Silvercorp Reports Results of its 2017-2018 Exploration Tunneling and Drilling Programs at the TLP and LME Mines, Ying Mining District, China

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp” or the “Company”) (TSX:SVM) (NYSE American:SVM) is pleased to report results of its exploration programs from July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 at the TLP and LME mines, Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China. Results over the same period for the SGX mine in the Ying Mining District were reported on June 8, 2018.

During the nine month period, the Company completed 27,687 meters (“m”) of underground diamond drilling with 6 underground rigs from current production levels and 9,832m of exploration tunneling between elevation Levels 500m and 1,070m. Results of underground drilling continuously extended the major mineralized vein structures along strike and downdip and exploration tunneling exposed high grade mineralization zones within major production vein structures.

Highlights of selected mineralization zones exposed in exploration drift tunnels:

• Drift Tunnel PD820-T16E-795-3SYM exposed mineralization of 40m long and 0.87m wide (true width) grading 941 grams per tonne (“g/t”) silver (“Ag”), 4.85% lead (“Pb”) and 0.64% zinc (“Zn”) within vein structure T16E on the 795m level at the TLP mine;
  
• Drift Tunnel PD820-T11-650-4SYM exposed mineralization of 55m long and 0.74m wide (true width) grading 518g/t Ag, 4.76% Pb and 0.35% Zn within vein structure T11 on the 650m level at the TLP mine; and
  
• Drift Tunnel PD900-LM5E1-500-51NSYM exposed mineralization of 55m long and 0.61m wide (true width) grading 913g/t Ag, 1.60% Pb and 0.59% Zn within vein structure LM5E1 on the 500m level at the LME mine.

The exploration tunneling, comprising drifting, crosscutting and raising, was driven along and across major mineralized vein structures to upgrade drill defined mineral resources and test for new parallel and splay structures.

The tunneling programs from July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 at TLP and LME mines are briefly summarized in the following table:

Highlights of selected intersections of drill holes:

• Hole ZKGA2202 intersected a 0.59m interval from 24.43m to 25.02m, 0.56m true width, of vein T14W grading 1022g/t Ag, 1.70% Pb and 0.95% Zn at the 821m elevation at the TLP mine;
  
• Hole ZKT2543 intersected a 0.41m interval from 217.91m to 218.32m, 0.41m true width, of vein T39 grading 402g/t Ag, 1.81% Pb and 0.39% Zn at the 749m elevation, and a 1.16m interval from 361.64m to 362.80m, 1.10m true width, of vein T16 at the 691m elevation at the TLP mine; and
  
• Hole ZKG0405 intersected a 0.68m interval from 343.32m to 344.00m, 0.60m true width, of vein LM3 grading 484g/t Ag, 6.38% Pb and 3.20% Zn at the 708m elevation at the LME mine.

The underground drilling program is mainly conducted from the current production levels to delineate the downdip and along-strike extensions of known mineralized vein structures in the production area and test for new veins in the previous less-explored areas.

The drilling programs from July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018 at TLP and LME mines are briefly summarized in the following table:

Tables 1 and 2 below list the assay results of some selected mineralized intersections in drill holes and mineralized zones exposed in drift tunnels in the exploration programs from July 1, 2017 to March 31, 2018.

Table 1: Selected drilling results from the drilling programs at the TLP and LME mines

Table 2: Selected mineralized zones exposed by drift tunneling at the TLP and LME mines

Quality Control

Drill cores are NQ size. Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contact or shear/alteration contact, were split into halves by saw cutting. The half cores are stored in the Company's core shacks for future reference and checking, and the other half core samples are shipped in security sealed bags to the Chengde Huakan 514 Geology and Minerals Test and Research Institute in Chengde, Hebei Province, China, 226 km northeast of Beijing, and the Zhengzhou Nonferrous Exploration Institute Lab in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China. Both labs are ISO9000 certified analytical labs. For analysis the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1mm and then split to a 200-300g subsample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two subsamples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with aqua regia for gold analysis with AAS, and the other is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, zinc and copper with AAS.

Channel samples are collected along sample lines perpendicular to the mineralized vein structure in exploration tunnels. Spacing between sampling lines is typically 5m along strike. Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut with continuous chisel chipping. Sample length ranges from 0.2m to more than 1m, depending on the width of the mineralized vein and the mineralization type. Channel samples are prepared and assayed with AAS at Silvercorp’s mine laboratory (Ying Lab) located at the mill complex in Luoning County, Henan Province, China. The Ying lab is officially accredited by the Quality and Technology Monitoring Bureau of Henan Province and is qualified to provide analytical service. The channel samples are dried, crushed and pulverized. A 200g sample of minus 160 mesh is prepared for assay. A duplicate sample of minus 1mm is made and kept at the laboratory archives. Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish, and silver, lead, zinc and copper are assayed by two-acid digestion with AAS finish.

A routine quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedure is adopted to monitor the analytical quality at each lab. Certified reference materials (CRMs), pulp duplicates and blanks are inserted into each lab batch of samples. QA/QC data at the lab are attached to the assay certificates for each batch of samples.

The Company maintains its own comprehensive QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sample preparation and analysis of the exploration samples. Project geologists regularly insert CRM, field duplicates and blanks to each batch of 30 core samples to monitor the sample preparation and analysis procedures at the labs. The analytical quality of the labs is further evaluated with external checks by sending about 3-5% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias.

Data from both the Company's and the labs' QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists.

Ruijin Jiang, P. Geo, reviewed the exploration data and prepared the scientific and technical information regarding exploration results contained herein. Guoliang Ma, P. Geo., Manager of Exploration and Resource of the Company, is the Qualified Person for Silvercorp under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and given consent to the technical information contained in this news release.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in China. The Company’s vision is to deliver shareholder value by focusing on the acquisition of under developed projects with resource potential and the ability to grow organically. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorp.ca.

For further information

Lorne Waldman
Senior Vice President
Silvercorp Metals Inc.

Phone: (604) 669-9397
Toll Free: 1(888) 224-1881
Email: investor@silvercorp.ca
Website: www.silvercorp.ca

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