High Grade Drilling Intercepts At San Juan Silver Property

 

COEUR D'ALENE, ID - Hecla Mining Company has encountered high-grade intercepts from its drilling program on the Equity vein at the San Juan Silver property in Creede, Colorado. The Equity vein is a major structure that extends for over four miles and recent drilling has identified a high-grade mineralized zone with 150 to 200 feet of strike length that could have more than 1,400 feet of vertical continuity.

The rehabilitation of the Equity portal on the San Juan Silver property was completed in the fourth quarter, enabling the year-round underground drill program to commence in mid-December 2011. There have been 24 holes and 10,861 feet of drilling since the start of the program, varying in spacing from 50 to 100 feet. Assay results for 13 drill holes have been received. Of particular importance were hole #1255 over a true width of 18.5 feet which assayed .45 ounces of gold per ton and 36.8 ounces of silver per ton including a zone that had a true width of 6 feet averaging 1.14 ounces of gold per ton and 90.9 ounces of silver per ton; and hole #1258 over a true width of 29.6 feet which assayed .11 ounces of gold per ton including a zone that had a true width of 12.5 feet averaging .20 ounces of gold per ton and 19.6 ounces of silver per ton.

"This drilling program has just begun and has discovered very high-grade mineralization," said Phil Baker, Hecla's President and CEO. "Our goal will be to confirm that high-grade zones defined by recent drilling on the Equity vein are along the same trend as deeper, significant intersections from surface. As a result, a new resource could be defined which could be complimentary to the 37 million ounce silver resource defined at the nearby Bulldog vein."

In 2012, the San Juan Silver exploration budget is expected to be approximately $8.5 million. There's in excess of 35,000 feet of underground and surface drilling planned in 2012, which will focus on the Equity and North Amethyst vein structures to define the continuity of potential resources and identify new mineralized zones.

The company's address is 6500 N Mineral Dr, Suite 200, Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815, 208.769.4100, fax: 208.769.7612.