Shoshone Acquires Lease on Conjecture Mine, Consolidation of Lakeview Silver District Completed
May 13, 2004--Shoshone Silver Mining Company is pleased to announce that it has leased the Conjecture Mine located in Bonner County, Idaho, less than one mile from Shoshone's Lakeview Mill Facility, from Chester Mining Company.
Acquisition of the Conjecture Mine effectively consolidates control of the Lakeview Mining District in the hands of Shoshone, including the past producing Idaho Lakeview, Keep Cool, Weber, and Conjecture Mines, and several smaller workings and prospects in the District. The Conjecture Vein System can be traced for 5,000 feet along strike from the Keep Cool Mine to the Conjecture Mine and possibly an additional 7,000 feet toward the northwest.
The Conjecture Property consists of approximately 240 acres and includes both patented and unpatented lode mining claims. Terms of the 25-year lease include payment of a $3000 per year advance royalty, issuance of one million shares of Shoshone common stock to Chester, and a sliding scale net smelter return based on the spot price of silver.
The Conjecture Mine was discovered in 1895 and worked until the early 1920s, producing an unrecorded quantity of high grade silver ore from the Graham and Spider adit levels. It was further developed by an inclined shaft from the 100-foot to the 400-foot level and sporadically worked until the mid 1950s. The Idaho Bureau of Mines and Geology records 350 tons of concentrate processed at the Bunker Hill Smelter from 1952 to 1954, averaging approximately 91 oz/t silver, 0.14 oz/t gold and 4.5% lead. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Federal Resources extended the inclined shaft to the 700-foot level, sank a 2000 foot vertical shaft, and developed the 700, 1000, 1600 and 2000-foot levels along 2500 feet of strike, totaling over 13,000 feet of workings. Sunshine Mining unitized the Lakeview District during the 1970s and conducted further exploration and development work, but did not produce any ore from Conjecture.
Resource estimates based on Federal Resources data for the Conjecture Mine were calculated and reported by Sunshine Mining Company (R. A. Forrest, April, 1975), as follows: "Reserve calculations performed by Avery on the Federal Resources data, results in a reserve tonnage aggregating 326,750 tons of proven and probable ore assaying about 11.8 ounces of silver per ton. Though gold, lead, and zinc values are present throughout the mine, sufficient assays are not present in order to make exact reserve estimate calculations. It is generally assumed that gold content should average about 0.02 ounces per ton with 0.50% lead and 3% zinc. In addition to the proven and probable reserves, extensions between the known levels results in a further 370,000 tons of possible ore of a similar grade."
Shoshone believes these estimates are relevant, however until verified by company geologists they do not constitute a "resource" or "reserve". The Company has access to the historic mine data including sections, assay level plans, stope maps, and surface and underground exploration drilling. However, Shoshone cannot presently reconfirm the above estimates of mineralized material due to the caved and flooded nature of the workings. Exploration plans for the 2004 field season at the Lakeview District are being revised to include the Conjecture Property.
Shoshone Silver Mining Company was founded in 1969 as a silver exploration/development and production company centered on its Lakeview District Mines and Mill Facility located in Bonner County, Idaho. Shoshone also maintains a diverse portfolio of mineral exploration projects across the western United States, Canada, and Mexico. Shoshone stock trades on the OTC Market under the symbol "SHSH."
Certain statements contained in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based on beliefs of management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results.