Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX: SVM) (NYSE American: SVM) is pleased to report results from its exploration programs at the DCG mine. Extensive exploration drilling and tunneling are ongoing at the DCG mine, and all other mines at the Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China.

From March 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021, 29,010 metres from a total of 207 diamond drill holes, including 117 underground holes and 90 surface holes, were completed at the DCG mine. Assay results for 164 holes have been received, with 110 holes intercepting mineralization. Currently there are six rigs drilling at the DCG mine.

The drilling program has been focused on three targets: 1) definition and step-out drilling for known gold vein C9 to the east of the resource area; 2) drilling for new gold veins to the east of the resource area; and 3) infill drilling for known silver-lead-zinc veins in the resource area.

Drilling Defined Gold Vein C9 for 850 Metres in Length

C9 is a gold vein striking north-northwest, with a dip varying between 30° and 50° to the East. It is associated with quartz and sericite alteration, and minor K-feldspar alteration, with disseminated pyrite and some overprinted galena and sphalerite. The thickness of the vein ranges between 0.5 m and 6 m.

Historically, there are only two drill holes which have intersected the C9 vein. However, during the 2020-2021 drilling program, 67 holes were drilled to define the C9 vein along a strike length of approximately 850 m, and over 150 m down-dip. The vein is still open laterally along strike and at depth. The drilling

also intersected additional splay and parallel gold veins, including C9_1, C9_1E, C9E, C9W, and C9a.

Drilling Discovered Gold Vein C76

The newly discovered gold vein C76 is controlled by a fault striking approximately 225° and dipping 40°-50° to the northwest. The vein pinches-and-swells, with horizontal thickness ranging from 0.5 m to over 10 m. The gold mineralization is associated with dark gray quartz alteration, disseminated fine-grained pyrite, and black gouge with minor galena and sphalerite. This structure intersects vein C9 with sinistral apparent displacement of around 35 m. The drilling also discovered additional splay and parallel gold veins, including C76W, C77 and C77E.

Underground cross-cut works have shown that thick gold zones occur near C9 cutting C76 and C77, such as the cross-cut DCG-XPD-C76-800-400NMW-CM5 that exposed 5.46 m true width grading 5.66 grams per tonne gold and 78 g/t silver at an elevation of 800 m (see Table 3).

Highlights of the high-grade gold intercepts at the DCG mine:

• Hole ZKDB51BC902 intersected a 3.57 m interval (3.28 m true width) of vein C9 grading 7.17 g/t Au and 15 g/t Ag from 81.99 m depth at an elevation of 816 m;
• Hole ZKDB51C903 intersected a 7.17 m interval (5.74 m true width) of vein C9 grading 2.92 g/t Au and 4 g/t Ag from 74.54 m depth at an elevation of 812 m, which includes a 1.39 m interval (1.12 m true width) grading 8.93 g/t Au and 9 g/t Ag from 74.54 m depth at an elevation of 812 m;
• Hole ZK50C903 intersected a 2.87 m interval (2.74 m true width) of vein C9 grading 4.67 g/t Au and 51 g/t Ag from 62.10 m depth at an elevation of 818 m; and
• Hole ZKDB403AC7602 intersected a 1.55 m interval (1.47 m true width) of vein C77 grading 5.07 g/t Au and 19 g/t Ag from 22.80 m depth at an elevation of 1,010 m.

Drilling Defines Silver-Lead-Zinc Veins in the Resource Area

51 surface and underground holes were drilled within the resource area at the DCG mine to define the silver-lead-zinc veins, including C4, C4E, C4E1, C4E2, C4W, and C7. These veins strike southwest and dip northwest between 45° and 65°. The drilling defined a resource area of around 400 m along strike, and 100 m down-dip.

Highlights of the high-grade silver-lead-zinc intercepts at the DCG mine:

• Hole ZKDB05C4E005 intersected a 1.70 m interval (1.66 m true width) of vein C4E grading 68 g/t Ag, 15.48% lead, 0.5% zinc and 0.16% copper from 160.81 m depth at an elevation of 837 m;
• Hole ZK03AC705 intersected a 1.02 m interval (0.98 m true width) of vein C7 grading 620 g/t Ag, 0.90% Pb, 0.04% Zn, and 0.09 g/t Au from 205.57 m depth at an elevation of 782 m; and
• Hole ZK03C8_202 intersected a 0.66 m interval (0.63 m true width) of newly discovered vein L1 grading 750 g/t Ag, 6.10% Pb, 0.23% Zn, 1.55 g/t Au, and 0.08% Cu from 84.69 m depth at an elevation of 849 m.

Table 1: Selected intercepts from the 2020-2021 drilling programs at the DCG mine

Tunneling Programs at the DCG Mine                

A total of 4,377 m of exploration tunnels have been developed at the DCG mine during this period. The exploration tunneling, comprised of drifting, cross-cutting and raising, was driven along and across major mineralized vein structures to upgrade the drill-defined mineral resources, and to test for new parallel and splay structures (Table 2).

Table 2: Summary of the tunneling programs at the DCG mine

Highlights of selected mineralized zones exposed in the tunnels:

• Cross-cut DCG-XPD-C4-850-403SMW-CM2 exposed mineralization 1.18 m wide (true width), grading 0.63 g/t Au, 2,427 g/t Ag, 2.60% Pb, 0.01% Zn, and 7.26% Cu within vein C4 at an elevation of 850 m;
• Cross-cut DCG-XPD-C76-800-400NMW-CM5 exposed mineralization 5.46 m wide (true width), grading 5.66 g/t Au, 78 g/t Ag, 1.22% Pb, 0.57% Zn, and 0.07% Cu within vein C76 at an elevation of 800 m;
• Cross-cut DCG-XPD-C76-843-400SMW-CM2 exposed mineralization 1.17 m wide (true width), grading 19.17 g/t Au, 54 g/t Ag, 0.15% Pb, 0.09% Zn, and 0.01% Cu within vein C76 at an elevation of 843 m;
• Drift Tunnel DCG-XPD-C9-800-53SYM exposed mineralization 38 m long and 0.93 m wide (true width), grading 2.88 g/t Au, 114 g/t Ag, 0.15% Pb, 0.19% Zn, and 0.04% Cu within vein C9 at an elevation of 800 m; and
• Drift Tunnel DCG-XPD-C4E-850-403SYM exposed mineralization 70 m long and 0.86 m wide (true width) grading 0.08 g/t Au, 76 g/t Ag, 7.33% Pb, 0.20% Zn, and 0.04% Cu within vein C4E at an elevation of 850 m.

Table 3: Selected mineralized zones exposed by cross-cuts at the DCG mine

Table 4: Selected mineralized zones exposed by drift tunneling at the DCG mine 

Quality Control

Drill cores are NQ size. Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contacts or shear/alteration contacts, were split into halves by saw cutting. The half cores are stored in the Company’s core shacks for future reference and checks, and the other half core samples are shipped in securely sealed bags to the Chengde Huakan 514 Geology and Minerals Test and Research Institute in Chengde, Hebei Province, China, 226 km northeast of Beijing, the Zhengzhou Nonferrous Exploration Institute Lab in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China, and SGS in Tianjin, China. All three labs are ISO9000 certified analytical labs. For analysis, the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1 mm and then split into a 200-300 g subsample which is further pulverized to minus 200 mesh. Two subsamples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with aqua regia for gold analysis with atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS), and the other is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, zinc, and copper with AAS.

Channel samples are collected along sample lines perpendicular to the mineralized vein structure in exploration tunnels. Spacing between sampling lines is typically 5 m along strike. Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut by continuous chisel chipping. Sample length ranges from 0.2 m to more than 1 m, depending on the width of the mineralized vein and the mineralization type. Channel samples are prepared and assayed with AAS at Silvercorp’s mine laboratory (Ying Lab) located at the mill complex in Luoning County, Henan Province, China. The Ying lab is officially accredited by the Quality and Technology Monitoring Bureau of Henan Province and is qualified to provide analytical services. The channel samples are dried, crushed and pulverized. A 200 g sample of minus 160 mesh is prepared for assay. A duplicate sample of minus 1 mm is made and kept in the laboratory archives. Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish, while silver, lead, zinc and copper are assayed by two-acid digestion with AAS finish.

A routine quality assurance/quality control procedure is adopted to monitor the analytical quality at each lab. Certified reference materials, pulp duplicates and blanks are inserted into each batch of lab samples. QA/QC data at the lab are attached to the assay certificates for each batch of samples.

The Company maintains its own comprehensive QA/QC program to ensure best practices in sample preparation and analysis of the exploration samples. Project geologists regularly insert CRM, field duplicates and blanks to each batch of 30 core samples to monitor the sample preparation and analysis procedures at the labs. The analytical quality of the labs is further evaluated with external checks by sending approximately 3-5% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias. Data from both the Company’s and the labs’ QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists.

Guoliang Ma, P. Geo., Manager of Exploration and Resource of the Company, is the Qualified Person for Silvercorp under NI 43-101 and has reviewed and given consent to the technical information contained in this news release.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a profitable Canadian mining company producing silver, lead and zinc metals in concentrates from mines in China. The Company’s goal is to continuously create healthy returns to shareholders through efficient management, organic growth and the acquisition of profitable projects. Silvercorp balances profitability, social and environmental relationships, employees’ wellbeing, and sustainable development.