Southern Silver drills 737 g/t silver + 8.6% lead & 21.8% zinc

Southern Silver Exploration Corp. [SSV-TSXV] reported assay results from the Winter 2017 core drilling program on the Cerro Las Minitas Project, Durango State, Mexico. Drilling continues to intersect intervals of heavily disseminated to massive sulphide mineralization on the Blind Shoulder zone. Highlights from core holes 17CLM-095 and 17CLM-094 include:

• a 7.3m down-hole interval (6.5m est. true thickness) averaging 737 g/t silver, 8.6% lead and 21.8% zinc (1,814.3 g/t AgEq; 51.2% ZnEq) from 17CLM-095, including a higher grade 3.4m interval (3.0m est. TT) averaging 981 g/t silver, 11.7% lead and 26.4% zinc (2327.9 g/t AgEq; 65.7% ZnEq); and
•  a 14.1m down-hole interval (9.9m est. true thickness) averaging 48.6 g/t silver, 0.3% lead and 3.6% zinc (186.1g/t AgEq; 5.3% ZnEq) from 17CLM-094

These mineralized intercepts remain open laterally and reflects a flattening of the Blind Zone mineralization from a sub-vertical-orientation near surface, to a gently to moderately southwest-dipping horizon below a 600-metre depth. Current drilling has now identified significant intervals of mineralization throughout an approximate 350m x 300m zone within the originally targeted 600m x 400m area. With approximately 4,280 metres now completed of the planned 10,000-metre, US$2 million exploration program, further drilling with two core rigs will focus on continuing the systematic expansion of the Blind Shoulder mineralized zone.

Mineralization in drill hole 16CLM-095 is a continuation of earlier reported mineral intercepts in the Blind Shoulder zone and significantly, contains much higher silver grades than earlier drilling in this part of the deposit. Further drilling to delineate this high-grade silver zone is planned for this target area.

Mineralization in drill hole CLM-095 is open both down-dip to the southwest and along strike to the north and northwest and represents a 90 metre step-out from previously reported mineralization in hole 17CLM-091 (15.2 metres of 39.4 g/t silver, 0.1% lead and 10.2% zinc), a 190m offset from hole 13CLM-066 (9.3 metres averaging 9.4 g/t silver, 0.13% copper and 13% zinc), and a 300-metre step-out from hole 16CLM-088 (30.4 metres averaging 107 g/t silver, 0.4% copper, 1.1% lead, and 2.3% zinc). The above intervals are quoted as down hole thickness.

“Assay results from this recent drilling have returned some of the better silver and base metal grades on the project to date and continues to not only expand the dimension of the Blind Shoulder target but have also yielded further improvement in potential size, quality and scope of the Cerro Las Minitas Project,” said Lawrence Page, Southern Silver’s President. “Our focus remains to establish this rapidly evolving district into one of the most significant economic polymetallic discoveries in our industry.”

Exploration on the  flagship Cerro Las Minitas property is funded by Electrum Global Holdings L.P., which has financed a broad range of exploration activities and has earned a 60% interest in the project through a US$5.0M earn-in on the property, with Southern Silver acting as operator.

The Cerro Las Minitas Project contains an estimated inferred resource of 17.5M oz silver, 237M lbs lead and 626M lbs zinc (77.3M oz AgEq) and an estimated indicated resource of 10.8M oz silver, 189M lbs lead and 207M lbs zinc (36.5Mozs AgEq).

A total of 93 drill holes for 37,255 metres have been completed on the Cerro Las Minitas project with exploration expenditures of approximately US$8.6 million spent through to the end of 2016.