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When his mother asked him to stay close to her, he immediately agreed and pursued his higher studies in Bangalore and not in the US, the ultimate destination for engineers. He is so devoted to his mother even today, that he doesn't start his day without her blessings.
Analysis of mine samples is completed on site, with check assaysperformed by SGS Minerals Services, in their Guanajuato, Mexicofacilities. These estimates will be completed after the current surfacecore drilling program is completed in September 2009, which is focused ondown dip continuity below the present development levels of the sameveins. TheArgentina vein remains open to expansion at depth and for approximately500 metres to the east below old mine workings. As well, development andstoping on the Cantarranas (Hormiguera and San Miguel Mines), El Rosario,San Gregorio, and Recompensa veins will lead to future mineral resourceestimates. Exploration Potential:----------------------------------------------------------------Vein Tonnes Ag AuPb Zn----------------------------------------------------------------Argentina 60,000-80,000 400-600g/t 1-2g/t 4-6% 2-4%----------------------------------------------------------------Don Benito60,000-80,000 300-600g/t 1-4g/t 4-8% 3-6%----------------------------------------------------------------These tonnages include some of the drilling and development completedduring the spring of 2008 (see GPR news releases dated February 19, June2 and June 23, 2008), plus ongoing underground drilling, and couldrepresent another 4-5 years of mine life with further definition. There hasbeen insufficient exploration to define a mineral resource from thesedata to date and it is uncertain if further exploration will result inthe Exploration Potential being delineated as a mineral resource.Table 4. According to NI 43-101,Exploration Potential must be reported as ranges and these are presentedin the following table.
The Exploration Potential is conceptual in natureand based on wide spaced exploration drilling at Argentina, andexploration drilling and two development levels at Don Benito. Several other veins on the property have not yet beendrilled and are not included in any category.Exploration Potential has been estimated in-house for only the Don Benitoand Argentina veins to demonstrate the potential mineral resources inthese areas prior to mine development. As such, the surface drilling is used to determine inferredresources and additional Exploration Potential for the veins. With theincreased confidence in the Argentina Vein data, some of the tonnespreviously included as Exploration Potential have been upgraded to theInferred category.
This "rolling resource" is typical forunderground mines as it is often not cost-effective to define a largeresource/reserve in advance of mining.Due to the steep topography and the nature of the narrow veins at Topia,surface drilling is typically widely spaced and is used as a guide forunderground development by locating and confirming structural continuityand grade, while development by drifting, sampling and some undergrounddrilling along the vein defines the measured and indicated mineralresources. Great Panther has already been mining Topia for 3 1/2years and the mine saw 47 years of continuous production prior to that.The Company plans to continue the systematic replacement of annualproduction with new resources. Percentage Increase in Argentina Vein Resources 2009 over 2008:---------------------------------------------------------------------------Category Tonnes Ag ozsAu ozsPb lbsZn lbs Ag oz Eq---------------------------------------------------------------------------M & I Resources 20%32% 46% 23% 20%29%---------------------------------------------------------------------------Inferred Resources101% 160%131%193%214% 168%---------------------------------------------------------------------------At the current production rate of approximately 30,000 tonnes peryear, and considering that not all resources may be mined, managementexpects the resources above to support a mine life at Topia of at least10 more years. This is largely due to the factthat more drill holes can now be incorporated into the inferred category.Table 3. Contained Metal (all veins):---------------------------------------------------------------------------Category Tonnes Ag ozsAu ozsPb lbsZn lbs Ag oz Eq---------------------------------------------------------------------------M & I Resources173,1033,080,954 5,50721,278,08018,430,8625,458,218---------------------------------------------------------------------------Inferred Resources174,5623,560,237 5,79319,585,85614,746,9985,692,957---------------------------------------------------------------------------The improved understanding of, and confidence in, the Argentinamineralization has led directly to a modest improvement in the measuredand indicated mineral resource but a dramatic increase in the inferredmineral resource as shown in Table 3. The 2009 Argentina vein mineral resource value assumed:(1) the June 1, 2009, concentrate sales contracts with Louis DreyfusCommodities, which are effective until December 31, 2010;(2) average metal prices for April 2009, typical plant recoveries, andgrade capping all shown in Table 1; and(3) 33% mine dilution.Table 2. This isapplicable at Topia since the general and administrative ("G&A") costsare $US25/tonne.
Current operating costs for the Argentina vein are$US100/tonne ore mined and processed, and any additional resources to themining plan would require no increase in G&A costs and reduced unitmining costs. When combined with the 2009 Argentina resource,the new total contained metal for each resource category is shown onTable 2.The 2009 mineral resource estimate has increased over that reported in2008 (see GPR news release August 11, 2008 and Tables 2 and 3 below)mainly due to:- a re-interpretation of the drill hole data,- new vein channel sampling data from exploration development on Level 2,- a correction of the survey of old underground workings to surfacetopography,- improved ore grades at Topia (522g/t silver; 0.58g/t gold; 3.26% leadand 4.20% zinc for the year to end of June),- updated and improved metallurgical recoveries, and- improved concentrate sales terms,These contributed to a greater understanding and confidence in theinterpretation of the Argentina vein.Table 1. At current productionlevels, management considers the new resource to be sufficient for atleast a 10 year mine life.The 2009 mineral resource estimate provides an update for the Argentinavein only, while the estimate delivered by Wardrop in 2006 for some ofthe other veins on the property came largely from the verification ofPenoles' resources, and are still intact, as mining to date has come fromnew mine development on these veins (Resources for the "other veins" wereestimated by Wardrop using metal prices as reported in the 2006 report).The breakdown for the Argentina Vein and Other Veins on the property isgiven in Table 1 below. The 2009 mineral resourceestimate comprises Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources of 173,103tonnes at 552g/t silver, 0.99g/t gold, 5.58% lead and 4.83% zinc(5,458,218 silver equivalent ounces) as well as 174,562 tonnes of 633g/tsilver, 1.03g/t gold, 5.10% lead and 3.84% zinc (5,692,957 silverequivalent ounces) in the Inferred category. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, Jul 21 (MARKET WIRE) -- GREAT PANTHER RESOURCES LIMITED (TSX: GPR) is pleased to announce thatWardrop Engineering of Vancouver has delivered an update to the ongoingmineral resource development at the Company's 100% owned TopiaSilver-Gold-Lead-Zinc Mine in Durango, Mexico.
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