Mr. David Wolfin reports
AVINO ANNOUNCES AN UPDATED MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE AT THE AVINO PROPERTY
Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. has completed an updated mineral resource estimate for the company's Avino property located near Durango in west-central Mexico. The updated estimate encompasses the property's San Gonzalo mine, the Avino mine vein systems and the property's oxide tailings. The mineral resources estimate has been included in an updated technical report prepared by Aranz Geo Ltd. under National Instrument 43-101, which will be available on SEDAR under the company's profile and filed on Form 6-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 45 days.
This updated mineral resource estimate includes 34 drill holes that were completed during the drill programs from 2016 to 2017. These drilling programs have significantly increased the amount of information available for resource estimation. The drill holes and assay data were incorporated into the updated mineral resource estimate.The results of the additional drilling contributed to an approximate 225-per-cent increase in tonnage in the measured and indicated resource categories and a decrease of 25 per cent in the inferred resource due to a conversion of a portion of the inferred resources to the indicated resource category.
The total measured and indicated mineral resources in all deposits totals 10.7 million metric tonnes containing 47.5 million troy ounces of silver equivalent, 26.3 million troy ounces of silver, 217,000 troy ounces of gold and 86 million pounds of copper. The total inferred mineral resources in all deposits total 6.09 millionmetric tonnes containing 23.2 million troy ounces of silver equivalent, 13.6 million troy ounces of silver, 109,000 troy ounces of gold and 33 million pounds of copper.
"We are very pleased with the updated mineral resource estimate, which demonstrates a significant increase in the mineral resources potentially available for mill feed," said Avino president and chief executive officer, David Wolfin. "The successful drill program that started in 2016 has allowed us to evaluate the tonnage and grade in the area between the San Luis workings and the ET production area, the results of which have now been incorporated into this updated mineral resource estimate. We are confident that our 2018 exploration program will continue to build on the success of our past operations. I would like to thank the exploration team in Mexico for their continued and invaluable efforts. Avino is celebrating its 50th year in the mining industry, and this would not be possible without the hard work and dedication of the entire Avino team."
The associated table is a summary of current resources at the San Gonzalo and Avino mines, as well as the updated oxide tailings resource, grouped into the measured, indicated and inferred categories. The effective date of the resource estimates is Jan. 31, 2018.
The resource estimates were prepared by Michael O'Brien, PGeo, PrSciNat, who is a qualified person within the meaning of NI 43-101 and who is an employee of Aranz Geo and independent of Avino, as defined by Section 1.5 of NI 43-101.
AVINO MINE MINERAL RESOURCES SUMMARY AS AT JAN. 31, 2018 Measured and indicated mineral resources Grade Metal contents AgEqAg AuResourceDeposit Cut-offMetricAgEq AgAuCumillion million thousandCu Tcategory (AgEq g/t)tonnes g/tg/t g/t % tr oz* tr oztr ozMeasuredAvino -- ET60 3,890,000 141 710.540.55 17.6 8.9 67.421,000MeasuredAvino -- San Luis60 650,000 142 670.700.493.0 1.4 14.6 3,000Measured San Gonzalo system 130 290,000 3973141.650.003.7 2.9 15.4 0Total measured all deposits 4,830,000 156 850.630.51 24.313.2 97.424,000IndicatedAvino ET60 2,640,000 105 490.560.348.9 4.2 47.6 9,000Indicated Avino -- San Luis60 1,620,000 126 540.820.366.6 2.8 42.9 6,000IndicatedSan Gonzalo system 130 240,000 3192571.250.002.5 2.09.6 0Indicatedoxide tailings50 1,330,000 124 980.460.005.3 4.2 19.8 0Total indicatedall deposits 5,830,000 124 700.640.25 23.313.1119.815,000Total measuredand indicated10,660,000 139 770.630.37 47.526.3217.239,000InferredAvino -- ET60 2,380,000 111 580.510.338.5 4.4 39.1 8,000InferredAvino -- San Luis60 1,780,000 124 570.720.387.1 3.2 41.2 7,000Inferred San Gonzalo system 130 120,000 2622190.860.001.0 0.83.3 0Inferred oxide tailings50 1,810,000 113 880.440.006.6 5.1 25.6 0Total inferred all deposits 6,090,000 118 700.560.24 23.213.6109.215,000Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, socio-political, marketing or other relevant issues. The quantity and grade of reported inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred resources as an indicated or measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the indicated or measured mineral resource category.Figures in the table may not add to the totals shown due to rounding.The mineral resource estimate is classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum's definition standards for mineral resources and mineral reserves incorporated by reference into National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.Mineral resources are reported at cut-off grades of 60, 130 and 50 grams per tonne silver equivalent for the Avino, San Gonzalo and oxide tailings, respectively, as indicated in the table.
The silver equivalent was calculated using the following assumptions:
For Avino (ET and San Luis), San Gonzalo and oxide tailings:
Au price $1,300 (U.S.)/ounce; Ag price $17.50 (U.S.)/ounce; Copper price $3 (U.S.)/pound.
A net smelter return (NSR) was calculated and the silver equivalent was back calculated.
For ET using the formula:
AgEq equals (24.06 times Au (g/t) plus 0.347 times silver (g/t) plus 43.0 times copper (per cent) minus 151.8 times bismuth (per cent)) divided by 0.347.
For San Gonzalo using the formula:
AgEq equals (0.03 times Au (g/t) plus 0.385 times Ag (g/t) minus 4.03) divided by 0.385.
For oxide tailings using the formula:
AgEq equals 69.37 times Au (g/t) plus Ag (g/t).
Highlights for each deposit include the following:
The Avino mine:
A measured and indicated resource of 8.8 milliontonnes (at an average grade of 61 g/t silver, 0.61 g/t gold and 0.45 per cent copper) containing 17.2 million troy ounces of silver, 172,500 troy ounces of gold and 39,000 tonnes copper using a cut-off grade of 60 g/t silver equivalent;An inferred resource of 4.16 million tonnes (at an average grade of 57 g/t silver, 0.60 g/t gold and 0.35 per cent copper) containing 7.7 million troy ounces of silver, 80,000 troy ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes of copper using a cut-off grade of 60 g/t silver equivalent.
The measured and indicated tonnage for the Avino vein system at the ET mine has increased from 1.45 million tonnes to 8.80 million tonnes due to infill drilling, increased width of the vein below 11th level, and additional hangingwall units encountered between San Luis and ET. The inferred tonnage has decreased by 28 per cent from the previous estimate mainly due to infill drilling conversion to indicated resources.
The Avino vein system at the ET mine contains over three-quarters of the tonnage on the Avino property and includes significant copper grades.
San Gonzalo mine:
A measured and indicated resource of 530,000 tonnes (at an average grade of 288 g/t silver and 1.47 g/t gold) containing 4.9 million troy ounces of silver and 25,000troy ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of 130 g/t silver equivalent; An inferred resource of 120,000 tonnes (at an average grade of 219 g/t silver and 0.86 g/t gold) containing800,000 troy ounces of silver and 3,300 troy ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of 130 g/t for silver equivalent. The decrease in inferred resource is mainly due to development-based conversion of inferred resource to indicated resource.
The San Gonzalo vein system is comparatively higher grade and provides flexibility to the company's mining production during times of uncertain metal prices.
Oxide tailings
The oxide tailings estimate has not been modified since 2016 and no further sampling or modelling work has been carried out.
The indicated silver resource is unchanged and includes 1,330,000 tonnes at an average grade of 98 g/t silver and 0.46 g/t gold totalling 4.2 million troy ounces of silver and 19,800 troy ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of 50 g/t silver equivalent.
The inferred resource is also unchanged and includes 1.81 million tonnes at an average grade of 88 g/t silver and 0.44 g/t gold totalling 5.1 million troy ounces of silver and 25,600 troy ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of 50 g/t for silver equivalent.
Method of calculation
The estimation methods used were substantially the same for all three deposits, providing a consistent baseline for strategic planning.
Mineral resources were estimated by ordinary kriging, optimized using kriging neighbourhood analysis and verified by means of nearest neighbour and inverse distance methods, swath-plot comparisons of estimates and visual inspections. Block models were created for the San Gonzalo and Avino vein systems and the oxide tailings deposit and estimates were made utilizing blocks of sizes 20 m easting by five m northing by 10 m elevation for Avino (ET mine), sizes 10 m easting by five m northing by 10 m elevation for San Gonzalo and 40 m easting by 40 m northing by two m elevation for oxide tailings.
Classification of the mineral resource was based on slope of regression as a measure of uncertainty, with adjustment to practical geometries using geological knowledge of the deposit.
Fundamental changes since the previous mineral resource estimates are (1) depletion due to mining (over 800,000 tonnes milled since the beginning of 2017), (2) significant new sampling information, (3) changes to cut-off calculations, and (4) reclassification of mineral resources in the light of improved understanding of confidence in the deposits at distances from the underground channel samples and drill hole samples.
More sampling information does not always lead to direct increases in resource tonnages and contained metal. In some cases, the new information provides improved understanding (developed by variogram modelling and kriging neighbourhood analysis) that may demote some portions of mineral resource from high confidence categories, such as measured and indicated, to a lower confidence category such as inferred.
Currently, for the San Gonzalo and Avino vein systems, estimated blocks more than 30 metres from sampling are not considered to be of sufficient confidence to be included in the indicated category resources and have been classified as inferred resources.
For the oxide tailings, estimated blocks more than 50metres from sampling are not considered to be sufficiently confident to be included in the indicated category resources.
Qualified person(s)
Avino's projects in Durango, Mexico, are under the geoscientific oversight of Michael O'Brien, PGeo, senior principal consultant, Aranz Geo, and under the supervision and Jasman Yee, PEng, Avino director, who are both qualified persons within the context of NI 43-101. Both have reviewed and approved the technical data in this news release.
About Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd.
Avino is a silver and gold producer with a diversified pipeline of gold, silver and base metals properties in Mexico and Canada employing approximately 500 people. Avino produces from its wholly owned Avino and San Gonzalo mines near Durango, Mexico, and is currently planning for future production at the Bralorne gold mine in British Columbia, Canada.
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