Endeavour Silver reports "high grade" mineralization at Santa Cruz

Vancouver-based Endeavour Silver (TSX-V: EDR) has announced recent results from underground sampling at the North Porvenir zone of the Santa Cruz mine in Mexico's Durango state have exceed expectations. Two horizontal tunnels driven along the mineralized vein returned an average of 689g/t silver and 1.3g/t gold over an average of 2.97m horizontal width and along a 140m-strike length still open to the northwest, the company said. Highlights of the results included 3.5m grading 1,312g/t silver and 1.73g/t gold, 3.3m grading 997g/t silver and 1.38g/t gold, 2.4m grading 1,485g/t silver and 1.55g/t gold and 2.9m grading 1,139g/t silver and 1.54g/t gold. The results form part of Endeavour's phase one US$1.1mn exploration program of 14 surface diamond drill holes and 600m of underground development to establish an initial resource at the newly discovered North Porvenir zone. The company plans to complete this first phase of exploration and development work by January 28, at which time it can acquire a 51% interest in the Santa Cruz mine and 1,400t/d Guanacevi processing plant by paying US$2mn. Endeavour holds an option to acquire the remaining 49% of the mine by paying a further US$4mn by January 28, 2008.