SilverCrest claims bonanza grades at El Ocote

Canada's newly formed silver explorer SilverCrest Mines reported that it had confirmed bonanza grades at its El Ocote property in western Honduras' Ocotepeque department. The company based its opinion on recently obtained results of extensive underground sampling carried out at El Ocote by various professionals from 1980 to 1995, it said in a statement. Of the 250 channel samples in the database, 83 or 30% assayed greater than 500g/t silver with a weighted average grade of 1,081g/t silver, it said. The presence of bonanza mineralization was verified by independent sampling during a recent site visit by Stewart Wallis, a "qualified person" under Canadian regulations, according to SilverCrest. El Ocote has an indicated resource estimate of 1.9Mt grading 1.81g/t silver, or 11Moz of contained silver, and inferred resources of 1.4Mt at 118g/t, or 5.2Moz of contained silver, the company said. Described as being at feasibility study stage, the company considers that the near-surface deposit is amenable to open-pit mining with a low strip-ratio, potentially resulting in low operating costs. SilverCrest said it was planning a drill program to confirm and expand the resource, additional underground sampling, environmental baseline studies, and metallurgical testwork. Formerly Strathclair Ventures, SilverCrest said that it has a portfolio of high-grade silver deposits in Honduras.