Silver Standard hits silver zone at Aussie project

Drilling by Silver Standard Resources (SSO-V) has returned 46 metres grading 284 grams silver per tonne from the Bowdens silver deposit in New South Wales, 200 km northwest of Sydney.

The junior completed a 12-hole, reverse-circulation program that extended the outline of the deposit to the northeast. Results from this work include the aforementioned intersection, which carried an intercept of 792 grams over 11 metres, plus a higher-grade intercept of 1,442 grams silver over 5 metres. Another hole, drilled 60 metres to the southeast, returned 99 grams silver over 14 metres and ended in mineralization. The company says these two holes “suggest that earlier drilling may not have reached the best mineralized zones.”

Significant values were also obtained in the northwestern quadrant, including 24 metres of 114 grams silver and 15 metres of 161 grams silver.

Another hole, drilled on previously inaccessible land, hit 19 metres of 95 grams silver.

All three holes also encountered base metal credits, ranging from 1.1% to 2.16% combined lead-zinc (within the reported intersections).

In the Main zone, two holes tested near-surface mineralization near a previously reported, 31.3-metre intersection of 340 grams silver. One hit 36 metres of 124 grams silver (in a larger zone of 79 metres of 86 grams silver, which also ended in mineralization), while the other hit 40 metres of 149 grams silver.

At last report, the Bowdens deposit had measured resources of 14.6 million tonnes grading 61.1 grams silver (28.9 million contained ounces), plus indicated resources of 12.5 million tonnes grading 48 grams silver (19.3 million contained ounces), and 30 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 38.7 grams silver (37.4 million contained ounces).

Silver Standard has five main silver projects throughout the world, which collectively host measured and indicated resources containing 145 million oz. silver (187 million oz. silver-equivalent), plus inferred resources containing 147 million oz. (159 million oz. silver-equivalent), for a total of 346 million oz. silver-equivalent. Among the more advanced projects are the Manantial project in Argentina, and Candelaria in Nevada.