VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Feb. 7, 2013) - Silvercorp Metals Inc. (News - Market indicators)(NYSE:SVM) ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") is pleased to report the results from its 2012 underground tunneling and diamond drilling campaign at the HZG Mine, Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China.

The HZG Mine is located 1.4 kilometres south of the SGX Mine in the Ying Mining District. A total of 4,681 metres ("m") of underground tunneling and 14,394m of diamond drilling in 41 holes were completed between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012 at the HZG Mine for the purposes of testing the strike and downdip extension of the major mineralized vein structures HZ20, HZ22 and HZ5. As a result of this program, five new vein structures HZ20W, HZ22W, HZ23, HZ23E and HZ23E1 have been discovered and contain high-grade silver mineralization.

Highlights of selected mineralization zones exposed in underground tunnels:

• Drift PD820-HZ20-690-SYM-ECM3-SYM along vein HZ20 on 690m level, has revealed a zone 130m in length, 0.74m true width grading 599 g/t silver ("Ag"), 3.29% lead ("Pb") and 0.35% zinc ("Zn");
• Drift PD820-HZ20W-650 along vein HZ20W, a newly discovered vein, on 650m level, has revealed a zone 45m in length, 1.25m true width grading 1,409g/t Ag, 0.30% Pb and 0.85% Zn;
• Drift PD810-740-HZ5 along vein HZ5 on 740m level, has revealed a zone of 75m in length, 0.50m true width grading 669g/t Ag, 0.79% Pb and 0.11% Zn;
• Drift PD810-HZ5-780-SYM along vein HZ5 on 780m level, has revealed a zone 85m in length, 0.54m true width grading 544g/t Ag, 0.88% Pb and 0.10% Z; and
• Drift PD820-HZ20-770-SYM along vein HZ20 on 770m level, has revealed a zone 50m in length, 0.74m true width grading 664g/t Ag, 2.61% Pb and 0.27% Zn.

Highlights of selected intercepts of drill holes:

• Hole ZK43B02 intercepted a 1.12m interval, 1.12m true width of vein HZ22 grading 637g/t Ag, 1.25% Pb and 0.13% Zn at the 711m elevation; and
• Hole ZK47B03 intercepted a 1.14m interval, 1.13m true width of vein HZ22W grading 542g/t Ag, 1.02% Pb and 0.11% Zn at the 700m elevation, and a 0.77m interval, 0.76m true width, of vein HZ23 grading 449 g/t Ag, 0.51% Pb, and 0.32% Zn.

The purpose of the underground tunneling program (consisting of 2,541m of drifts, 1,174m of cross-cuts, and 1,015m of raises) was to delineate and upgrade the previous drill-defined resource blocks within the major vein structures between the 650m and the 850m elevations. Drift and crosscut tunnels have been developed at 40m to 50m intervals and are connected with raises, declines, and shafts through different levels. A total of 1,790 chip samples were collected during the 2012 underground tunneling program. Zones of mineralization were exposed in tunnels on different levels along major mineralized vein structures HZ20, HZ20W, HZ22 and HZ5 between the 650m and the 850m elevations.

The 2012 diamond drilling program was designed to test the lateral and downdip extension of the major mineralized vein structures between the 750m and the 400m elevations. A total of 14,394m of drilling (including 7,768m in 17 surface holes and 6,626m in 24 underground holes), was completed and a total of 1,009 core samples were collected in the 2012 drilling program. As at December 31, 2012, assay results for 28 holes have been received. 19 of the 28 holes with assay results intercepted mineralization zones. The 2012 diamond drilling program delineated a resource block that extends 400m along strike and from the 800m to 550m elevation downdip between exploration lines 41 and 51 within the vein structure HZ22. Furthermore, five new mineralized vein structures; HZ20W, HZ22W, HZ23, HZ23E and HZ23E1 have been discovered as a result of the 2012 underground tunneling and diamond drilling campaign. A summary of the new vein structures is as follows:

• Vein Structure HZ20W: HZ20W is located parallel to the west of vein structure HZ20 and has been revealed by underground tunneling at the 650m elevation. The vein structure has been traced for approximately 400m along strike and high-grade mineralization zones have been exposed within the structure in underground tunnels.
  Vein Structure HZ22W: HZ22W is located 30m to 40m (and runs parallel) to the west of vein structure HZ22. Mineralization zones within this structure have been intercepted between the 700m and 750m elevations in surface holes ZK45B03, ZK4703, ZK4704, ZK47B03 and ZK47B04 between exploration lines 45 and 48.
• Vein Structure HZ23: HZ23 is located parallel to the east of HZ22 and the discovery was made by surface drilling. The mineralization zones within the vein structure have been intercepted at the 660m, 620m and 390m elevations by surface holes ZK43B02, ZK43B04, ZK4505 and ZK4703, drilled between exploration lines 43 and 47.
• Vein Structures HZ23E and HZ23E1: HZ23E and its parallel zones are located approximately 50m to the east of HZ23. The vein group consists of at least three mineralized zones which have been intercepted in holes ZK43B03 and ZK43B04 on exploration line 44.

Tables 1 and 2 below list the assay results of some selected mineralization zones exposed in tunnels and intercepts in drill holes.

In 2013, a comprehensive exploration program including 2,062m of underground tunneling on vein structures HZ20, HZ22 and HZ5 and 29,568m of underground diamond drilling on vein structures HZ20, HZ20W, HZ22, and HZ23 is planned at the HZG Mine.

Table 1: Selected tunneling results from the HZG Mine

Table 2: Selected drill results from the HZG Mine

Quality Control

Drill cores are NQ size. Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contact or shear/alteration contact, were split into halves by saw cutting. The half cores are stored in the Company's core shacks for future reference and checking, and the other half core samples are shipped in security sealed bags to the Chengde Huakan 514 Geology and Minerals Testing and Research Institute in Chengde, China, 226 km northeast of Beijing, an ISO9000 certified analytical lab. Sample is dried and crushed to minus 1mm and then split to a 200-300g subsample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two subsamples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with aqua regia for gold analysis with AAS, and the other is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, zinc and copper.

Chip samples are collected along sample lines perpendicular to the mineralized vein structure in exploration tunnels. Spacing between sampling lines is typically 5m along strike. Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut with continuous chisel chipping. Sample length ranges from 0.2m to more than 1m, depending on the width of the mineralized vein and the mineralization type.

A routine quality assurance/quality control procedure is adopted at each lab to monitor the analytical quality at the lab. Certified reference materials (CRM), pulp duplicates and blanks are inserted into each lab batch of samples. QA/QC data at the lab are attached to the assay certificates for each batch of samples.

The Company maintains a comprehensive quality assurance and quality control program to ensure best practice in sample preparation and analysis of the drill core samples. Project geologists regularly insert certified reference materials (CRM), field duplicates and blanks to each batch of core samples to monitor the sample preparation and analysis procedures at the labs. The analytical quality of the labs is further evaluated with external checks by sending about 3% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias.

Data from both the Company's and the labs' QA/QC programs are timely reviewed and evaluated by project geologists.

Rujin Jiang, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person on the project as defined under National Instrument 43-101. He has verified the information and has reviewed and approved the contents of this news release.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in China which has paid a cash dividend since 2007. The Company is currently developing the GC project in southern China which it expects will become its next operating mine in early 2013. The Company's vision is to deliver shareholder value by focusing on the acquisition of under developed projects with resource potential and the ability to grow organically. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorp.ca.

CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER -- FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain of the statements and information in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities laws. Any statements or information that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as "expects", "is expected", "anticipates", "believes", "plans", "projects", "estimates", "assumes", "intends", "strategies", "targets", "goals", "forecasts", "objectives", "budgets", "schedules", "potential" or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the price of silver and other metals; the accuracy of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates at the Company's material properties; the sufficiency of the Company's capital to finance the Company's operations; estimates of the Company's revenues and capital expenditures; estimated production from the Company's mines in the Ying Mining Camp; timing of receipt of permits and regulatory approvals; availability of funds from production to finance the Company's operations; and access to and availability of funding for future construction, use of proceeds from any financing and development of the Company's properties.

Forward-looking statements or information are subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information, including, without limitation, risks relating to: fluctuating commodity prices; calculation of resources, reserves and mineralization and precious and base metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; feasibility and engineering reports; permits and licenses; title to properties; First Nations title claims and rights; property interests; joint venture partners; acquisition of commercially mineable mineral rights; financing; recent market events and conditions; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into the Company's existing operations; competition; operations and political conditions; regulatory environment in China and Canada; environmental risks; foreign exchange rate fluctuations; insurance; risks and hazards of mining operations; key personnel; conflicts of interest; dependence on management; internal control over financial reporting as per the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act; and bringing actions and enforcing judgments under U.S. securities laws.

This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of the Company's forward-looking statements or information. Forward-looking statements or information are statements about the future and are inherently uncertain, and actual achievements of the Company or other future events or conditions may differ materially from those reflected in the forward-looking statements or information due to a variety of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including, without limitation, those referred to in the Company's Annual Information Form for the year ended March 31, 2012 under the heading "Risk Factors". Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, described or intended. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information.

The Company's forward-looking statements and information are based on the assumptions, beliefs, expectations and opinions of management as of the date of this press release, and other than as required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements and information if circumstances or management's assumptions, beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, or changes in any other events affecting such statements or information. For the reasons set forth above, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and information.