Silvercorp Reports High Grade Mineralization From Its Q1-Q3 2018 Drilling Program at the GC Mine in Guangdong Province, China

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 12, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Silvercorp Metals Inc. ("Silvercorp” or the “Company”) (TSX:SVM / NYSE AMERICAN: SVM) is pleased to report results of its drilling program from January 1 to September 31, 2018 at the GC silver-lead-zinc Mine, Guangdong Province, China.

During the first nine months of 2018, the Company continued the extensive drilling program at the GC Mine, completing 132 underground diamond drill holes totaling 18,029 metres (m) with 3 underground rigs. Results of the underground drilling consistently extended not only the major mineralized vein structures along strike and downdip, but also the high-grade mineralization zones within major production vein structures.

Highlighted drill hole intersections include:

• Hole 18CK3804 intersected a 1.70m interval from 36.67m to 38.37m, for a 1.52m true width in vein V2E3, with grades of 736 g/t Ag, 0.84% Pb and 0.79% Zn at the -154m elevation;
  
  
  
  
• Hole 18CK28A07 intersected an 8.85m interval from 121.62m to 130.47m, for a 6.98m true width in vein V2-4, grading 348 g/t Ag, 2.32% Pb and 4.81% Zn at the -302m elevation, and a 1.29m interval from 177.95m to 179.24m, for a 0.92m true width in vein V2E, grading 65 g/t Ag, 5.46% Pb and 6.58% Zn at the -343m elevation;
  
  
  
  
• Hole 18CK4206 intersected a 4.11m interval from 33.60m to 37.71m, for a 3.74m true width in vein NV10, with grades of 118 g/t Ag, 0.91% Pb and 6.04% Zn at the -54m elevation; and
  
  
  
  
• Hole 18CK40A05 intersected a 0.80m interval from 26.16m to 26.96m, for a 0.77m true width in vein V19-1, grading 86 g/t Ag, 15.01% Pb and 7.22% Zn at the -57m elevation.

The underground drilling program was mainly conducted from the current production levels to delineate the downdip and along-strike extensions of known mineralized vein structures in the production area. It also tested for new veins in previously less-explored areas. The drilling intersected high-grade mineralization at elevation level as low as -735m, and the mineralization is still open at depth (Table. 1).

Table 1: Brief summary of the drilling program (January 1 to September 31, 2018)

[1] Mineralized intersection in drill holes is defined by silver equivalent value (AgEq) greater than or equal to 100 g/t.

[2] Formula used for AgEq calculation: AgEq = Ag g/t + 44.6 * Pb% + 43.5 * Zn%

Table 2 below lists the assay results of selected mineralized intersections in drill holes in the drilling program from January 1, 2018 to September 31, 2018.

Table 2: Selected results from the drilling program at the GC Mine

Quality Control

Drill core samples were taken from sawn half core for every 1.5m or limited by apparent wall rock and mineralization contact. Half of the core was sent to the laboratory for analysis and the other half retained for archiving. The samples are individually secured in cotton sample bags and then collectively secured in rice bags for shipment to the on-site laboratory.

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. A duplicate sample of minus 1 mm is made and kept at the laboratory archives. Two subsamples are prepared from the pulverized sample. One is digested with two-acids for analysis of silver, lead, zinc and copper with AAS. The other is retained as pulp reject at the lab for future reference.

A routine quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) procedure is adopted to monitor the analytical quality at the lab. Certified reference materials (CRMs), 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 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 about 3-5% of the pulp samples to higher level labs to check for lab bias.

Data from both the Company's and the lab’s QA/QC programs are reviewed on a timely basis by project geologists.

Guoliang Ma, P. Geo, Silvercorp’s Manager of Exploration and Resource, reviewed the exploration data and prepared the scientific and technical information regarding exploration results contained herein.  He is the Qualified Person on the project as defined under National Instrument 43-101 and has verified and approved the contents of this news release.

About Silvercorp

Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in China. The Company’s vision is to deliver shareholder value by focusing on the acquisition of under developed projects with resource potential and the ability to grow organically. For more information, please visit our website at .

For further information

Lon Shaver

Vice President

Silvercorp Metals Inc.

Phone: (604) 669-9397

Toll Free: 1(888) 224-1881

Email:  

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