Mr. Andrew Thomson reports
SOLTORO FILES TECHNICAL REPORT ON THE EL RAYO PRIMARY SILVER PROJECT IN JALISCO
Soltoro Ltd. has filed a technical report for its 100-per-cent-owned El Rayo silver project on SEDAR and the company's website. The updated mineral resources included in the National Instrument 43-101 technical report were prepared by Agnerian Consulting Ltd., in support of the resource update, and reflect minor changes to the mineral resources originally summarized in a news release on Sept. 29, 2014. The technical report includes an updated estimate of the Las Bolas, La Soledad, Highway zone silver deposits, and the El Rayo gold deposit, as well as a first-time disclosure of the mineral resources for the historic Catarina mine. The revision considers a smaller-tonnage, higher-grade resource than previous estimates, which could be exploited through a combination of small open-pit and underground operations.
The mineral resources were prepared in compliance with NI 43-101 and CIM standards by constructing block models and applying conceptual open-pit and underground models on each of the deposits. The estimates of open-pit and underground resources are shown in the attached table.
EL RAYO PROPERTY UPDATED MINERAL RESOURCES
(Nov. 12, 2014)
OPEN-PIT RESOURCES
Average grade Contained Contained Equivalent
Silver Tonnes Ag Pb Ag Pb Ag
deposits Category (millions) (g/t) (%) (Moz) (Mlb) (Moz)
Las Bolas Measured 1.18 140 0.52 5.3 13.5 5.7
Subtotal Measured 1.18 140 0.52 5.3 13.5 5.7
Las Bolas Indicated 0.60 129 0.32 2.5 4.2 2.6
Matachines Indicated 0.33 30 1.60 0.3 11.6 0.6
La Soledad Indicated 3.33 120 0.27 12.8 19.8 13.4
Highway Indicated 0.15 111 0.20 0.5 0.7 0.6
Subtotal Indicated 4.41 114 0.37 16.2 36.3 17.2
Measured
and
Total indicated 5.59 120 0.40 21.5 49.8 22.9
La Soledad Inferred 0.47 104 0.35 1.6 3.6 1.7
Subtotal Inferred 0.47 104 0.35 1.6 3.6 1.7
UNDERGROUND RESOURCES
Average grade Contained Contained Equivalent
Silver Tonnes Ag Pb Ag Pb Ag
deposits Category (millions) (g/t) (%) (Moz) (Mlb) (Moz)
Las Bolas Inferred 0.68 305 2.74 6.7 41.0 7.8
Matachines Inferred 0.06 91 16.70 0.2 22.0 0.8
La Soledad Inferred 0.12 215 1.04 0.8 2.7 0.9
Catarina Inferred 0.33 211 2.08 2.2 15.1 2.6
Subtotal Inferred 1.19 259 3.09 9.9 80.9 12.1
Total Inferred 1.66 215 2.31 11.5 84.5 13.8
Tonnes Au grade Contained Au
Gold deposit Category (millions) (g/t) (oz)
El Rayo Indicated 0.54 1.63 28,000
El Rayo Inferred 0.53 1.40 24,000
Notes:
(1) CIM definitions were followed for mineral resources.
(2) Mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have
demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may
be materially affected by environmental permitting, legal, title,
taxation, socio-economic, political, marketing or other relevant issues.
(3) The quantity and grade of the inferred mineral resources are conceptual
in nature, and there has been insufficient exploration to define them as
measured mineral resources or indicated mineral resources. It is
uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading the inferred
mineral resources to an indicated or measured category.
(4) The qualified person for these mineral resource estimates is Michael F.
Waldegger, PGeo, of MFW Geoscience Inc.
(5) Silver mineral resources were estimated using a price of $20 (U.S.)
per ounce silver. Gold mineral resources were estimated using a price of
$1,250 (U.S.) per ounce gold. Only credits for the contained lead were
assigned for the Las Bolas, La Soledad, Highway zone and Catarina deposits.
(6) Metallurgical recoveries for the contained silver and lead are assumed
as follows:
(a) Las Bolas -- ranging from 15 per cent to 65 per cent for silver;
(b) Matachines -- ranging from 15 per cent to 65 per cent for silver
and 55 per cent for lead;
(c) La Soledad -- 77 per cent for silver and 55 per cent for lead;
(d) Highway zone -- ranging from 15 per cent to 65 per cent for silver;
(e) Catarina -- 60 per cent for silver and 60 per cent for lead;
(f) El Rayo gold zone -- 90 per cent for gold.
(7) The bulk density is based on the sulphide constituents of the
mineralized intersections and the average 2.28-tonne-per-cubic-metre
density for the gangue brecciated rock.
(8) Mineral resources were estimated using a pit discard net smelter returns
cut-off value of $13 (U.S.) per tonne for the Las Bolas, La Soledad,
Highway zone, and El Rayo gold zone deposits, and a cut-off value of
$65 (U.S.) per tonne for the for the Las Bolas, La Soledad, and La
Catarina underground deposits.
(9) A minimum of five-metre vertical thickness of mineralization was used
for the mineralized zones of the open-pit deposits.
(10) A minimum of two-metre horizontal thickness of mineralization was used
for the mineralized zones of the underground deposits.
(11) The numbers for tonnage, average grade and contained ounces of silver
are rounded figures.
(12) The contained ounces of silver and pounds of lead are in millions,
respectively.
(13) La Catarina mineral resources include tonnage from past underground
mining. Actual numbers will be different than the above estimates.
(14) The above resources are within preliminary open pits and represent
19 per cent of total block model mineralization for Las Bolas deposit,
50 per cent of total block model mineralization for La Soledad deposit,
2 per cent of the total block model mineralization at the Highway zone,
55 per cent of total block model mineralization for the Catarina deposit,
and 30 per cent of total block model mineralization for the El Rayo
northern extension.
Soltoro president and chief executive officer Andrew Thomson commented: "Soltoro has completed and filed its updated technical report for the El Rayo project report on SEDAR and the company's website. The mineral resources reported are in line with the current three-year trailing average pricing for silver and takes into account recent metallurgical recoveries testing. The resulting revised higher-grade silver resources could be exploited through a combination of small open-pit and underground operations."
Soltoro notes that mineral resource reported in this release and the technical report differ from those originally summarized in a news release on Sept. 29, 2014 (NR170), due to the following:
-
Adjustments to the block models of the Las Bolas and La Catarina
deposits;
-
Change in the classification of most of the mineral resources of the Las
Bolas deposit from indicated to measured category and some from the
inferred to indicated category;
-
Additional review of the assay database on the La Catarina deposit;
-
Inclusion of new resources estimates for the Highway zone silver deposit
and the El Rayo gold zone.
Qualified persons
A copy of the NI 43-101 technical report is available at the company's website and has been filed on SEDAR. The mineral resources were estimated by Michael Waldegger, PGeo, of MFW Geoscience Inc., on behalf of Agnerian Consulting Ltd. Both Hrayr Agnerian, MSc (applied), PGeo, president of Agnerian Consulting, and Mr. Waldegger are qualified persons for the purposes of NI 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, of the Canadian securities administrators. Mr. Agnerian has reviewed and verified the information disclosed in this news release.
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