Silver Bear Resources Inc. (TSX:SBR) is pleased to announce the results of a National Instrument 43-101 feasibility study for the Vertikalny Central deposit of its Mangazeisky Silver Project in the Republic of Sakha  Russia. NI 43-101 Technical Report in respect of the Study and the Project will be filed on SEDAR within 45 days of this release.

Graham Hill, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “I am very proud to announce the Study confirms that the exploitation of the Vertikalny Central deposit at our Mangazeisky silver project remains very robust even under the current silver price and economic conditions. The positive Study results validate our objective of fast-tracking the development process, and increase our confidence in assertively moving forward with the first phase of mining. I firmly believe that our team has designed a mine plan that optimises profitability and that the processing technology will maximise recovery and minimize technical risks at the lowest cost. I am also extremely proud of our construction and operational team at site and in Yakutsk for the tremendous accomplishments in mobilizing around 7,500 tons of equipment and construction materials to site along this year’s winter road, thus enabling us to proceed with construction plans this year.”

“Our recent Mineral Resource update at Mangazeisky North deposit supports our medium term objective of increasing mine life and further improving project economic performance by establishing a multi-pit single plant mining operation on the Mangazeisky property. Our near term objective is to plan the work that would be necessary to bring Mangazeisky North into production. In addition, we will continue to look at the development of Vertikalny to exploit the deeper level resources.”

“Last year we successfully drilled 6,656 metres of core in addition to approximately 13,000 cubic metres of trenching. The data is being compiled from this work that should allow us to update our resource statement and provide further positive information on future developments in the second half of 2016.”

Feasibility Study Highlights

• The pre-tax NPV at a 5% discount rate is US$79.7 million, the pre-tax IRR is 43.6%, and the payback period is 2.1 years.
• With the Far East Tax Incentives, the post-tax NPV at a 5% discount rate is US$70.7 million, the IRR is 40.2%, and the payback period is 2.2 years.
• Assumptions include a variable silver price of US$16.00/oz, US$17.25/oz, and US$18.00/oz during the first year of production, second year of production, and the remaining project life, respectively, with a life of mine (“LOM”) weighted average silver price of US$17.74/oz; exchange rate applied is RUB66.00/USD.
• Initial capital costs of US$48.6 million.
• Total Proven and Probable Mineral Reserves of 801,000 tonnes at a diluted average grade of 772 g/t Ag for 19.9 million troy ounces of silver.
• Total Vertikalny Central Indicated Mineral Resources of 23.4 million troy ounces of silver at an average grade of 909 g/t Ag, in addition to Inferred Mineral Resources of 13.4 million ounces of silver at an average grade of 615 g/t Ag.
• Processing an average of 110,000 tonnes of ore per annum.
• Production of 16,787,000 ounces of silver over a 7.3-year LOM
• Average metallurgical recovery of 84.4% silver.

Project Execution

The Company intends to take advantage of the favourable outcome of the feasibility study, and the positive outlook on the silver price, by implementing an aggressive fast-track execution plan to complete construction by the end of 2016, with steady state production starting in Q1 2017. In anticipation of this, and in compliance with the Russian regulatory approval process, a licensed Russian design institute (EMC Mining LLC (“EMC”) in St Petersburg) was commissioned in 2015 to complete the detailed design of the processing facility and associated mine site infrastructure. The Company procured all major equipment for delivery during the 2015/2016 winter road season and began construction. The Company has proceeded with construction in advance of regulatory approval for the project and expects that all of the permits needed for construction and operation will be in place prior to the start of production.

More favourable weather between March and November will facilitate the completion of the construction of major infrastructure with specific focus on completing the buildings to provide shelter during mechanical and electrical installation and the start of commissioning planned for Q4 2016.

Filing of Technical Report – Mangazeisky North Mineral Resource Update

The Company is also pleased to announce that on May 30^th, 2016 it filed the NI 43-101 Technical Report for the Mineral Resource estimate update of its Mangazeisky North deposit, located within its wholly-owned Mangazeisky Project. Tetra Tech (UK) prepared the Technical Report and it supports the Company’s announcement of April 13, 2016.

To view and download the Technical Report, please visit www.sedar.com under the Company’s profile. The report will also be available on the Company’s website at www.silverbearresources.com.

About Silver Bear

Silver Bear is focused on the development of its wholly-owned Mangazeisky Silver Project, covering a licence area of approximately 570 km² that includes the high-grade Vertikalny deposit, located 400 km north of Yakutsk in the Republic of Sakha within the Russian Federation. The Company was granted a 20-year mining licence for the Vertikalny deposit in September 2013 and completed a Feasibility Study in Q2 2016.