Tumi reports rich silver grades

Vancouver — Tumi Resources (TM-V) has intersected high-grade silver and gold while infill drilling at its Cinco Minas property, near Guadalajara, Mexico.

Tumi envisions open-pit mining for Cinco Minas, which is the site of the historic underground El Abra silver-gold mine. El Abra was developed in the early 1920s by the founders of Anaconda Mining Co., then shut down in the 1930s.

In the current program, eight of 18 holes have been completed, with highlights as follows:

— Hole 51 — 14 metres grading 437 grams silver and 1 gram gold per tonne at a depth of 64 metres, including 4 metres averaging 1,362 grams silver and 2.1 gram gold.

— Hole 49 — 20 metres grading 249 grams silver and 2.4 grams gold at a down-hole depth of 114 metres, including two high-grade intervals.

— Hole 54 — 14 metres of 1.7 grams gold and 179 grams silver at 118 metres down-hole.

Tumi is earning a 60% interest in the project from Minera San Jorge, and has the right to buy the remaining 40%.

The company has been looking at the open-pit potential of El Abra as a potential open-pit mine since the summer of 2002, after hitting bonanza grades of silver and gold near the surface.

In January 2003, the second phase of underground and surface channel sampling returned up to 12.9 grams gold and 168 grams silver over 12.9 metres. Since April 2003, high-grade gold and silver were intersected by reverse-circulation drilling near the surface.

Another four exploratory holes totalling 232 metres were drilled at the San Juan workings, about 300 metres from El Abra along the northwest-trending Cinco Minas vein, for which results are pending.

Tumi also has an interest in the Gran Cabrera properties, which comprise more than 20 historic high-grade gold and silver mines 20 km northwest of Cinco Minas.