VANCOUVER, May 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SNS Silver Corp. ("SNS" or the "Company") (TSX-V: SNS) reports that the first surface drill hole at the Crescent Mine property will be set up during this current week of May 28, using the newly refurbished Atlas-Fausett Longyear 38 drill.
The initial core hole will test four separate mineralized structures. The targets include the two major objectives - the Alhambra structure and the South Vein - as well as two intermediate structures. The intermediate structures, the "Steep Lead Vein" and the "Gray Copper Vein" were never significantly explored after their discovery 90 years ago, although they returned silver grades up to more than 200 ounces per ton. The initial drill hole is expected to intersect both veins in strata that have recently been recognized as representing more favorable host rock than that present where the veins were originally explored and mined.
Recent remapping of surface geology by SNS geologists along a network of newly available logging roads has identified vein fragments along portions of the Alhambra and South Vein structures that have not previously been explored. The near-surface expression of the Alhambra apparently separates poorly known, moderately favorable silty strata within the lower member of the Wallace Formation from the more predictably favorable host St Regis strata. The moderately favorable Wallace strata are believed to persist downward approximately 600 to 800 feet in depth beneath the surface, but the Alhambra structure is known to abut St Regis strata from the surface to a depth approaching 5000 feet.
At moderate to higher elevations on the property, the South Vein lies almost entirely within the St Regis Formation, which has historically hosted the most productive Coeur d'Alene District Silver Belt veins. A wide zone of hydrothermal alteration and local silver mineralization has been identified adjacent to the South Vein at the surface. These observations suggest that good potential exists for economic South Vein mineralization to extend up to about two thousand feet above the Hooper Tunnel primary haulage level as well as up to several thousand feet beneath the Hooper level.
Multiple surface holes will be drilled during the 2007 field season from up to approximately 8 drill sites. Approximately 40,000 feet of surface drilling has been proposed and budgeted. A second drill rig will be added during June, in order to complete the current year 2007's surface exploration program before winter conditions set in at the higher elevations involved. SNS expects that initial drill results from all four structures could be available in approximately two weeks.
SNS Silver Corp. owns 100% of the Crescent Mine in the Coeur d'Alene mining district. The Crescent Mine is a historic high-grade silver producer. From 1917-1982 the property produced 25 million ounces of silver at an average grade of 27.3 ounces per ton. Prior to its last shut down in the 80's, previous operators of the Crescent Mine reported over 9 million ounces of silver resources at an average grade of 18 ounces per ton. The property lies between two world-class silver producers: the Sunshine mine which has produced more than 300 million ounces of silver and the Bunker Hill mine, which has produced over 150 million ounces of silver. The Coeur d'Alene district is the only known mining district in North America to have produced over 1 billion ounces of silver. SNS Silver (SNS) trades on the TSX-V under the symbol SNS. The Company has approximately 29.2 million shares outstanding and approximately $9.0 million cash on hand.
All resource estimates quoted herein are based on data and reports obtained and prepared by previous operators. The Company has not completed the work necessary to independently verify the classification of the mineral resource estimates and is not treating the mineral resource estimates as National Instrument 43-101 defined resources verified by a qualified person. The historical estimates should not be relied upon. The Crescent Mine will require considerable further evaluation, which the Company's management and consultants are in the process of completing.
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept the
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
CONTACT: SNS Silver Corp., David Greenway, Vice President, Corporate Development, (604) 689-0896 or (208) 819-6108 or Toll Free 1-800-663-4567; Email:
