IMPACT Silver Corp. ("IMPACT" or "the Company") is pleased to provide its year-end review of exploration activities in 2012 at the Royal Mines of Zacualpan District and adjacent Mamatla District in central Mexico.
- Two new mines coming on-stream in Q1 2013 as a result of successful exploration programs.
- Significant silver discoveries at Mirasol and Condesa in 2012 will drive continued drilling in 2013.
- Advanced use of IMPACT's ArcGIS database resulted in 2012's substantial increase in drilling success.
2012 was the most successful year to date for IMPACT's exploration department.
Brian Hall, IMPACT's Chief Geologist, stated, "More exploration work was completed on all fronts (prospecting, geological mapping, and drilling) with the overall results being substantially better than in past years. Two factors have likely contributed to what we consider to be a banner year for IMPACT's exploration department. The first being the growing maturity of the ArcGIS computer database that the exploration department uses to prioritize areas for field work and drilling and, secondly, an overall increased level of the skill and experience of each member on the exploration team."
During 2012, fieldwork in the form of detailed geological mapping and rock sampling was completed for the Tepejuate, Santa Efignia, Santa Teresa, Cuetzillos Sud and El Gigante mapping areas of which all, except Tepejuate, are located in the Valle de Oro area adjacent to IMPACT's currently producing Noche Buena Mine. New areas where geological mapping fieldwork was initiated in 2012 included San Pablo Norte ―a new area to the southeast of previous IMPACT work― as well as the El Orito and La Escondida areas, which are located in the Valle de Oro area. Favourable results have been obtained from each of these areas, with the San Pablo Norte exceeding expectations so far.
The number of rock samples collected in the field by IMPACT's prospecting and geological mapping teams were substantially greater in 2012 (3,607) than in 2011 (2,711), an increase of 33%. In terms of the average grades for these samples, a significant increase was evident for gold and copper contents overall, reflecting more focused fieldwork in the Valle de Oro area where these metals predominate, in preparation for a number of planned drill programs on a variety of different targets to be initiated in 2013. In terms of individual assay values, many high grade samples in silver, gold and copper were collected.
Drill programs in 2012 were conducted on the Oscar, Condesa, Carlos Pacheco and Mirasol areas of the Zacualpan Silver-Gold District, as well as expansion drilling on the Capire Mine development area of the Mamatla VMS District.
Total drilling increased by 20% in 2012 to 35,274 meters, up 5,793 meters from 2011. Past metrics which were used to ascertain the drilling success rate for new areas (drill intersections of 120 g/t silver over 2.0 meters was considered to be a minimum threshold) are now obsolete, as 2012 attained a success rate of 100%. Using a new form of metrics that counts the number of kilogram-plus grade intersections for silver (1,000+ g/t Ag) from the drill holes, 17 were intersected in 2012 versus ten in 2011. This 70% increase is a reflection of the higher grade targets that are now being selected for drilling to which the ArcGIS database is an integral part. A significant portion of this increase in high grade silver intercepts was the result of identifying and drilling at the newly discovered Mirasol Silver Area.
The increased success in 2012 was driven by five GIS (Geographic Information System) specialists who added a considerable amount of information to the ArcGIS database, advancing it from a simple viewing platform into the field of data analysis. Numerous new protocols for analyzing data in this database have now been developed by IMPACT, allowing the exploration department to prioritize areas of highest mineral potential. A visual representation of IMPACT's mines in production, processing plants and drilled prospects is available on the Company website at
under the "Projects Overview" page.
Summarized below are the results of the drilling for 2012 by project area.
Cuchara-Oscar Mine Area
The Cuchara-Oscar Vein Corridor ("Cuchara") is another IMPACT exploration success story taken from initial field exploration through drilling to mine construction and final permitting. Cuchara is located 2.5 kilometers east of IMPACT's Guadalupe Processing Plant. One of the main vein systems in the vicinity of the historic Cuchara Mine is the Oscar Vein Corridor, which links a series of high-grade silver veins from the Oscar Silver area to the new Santa Lucia Silver Zone for a drill defined strike length of 1,200 meters. Mapping in the Cuchara North Silver area indicates an additional 510 meters of strike length to Oscar Vein Corridor at the north end that will be drilled in the future.
In 2012 IMPACT announced final Phase 2 drill results from Oscar as follows:
| Drill Hole | Section | From | To | Interval | Silver | Gold | Lead | Zinc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| meters | meters | meters | (g/t) | (g/t) | (%) | (%) | ||
| Z11-55 | 19+50N | 21.80 | 22.85 | 1.05 | 435 | 0.01 | 0.15 | 0.24 |
| Z11-61 | 19+50N | 256.20 | 257.16 | 0.96 | 216 | 1.71 | 11.03 | 19.73 |
| Z11-64 | 20+00N | 36.60 | 43.20 | 6.60 | 223 | 0.08 | 0.18 | 0.52 |
| Including | 36.60 | 37.40 | 0.80 | 1,270 | 0.23 | 0.86 | 1.66 | |
| and | 137.25 | 138.25 | 1.00 | 468 | 0.13 | 1.67 | 1.28 | |
| Z11-69 | 20+00N | 0.70 | 3.35 | 2.65 | 408 | 0.62 | 0.73 | 1.12 |
| and | 71.05 | 72.10 | 1.05 | 536 | 0.17 | 1.67 | 3.20 | |
| Z11-71 | 20+00N | 97.60 | 98.60 | 1.00 | 234 | 0.74 | 11.25 | 13.55 |
| Z11-74 | 20+50N | 21.35 | 22.35 | 1.00 | 1,875 | 0.74 | 2.65 | 6.88 |
| and | 90.00 | 91.24 | 1.24 | 835 | 0.12 | 1.28 | 1.78 | |
| Z11-76 | 20+50N | 42.53 | 56.45 | 13.92 | 80 | 0.98 | 1.03 | 1.44 |
| including | 42.53 | 44.24 | 1.71 | 220 | 0.41 | 1.76 | 1.57 | |
| including | 46.79 | 48.29 | 1.50 | 299 | 0.35 | 3.22 | 5.72 | |
| including | 53.96 | 56.45 | 2.49 | 71 | 4.79 | 1.84 | 1.66 | |
| Z11-78 | 20+50N | 102.15 | 103.70 | 1.55 | 250 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.03 |
| Z12-05 | 17+00N | 92.50 | 97.60 | 5.10 | 234 | 0.05 | 0.14 | 0.49 |
| including | 95.55 | 96.55 | 1.00 | 444 | 0.12 | 0.26 | 0.92 | |
| Z12-06 | 18+00N | 86.25 | 87.15 | 0.90 | 564 | 0.01 | 0.16 | 1.22 |
| Z12-08 | 19+00N | 22.36 | 45.75 | 23.39 | 115 | 0.02 | 0.12 | 0.36 |
| including | 22.36 | 23.85 | 1.49 | 510 | 0.06 | 0.36 | 1.27 | |
| including | 44.50 | 45.75 | 1.25 | 297 | 0.08 | 0.36 | 0.87 | |
| Z12-09 | 19+00N | 118.15 | 121.15 | 3.00 | 272 | 0.20 | 0.90 | 2.44 |
| Z12-12 | 18+50N | 153.45 | 153.95 | 0.50 | 346 | 0.03 | 0.242 | 0.88 |
Construction of the Cuchara-Oscar Silver Mine is largely complete and is now awaiting receipt of final permits (expected soon) to begin mining operations. Mine access utilizing the historical Cuchara Mine ramp has been dewatered and refurbished while mining infrastructure and services have been installed and equipment committed to Cuchara-Oscar for commercial production.
Condesa Silver Zone
The Condesa vein system is located 200 meters west of and has historic underground access from the Cuchara Mine (see above) which was mined using a modern ramp to a depth of 240 meters. The intention of this Condesa drill program was to outline mineralization to augment the planned production from the Oscar Vein Corridor which would also use the existing Cuchara Mine workings but utilize a different mining area.
Summarized below are highlights from the 2012 Condesa drill program:
| Drill Hole | Drill Section | Vein Name | From m |
To m |
Interval m |
True Thickness m |
Ag g/t |
Au g/t |
Pl % |
Zn % |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Z12-28 | 21+50 N | Resguardo | 14.75 | 16.80 | 2.05 | 1.94 | 157.2 | 0.019 | 0.02 | 0.13 | |
| Z12-30 | 21+50 N | Resguardo | 53.50 | 56.00 | 2.50 | 2.37 | 201.6 | 0.026 | 0.07 | 0.80 | |
| Z12-32 | 23+50 N | Mar | |||||||||
