Feb 21 2011
Arian Silver Corporation (TSX VENTURE:AGQ)(AIM:AGQ)(FRANKFURT:I3A)(PLUS:AQG), a silver exploration, development and production company with a focus on projects in the silver belt of Mexico, has reported an update on operational activities at its 100%-owned San Jose Property in Zacatecas State, Mexico.
Highlights:
- Widest yet intersections of economic grade silver mineralisation in the first two holes in the Guanajuatillo area along the San Jose Vein ("SJV");
- Phase 3 drilling completes to-date 24 holes for 4450 metres ("m") of the 10,000 m programme and 14 of these holes are pending assays;
- Mineralisation remains completely open along strike and depth;
- To date, 68 tonnes of silver-bearing concentrate sold from the 120 tonnes produced so far; and
- Semi-mobile laboratory awaiting customs clearance in Mexican port.
Commenting on today's operations update, Arian's Chief Executive Officer, Jim Williams, said:
"We are highly encouraged by the latest results from our current phase of drilling along the SJV. We continue to confirm the presence of significant silver mineralisation in a westerly direction along the strike of the SJV and have intersected the widest zones yet of economic silver mineralisation in this area in the two holes announced today. We have now completed 24 holes in this phase of drilling, which is about half of the planned programme, and continue to drill further west following the extensive strike of the SJV. A revised resource calculation will be undertaken on conclusion of the current 10,000m drill programme. Fine-tuning of both the mining and milling operations is ongoing, with 120 tonnes of silver concentrate produced to date. Proceeds from the 68 tonnes of concentrate sold to date amount to approximately US$580,000, subject to a final pricing review and possible adjustment."
Drilling continues using two 'Longyear 44' drill rigs. Twenty-four drill holes have been completed to date for a total of 4,480m. The initial eight drill holes, which have previously been reported (January 31, 2011 press release), were positioned between the previously demarcated Santa Ana and Solidad resource blocks. This latest batch of assay results comprising two holes were positioned around the village of Guanajuatillo, some six kilometres west of the San Jose head-frame, while the remaining holes, which are awaiting assay results, are located west of the village of Guanajuatillo. These two holes continue to confirm, as expected, the continuation of silver mineralisation along the SJV in a westerly direction. The latest intercepts of note are:
- Hole GW-11-002 comprising 9.80m with 150.1 g/t Ag, including 1.56m with 428 g/t Ag;
- Hole GW-11-006 comprising 15.94m with 118.4 g/t Ag including 0.82m with 330 g/t Ag.
Current drilling is now concentrating in the area west of Guanajuatillo village, and the results of this drilling will be reported when received.
All technical information for the San Jose Project is obtained and reported under a formal quality assurance and quality control (QA / QC) programme. The core is logged and photographed by Arian staff and then split using a diamond saw. Half the core is stored on-site in a secure core shed and the other half is labelled, bagged and secured before transporting to Stewart Group's sample preparation facility in Zacatecas, Mexico. Each sample has its own unique sample number. The entire half-core is crushed to minus 10 mesh and a half kilogram riffle split is pulverized and homogenized to minus 200 mesh. The pulp samples are then air freighted to Stewart Group's analytical laboratory in Canada for analysis. Systematic assaying of duplicates, blanks and certified reference material is performed for precision and accuracy; quality procedures and processes are continually reviewed and monitored with protocols in place to deal with any non-conformity. Stewart Group's laboratories in Zacatecas, Mexico, and Kamloops, BC, Canada, are ISO 9001:2000 accredited.
Approximately 5% of the analysed samples are re-sampled and sent to ALS Chemex preparation facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. The samples consist of both coarse reject samples as well as pulp samples. The coarse material is crushed and pulverised according to the same protocol, and the pulp samples are air freighted to ALS Chemex's analytical laboratories in Vancouver, Canada, for analysis. Results from all duplicate analyses are compared to identify potential analytical or sampling errors.
Stewart Group and ALS Chemex Laboratories are independent of Arian.
The samples were analysed for a multi-element scan by aqua regia digestion and ICP (inductively coupled plasma) finish. High-grade samples (>200 g/t Ag) were re-analysed by fire assay with a gravimetric finish.
Qualified Person
Mr. Jim Williams, Eur Ing, Eur Geol, BSc, MSc, D.I.C., FIMMM, the Chief Executive Officer of Arian, is a "Qualified Person" as defined in the AIM guidelines of the London Stock Exchange, and a "Qualified Person" as such term is defined in Canadian National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101"). This press release has been prepared under Mr. Williams' supervision. Mr. Williams has verified the data disclosed by this release.