Hochschild Mining PLC Significant new discovery at Pallancata (3713Y)

TIDMHOC

RNS Number : 3713Y

Hochschild Mining PLC

08 September 2015

8 Sept 2015

Hochschild Announces Significant New Discovery at Pallancata

Highlights

-- Significant discovery of high grade, wide vein

-- Easily accessed through existing mine infrastructure

-- Sufficient plant capacity available at Pallancata

-- Expected short lead time to be brought into production

Hochschild Mining plc ("Hochschild" or "the Company") is pleased to announce the discovery of a new vein, Pablo, at the Pallancata mine property in south west Peru. The new east-west vein, is expected to lead to a significant expansion of the mine's mineral resources and substantially improve the operational outlook for the Pallancata mine.

Ignacio Bustamante, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"This important discovery at our 100% owned Pallanata mine confirms our historic confidence in the long term potential of the deposit and in the district as a whole. The Pablo vein has the significant advantage of being within our property and with its proximity to our current infrastructure, the capital required to access the vein is expected to be low. There is also sufficient capacity at the operation's plant, Selene, to process the new higher grade material. The next steps are to delineate an inferred resource and we expect to update the market on our progress and the operational strategy going forward in the fourth quarter."

Discovery of the Pablo vein

The exploration team at Pallancata began a 19,100 metre exploration and drilling programme in May 2015 with the aim of focusing on inferred resource exploration at surface. In mid August, whilst pursuing the west extension of the Yurika vein to the north west of the main Pallancata vein, a new blind structure at a depth of 200 metres below surface was discovered. The Pablo vein has been recognised along an east-west strike for 700 metres and dips 50-75deg south. The structure's significant thickness (greater than 10m wide) is associated with dilation zones in flexures and fault jogs. The Pablo vein is a fine-to-medium grain white quartz vein and shows a banded texture and multiple brecciation events filled with adularia and quartz crystals. It is part of a major regional structure, currently extending to about 2 km, which will be explored over the medium term.

The following table displays assay results from the programme:

 
Drill Hole      From      To     Width   Estimated    Au      Ag    Ag Eq 
                 (m)      (m)      (m)      True     (g/t)   (g/t)   (g/t) 
                                           Width 
                                            (m) 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLEP-A01       267.85   299.40   31.55     23.54     1.67    510     610 
 Including      267.85   277.35   9.50      7.09     2.23     651     785 
 Including      281.10   287.40   6.30      4.70     1.59     499     594 
 Including      293.65   299.40   5.75      4.29     3.56    1127    1,340 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLEP-A02       335.00   340.40    5.40     4.86      0.62    175     212 
 Including      338.45   340.40   1.95      1.75     1.15     324     394 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLEP-A03       284.50   314.15   29.65     15.39     2.32    690     830 
 Including      284.50   303.40   18.90     9.81     3.59    1,064   1,279 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLEP-A04       261.60   272.15   10.55     8.26      2.56    805     959 
 Including      262.65   269.10   6.45      5.05     4.06    1,285   1,528 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLEP-A05       301.55   309.55    8.00     6.23      0.66    209     248 
 Including      301.55   302.60   1.05      0.82     3.42    1,074   1,279 
 Split Pablo    326.65   329.60   2.95      2.30     0.86     291     342 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLNS-A01       521.70   529.70    8.00     3.63      1.35    140     221 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLNS-A03       351.80   355.40    3.60     1.18      0.17     58      68 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLRI-A164      267.00   295.65   28.65     25.09     0.84    246     296 
 Including      267.00   269.10   2.10      1.84     3.53     821    1,033 
 Including      281.55   285.40   3.85      3.37     1.60     485     581 
 Including      294.55   295.35   0.80      0.70     3.03    3,227   3,769 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLRI-A165      355.10   379.00   23.90     20.52     0.79    218     266 
 Including      366.55   374.70   8.15      7.00     2.13     585     713 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLYU-A87       244.80   246.42    1.62     1.58      0.93    140     196 
                268.65   269.38   0.73      0.71     0.43     108     134 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLYU-A88       234.60   235.70    1.10     1.05      0.33    124     144 
-------------  -------  -------  ------  ---------  ------  ------  ------ 
DLYU-A90       Unmineralised fault zone 
-------------  ----------------------------------------------------------- 
DLYU-A92A      Unmineralised fault zone 
-------------  -----------------------------------------------------------

Next steps

The intention is to conduct a comprehensive exploration and infill drilling programme until the end of the year to better understand the potential of the new discovery and to achieve an initial inferred resource.

__________________________________________________________________________________

Enquiries:

Hochschild Mining plc

Charles Gordon +44 (0)20 3714 9040

Head of Investor Relations

Hudson Sandler

Charlie Jack +44 (0)207 796 4133

Public Relations

__________________________________________________________________________________

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END