Sabina Silver delivers hot hole at Hackett River (July 31, 2006)

Vancouver — Significant initial results are trickling in from Sabina Silver’s (SBB-V, SBBFF-O) 2006 resource drilling campaign at its Hackett River silver-zinc project in western Nunavut.

Infill hole SHR-06-08 cut a weighted average composite of 56.7 metres (from 224.6 metres down-hole) grading 303.9 grams silver per tonne, 12.2% zinc, 0.22% copper and 2% lead in the Boot Lake zone. The intercept included a 17.5-metre interval of 581.6 grams silver, 22.5% zinc and 3.9% lead, with an even higher-grade 1.85-metre section averaging 1,141 grams silver, 34.7% zinc and 10.4% lead.

About half of Sabina’s planned 17,000 metres of drilling will be devoted to infill work to upgrade the resource estimate and for a scoping study reviewing potential open-pit operations at Hackett River.

Boot Lake stepout hole SHR-06-01 returned an 11.9-metre intercept (from 375 metres down-hole) of 192.4 grams silver and 7.5% zinc. All the deposits in the project remain open for expansion.

A late 2005 resource estimate for the East Cleaver, Boot Lake and Main A zones at Hackett River reviewed about 28 million indicated tonnes grading 134.4 grams silver, 5.3% zinc, 0.8% lead, 0.4% copper and 0.45 gram gold per tonne (giving a 647.4 gram silver equivalent or 8.6% zinc equivalent) using a silver-equivalent cutoff of 343 grams. An additional inferred resource of about 5 million tonnes at 130.6 grams silver, 4.4% zinc, 0.7% lead, 0.3% copper and 0.34 gram gold (giving a silver-equivalent 551 grams or 7.4% zinc equivalent) was also tabled.

Sabina acquired Hackett River from Cominco, now Teck Cominco (TCK-T, TCK-N), in early 2004 for payments of $430,000 to the major and Etruscan Resources (EET-T, ETRUF-O) and spending $7 million on exploration and development. Teck Cominco, which retains a 2% net smelter royalty, declined exercise of its back-in option in 2005, setting Sabina up with its 100% interest. Etruscan holds a 10% net profits interest capped at $2 million.

Sabina also plans environmental studies and programs to optimize metallurgical recovery studies conducted by Cominco in the early 1980s. The major reviewed recoveries of 81.8% for zinc, 66.7% for silver, 69.6% for copper, 70% for lead and 50% for the gold.

With 46.9 million shares outstanding, the company posts a $54-million market capitalization given its recent trading level around $1.16. The company trades in a 52-week price range of 59-$1.90.