Thick Zone Of Copper Mineralization At The Oro Cu-Au Project

VANCOUVER - Southern Silver Exploration Corp. has received assay results from the first two drill holes of its approximate 4,000-metre diamond drilling program currently underway to test several Laramide-age copper porphyry and skarn targets at its wholly owned Oro property, located in southwestern New Mexico. The first two deep holes tested the main porphyry target on the Oro property, identified through earlier geological compilation, clay-alteration studies and ZTEM airborne geophysics.

Drilling successfully intersected: 1) Classic geochemical and alteration zoning demonstrating near surface lower temperature prophyllic alteration transitioning at depth into a thick zone of strong pyritic/phyllic-alteration, and at further depth transitioning into higher temperature potassic alteration with strong copper enrichment. 2) Increasing molybdenite concentrations with depth within the potassic alteration, suggesting the strongest copper mineralization lies deeper in the hydrothermal system. 3) Unexposed hydrothermal diatreme breccias with copper oxides directly beneath gravel cover in one hole, a potential host for high-grade copper at depth.

Regionally important Cretaceous carbonate host rocks were not adequately tested in either hole due to the complex array of dikes encountered beneath Laramide-age volcanic rocks; thus, the carbonate sequence remains a high priority to test for high-grade skarn development.

Results from these initial two holes provide the company with a better understanding of the underlying stratigraphy, the distribution of the main alteration phases and, importantly, the relationship between the ZTEM geophysical signatures and the alteration assemblages to enhance further drill targeting within this 4km2 area.

Thick zones of copper mineralization were intersected in hole OR22-011 (Total Depth of 1,005.8m), which includes 644m (2,113 feet) of 0.030% Cu from 359m to 1,003m depth, with the lower 180m (590 feet averaging 0.048% Cu. Copper and molybdenum concentrations, as well as the intensity of alteration, generally increase to the end of the maximum permitted depth. The complex assemblage of high-level dikes, hydrothermal breccias, and the erratic increase in molybdenum concentrations from generally less than 10 ppm to narrow zones of +0.01% Mo indicate higher grades of copper should lie deeper in this rotated porphyry system.