Golden Minerals Announces Significant Increase to Indicated Silver Resources for the El Quevar Project
GOLDEN, CO--(Marketwire -04/10/12)- Golden Minerals Company ("Golden Minerals" or the "Company") (AMEX: AUMN - News) (TSX: AUM.TO - News) is pleased to announce a Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant mineral resource estimate for the Yaxtché deposit at the Company's El Quevar project in the Salta Province of northwestern Argentina.
The combined open pit and underground mineral resource set forth in the tables below contains an indicated resource of 7.1 million tonnes grading 141.3 grams per tonne (g/t) silver for a total of 32.0 million ounces of contained silver and an inferred resource of 6.2 million tonnes grading 152.3 g/t silver for a total of 30.2 million ounces of contained silver at variable cutoff grades. The total ounces of indicated resource increased by over 250% from the previous NI 43-101 resource estimate for the El Quevar project.
Jeffrey Clevenger, President and CEO of Golden Minerals, commented, "We are delighted with the increase in indicated silver at El Quevar as it demonstrates the potential of the district. Recent drilling supported our premise that the bulk of the deposit is in the underground western zone of the Yaxtché trend and that it is more robust than the Eastern zone where thin high grade tension fault mineralization combined with mineralized wall rock should make an attractive open pit opportunity. In combination, the Eastern and Western zones of Yaxtché demonstrate an attractive silver deposit."
The Yaxtché deposit is currently the main target of interest at the El Quevar project. The Yaxtché deposit remains open laterally to the west. The El Quevar project area contains other targets that have not yet been fully tested.
The mineral resource estimate utilizes preliminary mining shapes and conceptual economic factors and assumes open pit mining on the eastern and central Yaxtché deposit and bulk underground mining on the western portion of the deposit. Previous estimates for the El Quevar project did not consider mineable shapes or conceptual economic parameters and are considered geologic mineral inventories. The combined mineral resource estimate is based on technical information available at February 9, 2012 and was calculated based on a three year average silver price of $24.42 per ounce.
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Combined Open Pit and Underground Mineral Resource
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Resource Class Tonnes Ag grade Contained Ag
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(000) (g/t) Ounces
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Indicated (Oxide + Sulfide) 7,053 141.3 32,042,209
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Inferred (Oxide + Sulfide) 6,193 152.3 30,168,119
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Notes:
1. This table assumes metallurgical recoveries of 61% for oxide material and 88.5% for sulfide material and open pit cutoff grades for oxide material of 30.9 g/t silver and for sulfide material of 21.3g/t. Cutoff grades vary depending on mined material (oxide or sulfide), metallurgical recovery and mining method. The specific gravity used to estimate tonnages is the mean of 2.60 grams per cubic centimeter derived from 190 specific gravity determinations.
2. The resource estimate is based on a database of 272 diamond drill holes comprising 35,654 silver analyses completed by the Company since 2006. Assays were completed at several independent commercial laboratories, and were supplemented by a blind check sampling program on high grade silver sample pulps.
3. Mineral resources occur at shallow depth in the eastern and central part of the Yaxtché deposit and are estimated from a pit shell created in the Whittle® (4.3) software using a block model built in the Vulcan® (8.1.3) software. Silver mineralization in the western part of the Yaxtché deposit occurs at greater depth and assumed underground mining, including longhole sublevel stoping. Mineral resources that are potentially mineable by underground methods are estimated on conceptual stope shapes queried to the Vulcan® block model.
The following table breaks down the combined mineral resource above into in-pit sulfide and oxide resources and underground resources.
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In-Pit Mineral Resource
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Resource Class Cutoff Grade Tonnes Ag Grade Contained Ag
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(Ag g/t) (000) (g/t) Ounces
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Indicated (Oxide) 30.9 1,861 109.2 6,533,544
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Indicated (Sulfide) 21.3 2,146 109.4 7,545,014
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Total Indicated 4,007 109.3 14,078,558
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Inferred (Oxide) 30.9 766 101.0 2,486,643
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Inferred (Sulfide) 21.3 1,248 99.2 3,981,170
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Total Inferred 2,014 99.9 6,467,813
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Underground Mineral Resource
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Resource Class Cutoff Grade Tonnes Ag Grade Contained Ag
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(Ag g/t) (000) (g/t) Ounces
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Indicated (Sulfide) 75.0 3,046 183.4 17,963,651
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Inferred (Sulfide) 75.0 4,149 177.7 23,700,306
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Review by Qualified Person, Quality Control and Reports
The mineral resource estimate was prepared by the consulting firm of Pincock Allen & Holt, under the supervision of Craig Horlacher, Principal Geologist, and a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101, who is independent of Golden Minerals. The mineral resources in this estimate were calculated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines, prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions and adopted by CIM Council on December 11, 2005.
An NI 43-101 Technical Report supporting disclosure of this mineral resource will be filed by Golden Minerals on SEDAR within 45 days of this press release.
About Golden Minerals
Golden Minerals is a Delaware corporation based in Golden, Colorado, primarily engaged in the ramp-up and expansion of existing production at the Velardeña and Chicago Mines in Mexico and advancement of the evaluation stage El Quevar project in Argentina. For additional information please visit http://www.goldenminerals.com
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