Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX: SVM) (NYSE American: SVM) is pleased to report results from its 2021 exploration programs at the LME mine. Extensive exploration drilling and tunneling are ongoing at the LME mine, and all other mines at the Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China.

From October 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021, 17,752 metres from a total of 113 diamond drill holes, including 98 underground holes and 15 surface holes, were completed at the LME mine.  Assay results for 102 holes have been received, with 52 holes intercepting mineralization. Currently, seven rigs are drilling at the LME mine.

Drilling Intersects High-Grade Veins in and outside the Resource Areas

The diamond drilling programs at the LME mine targeted blocks of known silver-lead-zinc veins in the resource areas that were previously missed due to limited drilling or tunneling, changes in the strikes and dips, and/or pinch-swelling of the pay-zones in the veins.  Since access tunnels are already in place, any discovered high-grade blocks can quickly be converted to reserves and mined.

The high-grade intercepts for this period are associated with parallel veins LM5, LM5E, LM5E1, LM5E2, M5W, and LM5W2.  Other veins include LM4W, LM4W2, LM6 and its parallel veins LM6E, LM6E2, LM6W and LM6W1.

Step-out drilling at the LME mine also hit high-grade silver-lead-zinc mineralization, including veins LM61 and LM66 to the south and vein ML18E to the north. Hole ZKG20AT1704 confirmed that the north-south striking vein T17E at the TLP mine extended southward to the area between the TLP and LME mines. These discoveries confirm the potential of high-grade silver-lead mineralization extending beyond the defined resource area of the LME mine.

Highlights of high-grade intercepts of vein LM5, LM6 and their parallel veins at the LME mine:

• Hole ZKL5202SC intersected a 0.92 m interval (0.91 m true width) of vein LM5 grading 6,455 grams per tonne silver, 5.28% lead, 1.19% zinc, 10.00 g/t gold, and 0.29% copper at the 498 m elevation;
• Hole ZKL51LM4E204 intersected a 0.76 m interval (0.68 m true width) of vein LM5E grading 1,538 g/t Ag, 5.65% Pb, 1.89% Zn, 0.73 g/t Au, and 0.38% Cu at the 573 m elevation;
• Hole ZKL53LM4E208 intersected a 0.71 m interval (0.65 m true width) of vein LM5W2 grading 1,902 g/t Ag, 1.48% Pb, 0.32% Zn, 0.01 g/t Au, and 0.48% Cu at the 633 m elevation;
• Hole ZKL5801SC intersected a 0.94 m interval (0.53 m true width) of vein LM6E2 grading 3,014 g/t Ag, 5.51% Pb, 0.39% Zn, 0.20 g/t Au, and 0.11% Cu at the 502 m elevation;
• Hole ZKL53LM602 intersected a 0.65 m interval (0.64 m true width) of vein LM6W grading 1,596 g/t Ag, 2.06% Pb, 0.63% Zn, 0.05 g/t Au, and 0.27% Cu at the 680 m elevation; and
• Hole ZKLDB1712 intersected a 1.14 m interval (1.08 m true width) of vein LM61 grading 13.70 g/t Au, 19 g/t Ag, 0.51% Pb, 0.08% Zn, and 0.01% Cu at the 681 m elevation.

In-fill Drilling of Sub-Horizontal Gold Zone LM4E2

During this period, 22 out of the 44 holes targeting the sub-horizontal gold structures of LM4E2 intersected gold mineralization (Table 1).

• Hole ZKL55LM4E203 intersected a 1.16 m interval (0.93 m true width) of vein LM4E2 grading 5.43 g/t Au and 70 g/t Ag at the 581 m elevation.

Table 1: Selected intercepts from the 2021 drill programs at the LME Mine

[1] No vein id assigned

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 the Analytical Lab of the Inner Mongolia Geological Exploration Bureau in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China. All the three labs are ISO9000 certified analytical labs. For analysis, the sample is dried and crushed to minus 1 mm and then split to 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, 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, 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 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.