Comstock Mining Advances Underground Portal
Commences Drilling of Quartz Porphyry Target
VIRGINIA CITY, NV--(Marketwired - September 24, 2015) - Comstock Mining Inc. (the "Company") (NYSE MKT: LODE) today announced that construction of the underground exploration portal ("Harris Portal") and development of the exploration drift ("tunnel") in the existing Lucerne Surface Mine is progressing on schedule and has reached a linear distance of approximately 200 feet. Additionally, the first drill platform has been constructed and the underground drilling of the previously discovered, dike-like masses of quartz porphyry (PQ), commenced today.
The first phase of the tunnel development, with a planned investment of $3 million, is expected to be approximately 800 feet, running parallel to the PQ target. This phase includes approximately 20,000 feet of diamond-core definition drilling and is scheduled for completion before year-end. Previously disclosed drill data from the PQ includes 46 intercepts of at least 10 feet that grade, on average, over 0.23 ounces of gold per ton and over 1.71 ounces of silver per ton.
The "Harris Portal" honors the memory of the Company's former safety director, Randy Harris, who won a 2015 Nevada Mining Association's 'Outstanding Career in Safety' award. The Company has planned a dedication ceremony on Friday, September 25th, in honor of Randy and in conjunction with the commencement of drilling activities within the drift. Federal, State and Local dignitaries will be in attendance along with the Harris family. The website link below catalogs the most recent drift development:
http://www.comstockmining.com/lucerne-underground-project
Corrado De Gasperis, President & CEO, commented, "We are pleased with the pace of development, the partnership with American Mining and Tunneling and the timely commencement of drilling activities by American Drilling. We will be updating and reporting on the status of the drilling, starting in October and frequently thereafter throughout year-end."
About Comstock Mining Inc.
Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District and is an emerging leader in sustainable, responsible mining, including concurrent and accelerated reclamations, soil sampling, voluntary air monitoring, cultural asset protection and historical restorations. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and commenced production in 2012. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration, development and mining. The near term goal of our business plan is to maximize intrinsic stockholder value realized, per share, by validating qualified resources and reserves (proven and probable) from our first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, and significantly grow the commercial development of our operations through extended, long-lived mine plans that are economically feasible and socially responsible.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release and any related calls or discussions may include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Comstock. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements about matters such as: future prices and sales of, and demand for, our products; future industry market conditions; future changes in our exploration activities, production capacity and operations; future exploration, production, operating and overhead costs; operational and management restructuring activities (including implementation of methodologies); future mine planning and resource estimation; capital expenditures and their impact on us; productivity, business process, rationalization, investment, acquisition, consulting, operational, tax, financial and capital projects and initiatives; contingencies; environmental compliance and changes in the regulatory environment; and future working capital, costs, revenues, business opportunities, debt levels, cash flows, margins, earnings and growth.
The words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "project," "plan," "should," "intend," "may," "will," "would," "potential" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of doing so. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by our management in light of their experience and their perception of historical and current trends, current conditions, possible future developments and other factors they believe to be appropriate. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees, representations or warranties and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, developments and business decisions to differ materially from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements. Some of those risks and uncertainties include the risk factors discussed in Item 1A, "Risk Factors" of our annual report on Form 10-K. Occurrence of such events or circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows or the market price of our securities. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements by or attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement. Neither this press release nor any related calls or discussions constitutes an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.
Contact
Contact information for Comstock Mining Inc.:
PO Box 1118
Virginia City, NV 89440
questions@comstockmining.com
http://www.comstockmining.com
Corrado De Gasperis
President & CEO
Tel (775) 847-4755
degasperis@comstockmining.com
Kimberly Shipley
Manager of Investor Relations
Tel (775) 847-0545
shipley@comstockmining.com