Sabina’s number up at Hackett River (January 16, 2006)

Thunder Bay, Ont., junior Sabina Silver (SBB-V, SBBFF-O) has a new resource figure for the Hackett River base metal deposit in western Nunavut, which the company is hoping to use in economic studies.

The new resource estimate is based on 24,500 metres of drilling by Sabina, plus the historical database from drilling by Cominco — now Teck Cominco (TEK.SV.B-T, TCKBF-O) — in the 1970s. Wardrop Engineering, as outside consultant, reviewed both databases.

Based on a cutoff grade equivalent to US$108 per tonne in silver (15 oz. per short ton) Hackett River has an indicated resource of 20.2 million tonnes grading 6.35% zinc, 0.4% copper, 1% lead, 163 grams silver and 0.49 gram gold per tonne. That is an increase from 8.5 million tonnes averaging 8.62% zinc, 0.31% copper, 1.05% lead, 181 grams silver and 0.45 gram gold per tonne in a resource calculation using drill results up to 2004.

There is also an inferred resource, at the same cutoff grade, of 2.9 million tonnes at 5.65% zinc, 0.23% copper, 0.88% lead, 164 grams silver and 0.36 gram gold per tonne.

The resource is contained in three zones, Main A, East Cleaver Lake, and Boot Lake. Two other zones — Finger Lake and Jo — do not have a resource that would comply with National Instrument 43-101 yet, although earlier calculations put the resource on Jo at just over half a million tonnes running 6.8% zinc.

Teck Cominco turned down a back-in option in November so Sabina now has a 100% interest in the property, subject to a 2% net smelter return to Teck and a 10% net profit interest held by Etruscan Resources (EET-T, ETRUF-O), with Etruscan’s interest capped at $2 million.