Scorpio gets the grade at San Rafael

Scorpio Mining (SPM-T) wrapped up its latest drill program at its wholly owned San Rafael Project in Mexico and the results are all about the grade.

Highlight intercepts came from two separate holes, both of which were from the Upper zone, and included: 4.45 metres grading 2,802 grams silver, 1.75 grams gold, 0.928% copper, 4.489% lead and 2.341% zinc; and 5.6 meters grading 2,626 grams silver, 2.096 grams gold, 0.614% copper, 2.335% lead and 0.203% zinc.

San Rafael sits roughly 16-km from Scorpio Mining’s operating Nuestra Señora plant which currently processes approximately 1,500 tonnes per day, both are located in Mexico’s Sinaloa State.

The property hosts both the San Rafael and the El Cajón skarn related deposits and both are within haulage distance of Nuestra Señora’s processing plant. Drill results for El Cajon mineral deposit have yet to be released.

Both the latest results from San Rafael and the El Cajon results will go into a resource update that is due out by the end of August 2012.

Scorpio says that San Rafael is made up of five distinct bodies: the zinc-lead-silver Main Zone; an oxidized silver-gold-copper portion of the Main Zone; the zinc-lead-silver Upper Zone; the copper-silver 120 Zone; and the Northwest Extension which is similar to the Upper Zone.

The Upper Zone and newly discovered Northwest Extension are relatively flat lying bodies contained entirely within the upper rhyolitic volcanic rocks as opposed to the more contact related Main Zone and structurally controlled 120 Zone.

The completed drill program focused on in-fill drilling on the known zones and delineating mineralization in the newly discovered NW Extension, which it says could add tonnage to the upcoming resource update. In total, 3,334 metres were drilled at the project so far this year.

The San Rafael Main and Upper zone have measured and indicated resources of 5.99 million tonnes grading 89.5 grams silver, 3.42% zinc, 0.06% copper, 1.46% lead and 0.12 grams gold.

The San Rafael 120 zone has indicated resources of 1.9 million tonnes grading 130.6 grams silver, 0.48% zinc, 0.34% copper, 0.13% lead and 0.17 grams gold.

Scorpio is a silver producer via its Nuestra Senora Mine — an underground operation that produces zinc, copper and lead concentrates with a silver component in the copper and lead concentrates.

In Toronto on July 18, Scorpio shares were flat at 54¢ on 218,000 shares traded.