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TSX-V: SOP
April 13, 2010
For Immediate
Release
Vancouver, British
Columbia
Shares Issued:
26,181,248
Source Announces NI 43-101 Indicated and
Inferred Mineral Resource for San Acacio Silver Project, Mexico
Source Exploration
Corp. (SOP: TSX-V) ("Source'' or "the Company”) is pleased to announce that
a National Instrument ("NI”) indicated and inferred resource
estimate has been completed for the San Acacio deposit by PEG Mining
Consultants Inc. ("PEG”). Source's external consultants have advised
that there is excellent potential to expand both the near surface resource
amenable to open pit mining as well as the deeper resource more suitable
for underground mining. An underground drilling program is currently
underway to potentially extend to depth the high - grade mineralized shoots
mined in historical stopes – see News Release April 8, 2010.
Highlights
The base case for
reporting the mineral resource estimate used a silver equivalent
("AgEq”)* cut –off grade of 45 grams tonne ("g/t”). Highlights
of the estimate include:
- Indicated Resource of 1.49 million
tonnes at an average grade of 84.9 grams per tonne silver (g/ t Ag)
and 0.19 grams per tonne gold (g/t Au) containing 4.05 million ounces
of silver and 9,000 ounces of gold or 4.59 million silver equivalent
ounces.
- Inferred Resource of 3.44 million
tonnes at an average grade of 80.0 g/t Ag and 0.16 g/t Au containing
8.84 million ounces of silver and 17,400 ounces of gold or 9.89
million silver equivalent ounces.
- Mineralized fill Inferred resource of
0.74 million tonnes at an average grade 232.6 g/t Ag and 0.20 g/t gold
containing 5.51 million ounces of silver and 4,800 ounces of gold or
5.80 million silver equivalent ounces.
Brian Robertson,
President and CEO, comments, "We are extremely pleased to complete
this initial Mineral Resource estimate at this early date and are
aggressively working on expanding the resource and evaluating early
production opportunities utilizing both open pit and underground mining
methods. Our Phase 1 and Phase 2 drilling programs have identified
previously unknown structures that represent encouraging exploration
potential. The drilling also intersected the prolific Veta Grande vein
system at a depth of 161 metres below the lowest operating level of the San
Acacio mine. Our ongoing underground program is currently targeting high
priority areas below historical high- grade oxide stopes.
Mineral Resource
Estimate
The mineral resource
estimate is based on 41 drill holes completed by Source and Silver Standard
and 371 drill core assay values contained within the mineralize zones. This
data was complemented with 275 underground chip samples sourced from Silver
standard and Sterling Mining level plans.
Results at various
silver equivalent cut-off grades are tabulated below.
*Silver equivalent
(AgEq) is calculated as the sum of the silver content plus 60 times the
gold content, based on prices of US$ 14.75/oz for silver and US$ 885/oz for
gold, which approximate the average prices for these metals over the last
three years. (Note: total contained AgEq values may not add exactly because
of rounding). Metallurgical recoveries are not taken into account.
The resource estimate
was completed by Pierre Desautels, P.Geo. of PEG Mining Consultants Inc.,
using industry standard methods that conform with the CIM Mineral Resource
and Mineral Reserve definitions referred to in National Instrument 43-101,
Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, and utilizing Gemcom GEMS
V.6.2.3.2TM software. The data and methodology utilized for the resource
estimate is as follows:
Resource Estimation Process
- Mineral resources were estimated in
conformance with the CIM Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserve
definitions referred to in NI 43–101, Standards of Disclosure for
Mineral Projects.
- The Resource Estimate database
contains 8147 m of diamond drill hole data and supplemented by 457
underground chip samples. Trench data was available but not used in
the estimation. Data was sourced from the 1997 Silver Standard
exploration program, 2004-2006 Sterling Mining Company and the more
recent work performed by Source exploration in 2009-2010.
- All of the Source samples were
analyzed using fire assay with AA finish. For samples grading >100
g/t Ag the samples were reanalyzed using fire assay with gravimetric
finish.
- All drill holes are diamond drill core
and were sampled mostly at 1.3 m intervals. A comprehensive QA/QC
program was in place during the Source drill program, which included
the insertion of standards and duplicates at regular intervals. The
QA/QC program on the historical data is not known.
- Historical density of 2.55 for the
in-situ material and 1.75 for the mineralized fill was used for the
resource.
- An estimated 10% void space was
factored in for the Mineralized fill tonnages.
- The development of the 3D mineralized
domain models used in the resource estimate were primarily on the
lithological contacts and partially on a grade value above 25 g/t
silver. Exceptions were made in consideration to lithological controls
and zonal continuity. The mineralized fill 3D wireframe was
constructed using the stope and fill intercepts in the drill hole
database and supplemented from information provided by the underground
level plans. The resultant mineralized fill solid was subsequently cut
by a series of polygons of the old stopes digitized from a historical
long section and adjusted with known mined out areas deducted from the
level plans and surface observation.
- The composite intervals selected were
2.0 meters. When present, true gaps in the sampling were composited at
zero grade. Voids, stope and fill intervals were ignored in the
interpolation of the in-situ resource but used in the interpolation of
the fill material.
- For the treatment of outliers at San
Acacio, the Veta Grande domain was evaluated for both silver and gold
mineralization. A combination of high grade capping and search
restrictions imposed on a low threshold values was used to restrict
their influence. The procedure used allows the deposit to retain the
high grade assays while limiting their influence during the
interpolation.
- A
three-dimensional (3D) geological and block model was generated using
GEMS� software. The block model matrix size of 5 x 5 x 4 meters was
selected with consultation with the engineering team from PEG to allow
for better definition of the grade within some of the narrow
mineralized domains. It was also based on the size that was suitable
for a selective mining unit to mine "ore” versus "waste”
for both an open-pit and underground mining scenarios.
- Ordinary kriging
was used for all domains. The interpolation was carried out in
multiple passes with increasing search ellipsoid dimensions. Inverse
distance and nearest neighbor models were used for validation.
- Classification was
based primarily on the pass number and distance to the nearest sample.
The area evaluated as indicated resources in the model supported
mainly by chip samples was downgraded to inferred resources.
A NI 43-101 report will be finalized and filed on SEDAR within 45 days
of the date of this news release.
The San Acacio property, which hosts the Veta Grande vein system, is a
former silver producer located in the world renowned silver district of
Zacatecas in Central Mexico. The Zacatecas Silver Belt is one of the most
prolific silver producing areas in the world, hosting the Fresnillo and
Zacatecas silver mines which, combined, have produced over 1.5 billion
ounces of silver (Source: Western Silver Annual Report 2003). . For more
information on the property please visit Source's website at http://www.sourceexploration.com/.
Mr. Sonny Bernales, P. Geo. is the Qualified Person for information
contained in this press release and is a Qualified Person within the
meaning of National Instrument 43-101.
About Source Exploration
Source Exploration is a Canadian based mineral exploration company
focused on the evaluation, acquisition and development of economic silver
deposits in Mexico. Source is currently carrying out an aggressive
exploration program on the prolific past producing San Acacio silver mine
in Zacatecas, Mexico, as well as evaluating other potential silver
properties for acquisition in Mexico.
About PEG Mining Consultants
PEG Mining Consultants Inc. is a group of experienced geologists and
engineers specialized in underground & open pit mining,
processing/metallurgy, and project management. The PEG team has a broad
range of operations and consulting experience and skills. Further
information can be found at PEG Mining's website at www.pegmining.com.
For more information, please contact:
Brian Robertson, President & CEO
Phone: 807-251-1816 Fax: 604-646-7359
e-mail: info@sourceexploration.com
Website at http://www.sourceexploration.com/
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as
that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Certain terms
or statements made that are not historical facts, such as anticipated
advancement of mineral properties or programs, productions, sales of
assets, exploration plans or results, costs, prices, performance are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number of risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected, anticipated, expected or implied. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to; metals price volatility,
volatility of metals production, project development risks and ability to
raise financing. Certain statements included in this news release
constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of
applicable securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, included herein are forward-looking statements that
involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that
such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
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