CashInfo.org

Archive for September, 2010

GREAT PANTHER SILVER LIMITED (TSX: GPR; the “Company”) is pleased to announce the commencement of a surface drilling program at the San Ignacio Mine property, Guanajuato. The property is located approximately 5 kilometres west-northwest of the City of Guanajuato, where Great Panther operates its flagship Guanajuato Silver-Gold Mine. The property was part of the package purchased by Great Panther in 2005 but, due to the Company’s focus on the main mine complex, it has not conducted any work at San Ignacio until this year. The past-producing San Ignacio Mine was put on care-and-maintenance by the previous owners in 2001 due to low metal prices but the infrastructure is still intact.

The San Ignacio Mine property covers part of the La Luz vein district, which is parallel to, and west of, the principal Veta Madre structure that hosts the main Guanajuato mines (see map on website at http://www.greatpanther.com/i/pdf/SanIgnacio-LocationMap-Sep10.pdf). The La Luz district marks the site of the first discovery of silver in the area, in the year 1548, which led to the discovery of the Veta Madre silver-gold deposits in 1550. It comprises a swarm of generally north-northwest striking, west dipping quartz veins and breccias with associated low sulphidation silver-gold mineralization, along an approximate 8 kilometre long trend.

Great Panther’s San Ignacio Mine property covers approximately 4 kilometres of strike length on the La Luz vein system and is contiguous with Endeavour Silver’s Bolanitos Mine property that is currently in production. The San Ignacio Mine exploited only about 500 metres of strike length along one of the three known structures on the property and there is no record of any previous exploration elsewhere on the claim block. Production records from 1977 to 2001 indicate that a total of 617,455 tonnes at a grade of 113g/t Ag and 1.01g/t Au were extracted from this small portion of the property at an average rate of approximately 85 tonnes per day. This is similar to the grade that was mined at Guanajuato prior to Great Panther’s purchase of the mines in 2005 but the Company has more than doubled this grade since then with increased grade control and improved mining methods. As there is no processing facility at San Ignacio, ore was trucked back to the Cata Plant in the main mine complex in Guanajuato, approximately 20 kilometres by road.

A program of geological mapping and rock sampling completed in 2010 by Great Panther indicates that the three known structures on the San Ignacio property are up to 4 kilometres long and contain irregular silica breccia “veins” hosting gold and silver mineralization. The initial interpretation is that the surface at San Ignacio, at an elevation of approximately 2,300 metres above sea level (“masl”), is generally above the upper limits of the epithermal gold-silver systems found in the area. Mineralization at Great Panther’s main mine complex on the Veta Madre structure extends from a surface elevation of approximately 2,200 masl in the Valenciana area to a depth of 1,500 masl in the recent deep drilling in the Rayas area (see news release September 7, 2010).

The initial 2,000 metre core drilling program at San Ignacio will complete a section across the three main structures and test them from 100 to 200 metres below surface. The drilling will be completed in an area where sampling on the Plateros Vein returned 1.3g/t gold and 124g/t silver over a 1.3 metre width, sampling on the Melladito Vein returned 0.48g/t gold and 106g/t silver over a 1.0 metre width, and sampling on the Nombre de Dios Vein returned 1.83g/t gold and 164g/t silver over a 1.8 metre width.

Robert F. Brown, P. Eng. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company is the Qualified Person for the Guanajuato Mine, under the meaning of NI 43-101. A full QA/QC program will be followed including the regular insertion of splits, blanks, and standards into the core sampling sequence. Analysis of the drill core samples will be conducted at the Guanajuato Mine on-site laboratory, independently operated by SGS.

For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.greatpanther.com, contact B&D Capital at telephone 604 685 6465, fax 604 899 4303 or e-mail info@greatpanther.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

“Robert A. Archer”

Robert A. Archer, President & CEO

Source: Great Panther Silver Site

· Minera Andes signed formal loan agreement regarding $65 million project financing loan

· Settlement signed with immediate discontinuation of pending litigation

Hochschild Mining plc (“Hochschild”) today announces that it has signed an agreement with Minera Andes Inc (“MAI”) and its subsidiary, Minera Andes SA (“MASA”) regarding the $65 million project financing loan provided by Hochschild to the San José gold and silver mine in Argentina.  The parties have also agreed to restructure the 2004 shareholder loan agreement pursuant to which Hochschild and MAI lent approximately $50 million to the co-venture entity, known as Minera Santa Cruz (“MSC”).

Subject to final closing, which is expected to occur this week, the parties have agreed to a repayment schedule for the project finance loan and the shareholder loan over a maximum period of 8 years, with fixed interest rates of 7% per annum. Future payments on both the shareholder loan and project finance loan may be accelerated based on mine performance and metal prices thus maximizing cash flows for both MAI and Hochschild.

Hochschild has agreed to provide Minera Andes with the right to consent to certain extraordinary capital expenditures (not including regular sustaining CAPEX) in certain limited circumstances.

The San Jose mine, a co-venture between Hochschild and MAI, has been in operation since June 2007. Under the terms of letter agreements between the parties executed in October 2006, Hochschild alone provided the full amount of the project financing, totalling $65 million in instalments between October 2006 and July 2007. On 17 March 2010 Hochschild filed a lawsuit against Minera Andes alleging the undue delay in the execution of formal loan documents and repayment of the loan by MSC. Under the terms of the settlement, Hochschild will discontinue the litigation filed in the New York State Supreme Court.

The lawsuit had no impact on the running of the San José mine, which is operated by Hochschild. The mine has a throughput capacity of 530ktpa and in the first half of 2010, produced approximately 2 million ounces of silver and 36 thousand ounces of gold.

Ignacio Bustamante, CEO of Hochschild Mining said: “We are very pleased with the outcome of the negotiations and the ending of litigation. The properties and operation of MSC are located in a premium geological location in Argentina, neighbouring the Cerro Negro project which was recently sold by Andean to Goldcorp for US$3.6 billion.  We are confident that Hochschild and Minera Andes will now be able to focus their full efforts towards building a meaningful and constructive partnership to create further value for their respective shareholders through production at San Jose and further exploration in this very prospective area.”

Source: Hochschild Website

GREAT PANTHER SILVER LIMITED (TSX: GPR; the “Company”) is pleased to report that the deep drilling program in the Rayas area of the Guanajuato mine has significantly expanded the size of the gold-rich Santa Margarita vein and has intersected a new zone of high grade silver-gold mineralization at a vertical depth of almost 600 metres.

The drilling is being conducted at 50 metre centres from the 390 metre level of the mine and has so far extended the known strike length of the Santa Margarita vein to more than 175 metres and the depth extent to at least 125 metres below the current mining on the 415 metre level. The shallower holes are providing information for imminent mine development and production, while all holes will provide valuable data for mine planning and resource estimation.

Highlights of the recent drilling include 20.42g/t Au and 24g/t Ag over 1.85 metres in hole EUG10-060, and two intercepts of 24.37g/t Au and 24g/t Ag over 1.5 metres and 20.13g/t Au and 23g/t Ag over 2.55 metres, in hole EUG10-061. The latter intercept is contained within a wider interval grading 7.08g/t Au and 9g/t Ag over 8.20 metres, only 6 metres from the first vein. It is not yet clear if this separate zone in hole EUG10-061 represents a new structure or a branch of the Santa Margarita structure. The 1:1 ratio of gold to silver indicates that the mineralization is present as electrum, a naturally-occurring gold-silver alloy with equal amounts of the two metals.

Drilling on section 250S, the southernmost section drilled to date and 200 metres south of holes EUG10-060 and EUG10-061, returned deep intersections on both the Santa Margarita and Veta Madre structures. Vertical drill hole EUG10-057 intersected the Santa Margarita structure and returned 2.15 metres grading 576g/t silver and 1.33g/t gold at a depth equivalent to the 590 metre level, making this the deepest silver-gold intersection to date in this part of the mine.

The Veta Madre structure, parallel to Santa Margarita, is often not as well mineralized when the latter is well mineralized. As such, drill hole EUG10-054, on section 250S, did not return any significant values in the Santa Margarita structure, but intersected 5.1 metres grading 287g/t silver and 1.23g/t gold in the Veta Madre at a depth equivalent to the 548 metre level. This represents the deepest mineralization on the Veta Madre to date. Together with several historic holes drilled close to section 220S to the north, this portion of the Veta Madre structure appears to host a sub-horizontal lens of economic mineralization that is still open to the south.

Development and partial exploitation by the former mine owners in this part of the mine only extended to the 475 level along some parts of the Veta Madre from 300S to 500S. As such, this level will provide future access to the deeper portions of the Santa Margarita and Veta Madre structures.

The recent drilling results are significant in that several new epithermal systems appear to be developing in the deepest parts of the multi-phase epithermal system known to exist at Guanajuato. The Santa Margarita structure varies from a quartz-dominant breccia with <1% pyrite to intensely altered, breccia/stockwork in a volcanic/intrusive host rock with 2-3% blotchy pyrite. The upper parts of the system are gold rich with electrum (for example EUG10-060 and 061) while deeper intersections are silver rich (for example EUG10-057).

While the two types of mineralization appear to correlate structurally, the geological characteristics of the deeper intercept are different than those of the Santa Margarita vein higher in the mine. In several holes on section 250S, a quartz porphyry is becoming more prevalent and, in the hole 057 intercept, clasts of the porphyry are caught up in the vein material. Quartz porphyries are common in many vein-type deposits world-wide and are generally considered by geologists to be a positive sign for gold and/or silver mineralization. This porphyry is known to be associated with silver-gold mineralization in the past-producing Sirena Mine to the south (owned by Fresnillo Plc.), and there is still approximately 250 metres of as-yet untested ground to the property boundary.

As such, the intercept in hole EUG10-057 may represent a separate mineralized pulse, and is open to the south and to depth but, until more information becomes available, it is still being considered as part of the Santa Margarita system.

“These recent results from the deep drilling program at Rayas are confirming our long-standing belief that the mineralizing system at Guanajuato has a lot of life left in it”, stated Robert Archer, President & CEO. “The expansion of the gold-rich Santa Margarita vein will not only increase our resource base but should provide for consistent and higher gold production for the foreseeable future. The discovery of a new silver-gold zone near the 600 metre level is very exciting as it, in itself, opens up a whole new area of the mine. We have only tested 250 metres of strike length in the deep Rayas area to date, of a planned 600 metres. The Guanajuato Mine property covers 4,200 metres of strike length, and next year, we will be testing the depth extent of the historically rich Valenciana Mine.”

The 12,000 metres of underground drilling in the Rayas area began in February 2010. Initial drilling on sections 100S and 150S also intersected the Santa Margarita structure at the 450 level down to the 540 level (see news release of June 6, 2010). Highlights from the recent drilling are listed in the table below, and longitudinal and cross section maps can be found on the Company’s website at www.greatpanther.com.

Hole	Location	Section	From (m)	To (m)	Width (m)	TW (m)	Au (g/t)	Ag (g/t)	Zone
EUG10-047	Rayas	200S	195.65	197.70	2.05	1.8	5.17	9	S.M.
EUG10-049	Rayas	200S	170.40	173.40	3.00	2.9	4.96	29	S.M.
EUG10-053	Rayas	250S	181.65	182.85	1.20	1.2	0.33	116	V.M
EUG10-054	Rayas	250S	183.90	189.00	5.10	4.9	1.23	287	V.M.
EUG10-057	Rayas	250S	202.40	204.55	2.15	1.5	1.33	576	S.M.(?)
EUG10-058	Rayas	150S	172.50	179.05	6.55	5.5	6.23	11	S.M.
EUG10-060	Rayas	50S	172.30	174.15	1.85	1.6	20.42	24	S.M.
EUG10-061	Rayas	50S	146.85	148.35	1.50	1.4	24.37	24	S.M.
and			154.00	162.20	8.20	7.9	7.08	9	S.M.
including			154.00	156.55	2.55	2.4	20.13	23	S.M.

Development of new drill stations is ongoing along a hanging wall drift on the 390 level from 250S to 450S. While this work is being completed, the drill has been moved from the drill station at 250S to a station at 000S, where sections 050S and 000S are being drilled.

Robert F. Brown, P. Eng. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company is the Qualified Person for the Guanajuato Mine, under the meaning of NI 43-101. A full QA/QC program is being followed including the regular insertion of splits, blanks, and standards into the core sampling sequence. Analysis of the drill core samples is conducted at the Guanajuato Mine on-site laboratory, independently run by SGS. Aspects of the mine relating to mining and metallurgy are overseen by Charles Brown, Chief Operating Officer for Great Panther and its Mexican subsidiary, Minera Mexicana El Rosario, S.A. de C.V.

For further information, please visit the Company’s website at www.greatpanther.com, contact B&D Capital at telephone 604 685 6465, fax 604 899 4303 or e-mail info@greatpanther.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

“Robert A. Archer”

Robert A. Archer, P.Geo.
President & CEO

Source: Company Website