JOINT VENTURE - JOINT VENTURE - SANTA LUCIA DRILLING UPDATE Copper Creek Drills 22.30 Meters of 1.18 gpt Gold Eqv* at Santa Lucia Project (*Includes .392gpt Gold and 39.6 gpt Silver)
Vancouver, Canada - Kootenay Silver Inc. (TSX VENTURE: KTN.V) ("Kootenay") and Copper Creek Gold Corp.("Copper Creek") are pleased to announce results from a recently completed diamond drilling program on its Santa Lucia project in Sonora, Mexico. Copper Creek has an option to earn a 60% interest in the project from Kootenay Silver Inc. by spending $2 million and making cash and share payments over a 4 year period. The property is situated approximately 200km southeast of Hermosillo, Mexico.
Copper Creek completed 10 drill holes, totaling 1,545 meters. The holes were designed to confirm and expand historical intercepts, as well as test various depths of this large epithermal gold and silver bearing system.
Drilling intercepted significant widths of near surface gold and silver mineralization. "We are very pleased to confirm Cominco Ltd.'s historical drill core grades. These results will aid greatly in advancing our understanding of controls of mineralization for the project. We look forward to applying this new knowledge as we plan our subsequent exploration and definition drill program, designed to establish resources while further exploring for high grade mineralization within the Central and South zones," said Kristian Whitehead, VP Exploration for Copper Creek.
The drilling tested several quartz veining and stock-work sections along a 4,000-meter strike length and to a vertical depth down to 350 meters. "This drilling program has definitively established this trend of mineralization for 4km of strike length, thus demonstrating significant tonnage potential. A great deal of work now needs to be done to begin to establish a resource on the Santa Lucia property. Also, the Company will begin to do preliminary metallurgical testing in order to estimate potential gold and silver recoveries," stated James Anderson, President of Copper Creek. "It should also be noted by shareholders that silver often makes up approximately two-thirds of the value of the mineralization in these drill results".
SOUTH ZONE:
Drilling in the South Zone successfully encountered appreciable intervals of near surface gold and silver grades as follows:
|
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
AuEq* (g/t) |
|
| SLS12-29 | ||||||
| Significant Intersections | 18.15 | 31.25 | 13.10 | 0.479 | 40.3 | 1.29 |
| 37.00 | 41.00 | 4.00 | 0.177 | 4.60 | 0.21 | |
| 48.00 | 48.85 | 0.85 | 0.771 | 27.1 | 1.31 | |
| SLS12-30 | ||||||
| Significant Intersections | 40.00 | 54.88 | 14.88 | 0.198 | 21.3 | 0.62 |
| 94.20 | 99.00 | 4.80 | 0.412 | 8.90 | 0.59 |
CENTRAL ZONE:
Drilling in the Central Zone targeted the depth extension of drilling completed by Cominco Ltd. in the 1990s. These results are approximately 1,000 meters north of the results obtained in the South Zone.
|
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
AuEq* (g/t) |
|
| SLC12-28 | ||||||
| Significant Intersections | 42.70 | 65.00 | 22.30 | 0.392 | 39.6 | 1.18 |
Historical Cominco Ltd. Drill Results **:
|
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
AuEq* (g/t) |
|
| SLC-01 | 4.45 | 21.70 | 17.25 | 0.425 | 79.39 | 2.01 |
| SLC-04 | 23.05 | 46.00 | 22.95 | 0.506 | 26.63 | 1.04 |
| SLC-06 | 6.95 | 20.20 | 13.25 | 0.349 | 46.55 | 1.28 |
| SLC-14 | 48.78 | 85.36 | 36.58 | 0.254 | 13.35 | 0.52 |
NORTH ZONE:
Drilling in the North Zone continues to demonstrate significant widths of near surface, low grade gold and silver mineralization, especially in SLN12-22. Encountering this mineralization in much the same geological setting as in the South and Central Zones is highly encouraging. It should be noted that these results are approximately 3,000 meters north of the Central Zone and 4,000 meters north of the South Zone.
|
From (m) |
To (m) |
Width (m) |
Au (g/t) |
Ag (g/t) |
AuEq* (g/t) |
|
| SLN12-21 | No Significant Intersections | |||||
| SLN12-22 | 3.00 | 22.50 | 19.50 | 0.186 | 29.1 | 0.76 |
| SLN12-23 | 49.00 | 52.13 | 3.13 | 0.134 | 9.0 | 0.31 |
| SLN12-24 | 22.50 | 23.94 | 1.44 | 0.140 | 9.6 | 0.33 |
| 28.08 | 28.60 | 0.52 | 0.145 | 3.4 | 0.21 | |
| 45.00 | 45.80 | 0.80 | 0.447 | 6.2 | 0.57 | |
| 52.20 | 53.26 | 1.06 | 0.126 | 15.3 | 0.43 | |
| 54.00 | 54.47 | 0.47 | 0.188 | 10.0 | 0.39 | |
| 57.58 | 57.99 | 0.41 | 0.181 | 13.0 | 0.44 | |
| 79.58 | 80.20 | 0.62 | 0.207 | 11.2 | 0.43 | |
| 111.00 | 111.40 | 0.40 | 0.112 | 8.6 | 0.28 | |
| 133.55 | 134.28 | 0.73 | 0.130 | 15.2 | 0.43 | |
| 135.89 | 138.00 | 2.11 | 0.171 | 21.6 | 0.60 | |
| 144.14 | 145.25 | 1.11 | 0.178 | 10.9 | 0.40 | |
| SLN12-25 | 52.85 | 55.53 | 2.68 | 0.157 | 8.0 | 0.32 |
| SLN12-26 | 15.00 | 17.00 | 2.00 | 0.196 | 12.4 | 0.44 |
| SLN12-27 | 14.25 | 16.00 | 1.75 | 0.283 | 26.4 | 0.81 |
| 101.73 | 105.40 | 3.67 | 0.604 | 29.3 | 1.19 |
*Prices used in Au Equivalent (AuEq) Calculations: Au: $1600, Ag: $32 dollars/oz and assumes 100% metallurgical recovery
** Obtained from Cominco Ltd. historical data.
All Copper Creek holes reported were drilled with HQ sized diamond drill core. Core samples were cut using a core saw with, on average, 1.5 meter long sample intervals. All mineralized intercepts are drill core length; no attempt to determine true thickness has been made at this time.
All samples have been assayed by ALS Minerals of North Vancouver, British Columbia and were subjected to a QAQC program, which included standards, blanks, field duplicates, and preparation duplicates.
The foregoing geological disclosure has been reviewed and verified by Kristian Whitehead, VP Exploration, P.Geo., a qualified person for the purpose of National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.
ABOUT KOOTENAY
Kootenay Silver is actively developing mineral projects in the Sierra Madre Region of Mexico and in British Columbia, Canada. The Company's flagship property is the former producing Promontorio Silver mine in Sonora State, Mexico. The Company's objective is to develop near term discoveries and long-term sustainable growth. Kootenay's management and technical team are proven professionals with extensive international experience in all aspects of mineral exploration, operations and venture capital markets. Multiple, ongoing J/V partnerships in Mexico and Canada maximize potential for additional, new discoveries while maintaining minimal share dilution.
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For additional information, please contact:
James McDonald, CEO and President at 403-238-6986
Ken Berry, Chairman at 604-601-5652; 1-888-601-5650
or visit: www.kootenaysilver.com
The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of this release. Cautionary Note to US Investors: This news release may contain information about adjacent properties on which we have no right to explore or mine. We advise U.S. investors that the SEC's mining guidelines strictly prohibit information of this type in documents filed with the SEC. U.S. investors are cautioned that mineral deposits on adjacent properties are not indicative of mineral deposits on our properties. This news release may contain forward-looking statements including but not limited to comments regarding the timing and content of upcoming work programs, geological interpretations, receipt of property titles, potential mineral recovery processes, etc. Forward-looking statements address future events and conditions and therefore involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. 2012 number 9