.01 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.02 | 0.05 | |
| 55 | 0.1 | 75.2 | 0.2 | 0.01 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.02 | 0.05 | |
| 60 | 0.1 | 80.0 | 0.1 | 0.01 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.01 | 0.04 | |
Table 4: Table showing the high grade Silver Zone defined using various silver cutoff grades.
Tim Barry, President, CEO and director of Silver Bull states, "The filing of this report represents a significant milestone for Silver Bull as for the first time it defines much of the significant zinc mineralization we see at Sierra Mojada. We believe this is the most comprehensive report we have put out on the deposit to date, and positions the Silver Bull as one of only a handful juniors with any appreciable zinc resources in the world today in addition to also controlling one of the largest undeveloped silver projects in Mexico. It has excellent infrastructure; it is located 3 hours from an international airport with a paved road right to site; it has a functioning railway right to site; runs on grid power; and it has a skilled mining work force to draw upon in the immediate local area. The resource provides exposure to both the precious and base metals markets and has the potential to be scaled in size depending on metal prices. In short, we believe there are not many projects like this in the world."
About Silver Bull: Silver Bull is a US registered mineral exploration company listed on both the NYSE MKT and TSX stock exchanges and based out of Vancouver, Canada. The flag ship "Sierra Mojada" project is located 150 kilometers north of the city of Torreon in Coahuila, Mexico, and is highly prospective for silver and zinc.
The technical information of this news release has been reviewed and approved by Tim Barry, a Chartered Professional Geologist (CPAusIMM), and a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
On behalf of the Board of Directors
Tim Barry, CPAusIMM, Chief Executive Officer, President and Director
Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors concerning estimates of Measured, Indicated, and Inferred Resources: This press release uses the terms "measured resources", "indicated resources", and "inferred resources" which are defined in, and required to be disclosed by, NI 43-101. We advise U.S. investors that these terms are not recognized by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The estimation of measured, indicated and inferred resources involves greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic feasibility than the estimation of proven and probable reserves. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that measured and indicated mineral resources will be converted into reserves. The estimation of inferred resources involves far greater uncertainty as to their existence and economic viability than the estimation of other categories of resources. U.S. investors are cautioned not to assume that estimates of inferred mineral resources exist, are economically minable, or will be upgraded into measured or indicated mineral resources. Under Canadian securities laws, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or other economic studies.
Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations, however the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures. Accordingly, the information contained in this press release may not be comparable to similar information made public by U.S. companies that are not subject NI 43-101.
Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements: This news release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and Silver Bull's future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), and applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include, among others, statements regarding mineral resource estimates and, the potential for open pit or below ground development. These statements are based on current expectations, estimates, forecasts, and projections about Silver Bull's exploration projects, the industry in which Silver Bull operates and the beliefs and assumptions of Silver Bull's management. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "continues," "may," variations of such words, and similar expressions and references to future periods, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, including such factors as the results of exploration activities and whether the results continue to support continued exploration activities, unexpected variations in ore grade, types and metallurgy, volatility and level of commodity prices, the availability of sufficient future financing, and other matters discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2014, as amended, and our other periodic and current reports filed with the SEC and available on www.sec.gov and with the Canadian securities commissions available on www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that actual results or developments may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward - looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward -looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.