Aug. 11, 2009 (TheNewswire.ca) --
In 2006 IMPACT Silver Corp (TSXV:IPT) ("IMPACT") initiated a district wide compilation of the historical exploration and mining information on the 272 km2 Royal Mines of Zacualpan Silver District and the adjacent 200 km2 Mamatla District located in the Mexican silver belt. An experienced team has been assembling and re‑discovering historic data over this large claim holding that has been mined for silver since the early 1500's. The historical information is considerable, with maps occupying several rooms at the mine site. Although work on this GIS (Geographic Information System) database is ongoing, selected areas currently have a sufficient degree of completeness to direct modern exploration programs of prospecting, mapping, trenching, sampling, and drilling.
One important aspect of the GIS database work is the compilation of historical mine and exploration workings. To date 1,274 historical workings have been located and entered into the GIS database with prospecting and researching old maps adding on average 10-15 more per week. More specifically, the GIS data compilation categorizes the old workings into type and size as listed in the tables below and also tabulates information concerning past production, rock conditions, sampling results, geology and other historical information as may be available. Summarized below is the breakdown by type of historical workings compiled to date:
ZACUALPAN AND MAMATLA DISTRICTS - OLD MINE WORKINGS TYPE OF WORKING NUMBER Underground Adits, Drifts and Crosscuts 720 Shafts 133 Open Pit Mines 15 Prospect Pits Trenches 359 Unspecified Workings 47 TOTAL 1,274
Historically over the past 480 years, mines in Mexico have been closed for a variety of reasons unrelated to the exhaustion of reserves. Common reasons include flooding as reliable pumps were often not available to allow mining below the water table, political unrest, the sinking of ships carrying critical supplies from Spain, periods of exorbitant taxes and low silver prices.
As these old workings are re-discovered by IMPACT field crews, they are rehabilitated (if possible), mapped and sampled in a systematic manner to generate new drill targets. Shown below is a table of these old workings by size and degree of sampling by IMPACT personnel as well as by the number of workings drilled to date. Old mines noted
as "LARGE" have over 500 meters of underground workings, "MEDIUM" have 50m to 500m of workings and "SMALL" less than 50m of workings. Sampling in some workings is limited due to access issues such as flooding or tunnel collapse, and these are listed under ‘Workings With Partial Sampling'.
ZACUALPAN AND MAMATLA DISTRICTS - SAMPLING AND DRILLING STATISTICS WORKING SIZE NUMBER OF WORKINGS COMPILED TO DATE WORKINGS WITH COMPLETE SAMPLING WORKINGS WITH PARTIAL SAMPLING WORKINGS NOT SAMPLED YET NUMBER OF WORKINGS DRILLED BY IMPACT LARGE 99 22 20 57 15 MEDIUM 306 59 86 161 59 SMALL 537 164 126 247 84 UNKNOWN 332 18 88 226 47 TOTAL 1,274 263 320 691 205
IMPACT has drill tested 205 (16%) of the 1,274 compiled historical workings. Before the GIS database became operational, IMPACT used the exploration methodology of locating, mapping and sampling old workings and then drilling the better ones. In order to gauge the success rate of this methodology, the number of significant intersections produced by only the exploration drill holes was calculated to be 31%. (An "exploration drill hole" is defined as the first drill hole to test a specific new target, and a "significant intersection" is defined as one with greater than 120 g/t silver over 2.0 meters.) Any follow-up drilling that involved deposit definition or step out drill holes was not considered in the calculation of drilling discovery success rate.
Although the GIS database is far from complete, selected areas now have a critical mass of information that can be utilized to optimize exploration drilling. The maturation of the GIS database has defined camp-scale mineralized trends, outlined the extent of individual mineralized zones and helped prioritize exploration targets on this highly prospective and extensive project. Using the GIS system to focus exploration strategy over the past 18 months doubled IMPACT's exploration drilling success rate to 61% thereby optimizing the value of the exploration dollars spent in the ground.
To date IMPACT's exploration on the project has been very successful. IMPACT staff has put two new mines (Chivo and San Ramon/Chaparita) into production over the past four years along with various satellite deposits. Three other zones (Noche Buena, Capire and Aurora 1) are now in the mine planning and metallurgical testing stages. This success has allowed IMPACT to react to changing metal prices and shift current production to silver-rich zones while leaving more zinc and lead rich zones to be mined in the future when market prices for those metals become more favourable.
With a track record of successful exploration, rapid mine development and more than 1,000 old workings not yet drill tested, IMPACT management envisions the potential for establishment of multiple processing plants throughout the two districts each fed by multiple mines.
Brian Hall, P.Geo., Nigel Hume, P.Geo., George Gorzynski P.Eng., and Wojtek Jakubowski, P.Geo., Qualified Persons under the meaning of Canadian National Instrument 43‑101, are responsible for the technical content of this news release.
IMPACT Silver Corp. is a profitable silver-focused mining and exploration company operating in Mexico with a producing silver operation at the Royal Mines of Zacualpan, the adjacent 200km2 advanced Mamatla Mineral District and a portfolio of concessions with an option on a producing mill at Zacatecas.
On behalf of the Directors of IMPACT Silver Corp.
"Frederick W. Davidson" For further information please contact:
President , CEO Darrell Rader, Corporate Development
Telephone: 604-681-0172
The TSX Venture Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.
1100-543 Granville St. Telephone 604 681-0172
Vancouver, BC., Canada V6C 1X8 Facsimile 604 681-6813
www.IMPACTSilver.com inquiries@IMPACTSilver.com
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