TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - April 19, 2013) - Apogee Silver Ltd. ("Apogee" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:APE) announces that the Company received US$233,000 representing approximately 85% of the gross proceeds for the delivery of 21 dry tonnes ("DMT") of lead-silver and 160 DMT of zinc-silver concentrates, following further successful custom milling and bulk-scale flotation tests undertaken on mineralized material from the Pulacayo Project in March 2013. The concentrate was sold to Consorcio Minero S.A. (Cormin), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Trafigura Group. The outstanding balance of payment is expected in approximately four months once final analysis of the concentrates is completed. Further details provided below.
The Company's lead-silver concentrate was produced under a custom milling contract at the cooperative Fedecomin concentrator in Potosi department, Bolivia during February and March 2013. Fedecomin is one of several concentrators being used in the area for custom toll milling and bulk-scale test work of mineralized material from Pulacayo. Milling has also been taking place at the Tatasi concentrator. The proceeds received by the Company from the sale of concentrates are net of shipping costs. As per the statutory requirements in Bolivia, metal export royalties are paid in advance (6% for silver and 5% for lead). NSR royalties related to the underlying agreements of the property (1.5% to the Pulacayo Cooperative and 2.5% to the Corporation Minera de Boliva (COMIBOL)) are payable once final analysis and payment is made by Cormin. Preliminary tonnages and concentrate grades for the material shipped are provided in Table 1.
| Table 1: Preliminary grades of concentrates sold | ||||
| Concentrate | Dry Metric Tonnes | Ag (g/t) | Pb (%) | Zn (%) |
| Lead | 21.08 | 6,608 | 63.9 | |
| Zinc | 160.55 | 1,248 | 41.8 | |
Chief Executive Officer of Apogee, Neil Ringdahl, stated: "We are delighted with our trial mining and milling performance to date. The Bolivian mining team have completed their training phase and have sufficient experience to ramp up production safely. The Company remains committed to training and employing its work force from local communities. A stockpile of over 3,000 tonnes has been built up at the mine site for processing while mine production ramps up."
Grant of Options
The Company has granted an aggregate of 11,270,000 stock options to certain directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company at an exercise price of $0.10. The options shall vest immediately and will expire on the five year anniversary from the date of grant, in accordance with the terms of Apogee's stock option plan and shall remain subject to a statutory hold period. The options shall remain subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the TSXV.
About Apogee Silver Ltd
Apogee Silver Ltd. is a mineral exploration and development stage company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol APE. Apogee targets advanced silver-zinc-lead projects in South America that demonstrate potential to be developed to production. Currently its projects are located in the historic silver producing regions of southwest Bolivia and northern Chile. There are currently 301,066,809 common shares of Apogee issued and outstanding.
Apogee's most advanced project is the 100% controlled Pulacayo-Paca project in Bolivia. This project includes the property that covered the second-largest silver mine in the history of Bolivia with a historical estimate of over 600 million ounces of past production.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information:
This press release may contain "forward-looking information" or information deemed to be forward-looking within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements about the results of Apogee's technical reports and the development potential of the Company and/or its projects; the timing and amount of future exploration and development of its projects; and the future financial or operating performance of the Company and/or its projects, including in relation to payments associated with the sale of the Company's concentrates. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: general business, economic, competitive, geopolitical and social uncertainties; the actual results of current exploration activities; other risks of the mining industry and the risks described in the annual information form of the Company. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
