Apex drops Atna’s Chanarcillo property (October 22, 2002)

Vancouver — Apex Silver Mines (SIL-A) has elected not to participate in any further exploration of Atna Resource’s (ATN-T) Chanarcillo silver property in Chile.

Atna released drill results form its 19-hole 2,830 metre reverse circulation drill program on the Chanarcillo propertyin Chile. This program was funded by Apex Silver Mines who stood to earn a 70% interest in Chanarcillo

Holes 1 through 9 tested the Hilltop Breccia, a carbonate breccia, that was drilled to test its bulk tonnage silver potential. The remaining holes, 10 through 19, tested various targets on the property including stockwork zones and geophysical targets that were interpreted as possible sulphide skarn mineralization.

Results are as follows;

• Hole C-R01 cut 32 metres averaging 24.9 grams silver and 1.16% zinc, starting 4 metres down hole. This was followed by a 78-metre interval that averaged 4.9 grams silver and 0.81% zinc.
• Hole C-R02 intersected 6 metres averaging 101.8 grams silver and 0.42 % zinc starting 30 metres down hole.
• Hole C-R03 cut 4 metres averaging 131.1 grams silver and 1.44% zinc starting 56 metres down-hole.
• Hole C-R06 intersected 32 metres averaging 33.3 grams silver and 0.54% zinc starting 156 metres down-hole. This included a 6-metre section that averaged 85.2 grams silver and 0.73% zinc and a 4-metre interval that averaged 83.1 grams silver and 0.60% zinc.
• Hole C-R07 cut 16 metres averaging 44.7 grams silver and 0.39% zinc starting 4 metres down-hole.
• Hole C-R08 intersected 16 metres averaging 110.1 grams silver and 0.43% zinc, starting 4 metres down-hole.
• Hole C-R09 cut 8 metres averaging 29.6 grams silver and 0.34% zinc, starting 4 metres down-hole. This was followed by another 8-metre interval that averaged 28.1 grams silver and 0.34% zinc.
• Hole C-R11 intersected 2 metres averaging 2,390 grams silver and 0.25% zinc, starting 58 metres down-hole.
• Hole C-R19 cut 82 metres averaging 6.0 grams silver and 0.58% zinc starting 4 metres down-hole.

Atna states that mineralization at the Hilltop Breccia is insufficient to indicate a viable bulk tonnage deposit with of a minimum 30 million tonnes, grading 100 grams silver per tonne. The junior reports that drill-hole C-R11 was drilled to test a broad zone of sheeted veins exposed in recent road cuts. The hole intersected a previously unknown high-grade structure that seems to not have been previously mined.

Drill hole R19 was drilled within the garnet-quartz-epidote skarn zone peripheral to carbonate hosted mineralization and intersected relatively high background values of zinc and silver.

Drill holes that targeted previously mined high-grade structures, intersected post-mineral intrusive dykes within the target area or failed to return significant intersections. Atna reports that data from all drilling and previously conducted geological, geophysical and geochemical surveys are being compiled to determine if further work is warranted.

Chanarcillo is a mining camp with over 100 million ounces of historic silver production. It is situated at an elevation of 1,100 metres, 14 km east of the Pan American highway and 50 km south of the city of Copiapo.