Santa Elena Reserve Update and Expansion Project 
 

VANCOUVER, BC – SilverCrest Mines Inc. reported that the NI 43101 Technical Report, "Reserve Update for the Santa Elena Open Pit and Preliminary Assessment for the Santa Elena and Cruz de Mayo Expansion Project" located in Sonora, Mexico.

The Expansion Project contemplates the installation of a conventional CCD processing facility at the Santa Elena mine with throughput capacity of 2,500 tonnes per day utilizing mill feed from the Santa Elena open pit (Phase I), the Santa Elena underground (Phase II), and retreatment of the material on the heap leach pads to recover residual silver and gold values (Phase IV). The nearby Cruz de Mayo silver deposit (Phase III) will be treated on site as a heap leach operation with potential to ship high grade ore to the Santa Elena proposed processing facility. Summary of Expansion Project Preliminary Assessment (PA): Metal prices for the base case are US$18 per ounce of silver and US$1,000 per ounce of gold. The Au to Ag ratio for conversion is 55:1 based on recovered ounces and the base case metal prices.  The Plan considers a conceptual 10 year mine life at an average annual rate of 1.6 million ounces of silver and 39,000 ounces of gold or 3.8 million ounces of silver equivalent. This would be a 52% increase of produced metal from current operations.  A 2,500 tonnes per day processing facility is proposed with potential to increase to 3,500 tonnes per day. At the increased rate, the current annual metal production could potentially double to over 5.0 million ounces silver equivalent per year.  Initial capital costs are US$84 million of which US$47 million is for a new processing facility. Estimated cash operating costs of US$9.70 per ounce of silver equivalent produces an average annual net pre-tax cash flow of US$17 million using base case metal prices and US$62 million per year at current metal prices.  At a 5% discount rate, the project has a base case Net Present Value of US$131 million and US$491 million at current metal prices. J. Scott Drever, President said, "We are convinced that the next 3 production expansion phases at Santa Elena will increase our projected annual production of 2.5 million ounces of silver equivalent from the current operations by more than 50% using a 2,500 tpd capacity plant or more than 100% with a 3,500 tpd plant. With the excellent economic results of the PA we are anxious to begin to move the report recommendations towards a Pre-Feasibility Study and take advantage of expected buoyant precious metal prices." The company’s address is Suite 501, 570 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC V6C 3P1, (604) 694-1730, fax: (604) 694-1761, email: info@silvercrestmines.com.