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

From April 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019, the Company completed 41,127 metres of diamond drilling with 7 underground rigs and 30,748m of exploration tunneling between elevation levels 110m and 710m.  Results from underground drilling extended the major mineralized vein structures along strike and downdip, and exploration tunneling exposed high grade mineralized zones within major production vein structures.  During this period, many mineralized parallel and splay structures were discovered  near the known  mineralized zones.  Particularly, the new discovery of the parallel veins S1W3 and S1W5 with significant drill results within the S1 zone has expanded the mineralization to the northwest of the SGX mine.  In addition, results from the drilling and tunneling programs have confirmed that the mineralized vein S32 at the SGX mine is the same vein structure as vein HZ20 at the HZG mine to the south of the SGX mine. The combined strike length of this vein structure is approximately 2,800m, with tunneling and infill drilling still ongoing at the connecting area of this vein structure.

Highlights of selected drill hole intersections:

Hole ZK12AS1W201 intersected a 1.20m interval from 44.09m to 45.29m, 0.85m true width, of vein S2W2_1 grading 1,102 grams per tonne (“g/t”) silver (“Ag”), 16.39% lead (“Pb”) and 1.55% zinc (“Zn”) at the 128m elevation;  
 

Hole ZK14AS1W201 intersected a 1.11m interval from 23.49m to 24.60m, 0.63m true width, of vein S2W2_1 grading 1,134 g/t Ag, 29.24% Pb and 1.18% Zn at the 132m elevation;
 

Hole ZK10S18E002 intersected a 1.07m interval from 4.96m to 6.02m, 1.04m true width, of vein S14E1 grading 1,000 g/t Ag, 0.46% Pb and 0.51% Zn at the 452m elevation, and a 0.61m interval from 155.38m to 156.00m, 0.57m true width, of vein S35E grading 231 g/t Ag, 1.04% Pb and 0.09% Zn at the 393m elevation; and
 

Hole ZKDBS1W21201 intersected a 0.37m interval from 413.36m to 413.73m, 0.34m true width, of newly discovered vein S1W5 grading 2,543 g/t Ag, 19.82% Pb and 7.24% Zn at the 264m elevation.

The underground drilling program is mainly conducted from the current production levels to delineate the downdip and along-strike extensions of known mineralized vein structures in the production area and test for new veins in the previously less-explored areas.

The drilling program at SGX is summarized in the following table:

[1] Ore intersection is defined by silver equivalent value (AgEq) greater than or equal to 140 g/t.
[2] The formula for AgEq is: Ag g/t + 37.8695 x Pb % + 21.3611 x Zn %

Highlights of selected mineralized zones exposed in exploration drift tunnels:

Drift Tunnel CM105-S2SJ-S2W2-140-12ANYM exposed mineralization 145m long and 0.91m wide (true width) grading 699 g/t Ag, 21.66% Pb and 3.31% Zn within vein structure S2W2 on the 140m level;
 

Drift Tunnel CM105-S2SJ-S2W2-140-12ASYM exposed mineralization 170m long and 0.96m wide (true width) grading 698 g/t Ag, 13.60% Pb and 2.55% Zn within vein structure S2W2 on the 140m level;
 

Drift Tunnel CM101-S19-210-4SYM exposed mineralization 82m long and 1.20m wide (true width) grading 436 g/t Ag, 14.09% Pb and 1.75% Zn within vein structure S19 on the 210m level; and
 

Drift Tunnel PD16-S31-210-60SYM exposed mineralization 35m long and 0.92m wide (true width) grading 779 g/t Ag, 14.65% Pb and 4.28% Zn within vein structure S29 on the 210m level.      

The exploration tunneling at the SGX mine, comprising of drifting, crosscutting and raising, was driven along and across major mineralized vein structures to upgrade drill defined mineral resources and test for new parallel and splay structures, and is summarized in the following table:

Tables 1 and 2 below list the assay results of certain selected mineralized drill hole intersections and mineralized zones exposed in drift tunnels from the exploration programs.

Table 1: Selected results from the drill programs at the SGX mine

[1] Vein discovered between April 30, 2018 and September 30, 2019

Table 2: Selected mineralized zones exposed by drift tunneling at the SGX mine

Quality Control

Drill cores are NQ size.  Drill core samples, limited by apparent mineralization contact or shear/alteration contact, 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, and the Zhengzhou Nonferrous Exploration Institute Lab in Zhengzhou, Henan Province, China.  Both labs are ISO9000 certified analytical labs.  For analysis the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1mm and then split to a 200-300g 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 5m along strike.  Both the mineralized vein and the altered wall rocks are cut by continuous chisel chipping.  Sample length ranges from 0.2m to more than 1m, 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 200g sample of minus 160 mesh is prepared for assay.  A duplicate sample of minus 1mm is made and kept at the laboratory archives.  Gold is analysed by fire assay with AAS finish, and 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 lab batch of 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.

Mr. 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.