Great Panther commissioning Guanajuato plant (April 10, 2006)

Vancouver — Great Panther Resources (GPR-V, GPRLF-O) has started to commission the processing plant at its Guanajuato silver-gold mine complex in central Mexico.

Following three months of refurbishment, the 1,200-tonne-per-day plant is being put through its paces to bring it up to full capacity; the crushing, milling and flotation circuits are all being tested. The process is expected to run about four weeks.

The plant, under previous operators, had been run at a much-reduced capacity since the early 1990s, due to limited operating capital. Throughput had dropped to about 20% of capacity, or about 250 tonnes per day. Great Panther will bring the three ball mills on-stream one at a time, with all operating by year-end at full capacity.

Metallurgical testing will also review the optimal recovery process for the operation, while also examining the possibility of producing a silver-gold dor on-site.

The Guanajuato complex consists of the processing plant plus the Valenciana, Cata and Rayas mines situated on the central portion of the 25-km-long Veta Madre structure, first discovered in the mid-1500s. Historic production in the district is estimated at over 1 billion oz. silver and 5 million oz. gold.

Initial surface drilling by Great Panther, conducted in late 2005, intersected high-grade silver and gold in the Veta Madre, confirming past results. A second-phase program is now under way.

The company acquired the Guanajuato project in late 2005 for US$7.25 million in staged payments through to the end of 2006, to Sociedad Cooperativa Minero Metalrgica Santa Fe de Guanajuato — Mexico’s last mining co-operative. The co-operative ran the mine for the last 65 years.

Near the end of 2005, Great Panther also began production from its Topia silver-lead-zinc mine in Durango state.

Shares of the company rose about 8% on the news, closing at $1.70 per share on volume of over 900,000. Great Panther posts a market capitalization of $83 million based on its 49.1 million shares outstanding.