VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire -12/05/11)- GREAT PANTHER SILVER LIMITED (TSX: GPR.TO - News)(AMEX: GPL - News) (the "Company") is pleased to provide an update on a further 12 surface diamond drill holes from the ongoing program at the Company's wholly-owned San Ignacio Project in Guanajuato, Mexico. Drill-holes ESI11-039 to ESI11-050, inclusive, were drilled from section 450N to section 700N, confirming vein continuity with mineralized vein widths of up to nine metres, and in-filling the Intermediate zone extension to the south, and defining the Nombre de Dios zone. Assays from drill core continue to demonstrate higher gold:silver ratios than at the main Guanajuato Mine.

Drilling at San Ignacio is currently progressing north to 900N, confirming and filling in the Melladito, Intermediate, and Nombre de Dios veins on a 50 metre by 50 metre spacing in preparation for a Mineral Resource update which is anticipated later in the second quarter, 2012. The initial inferred mineral resource estimate (see news release October 11, 2011) comprises 611,000 tonnes grading 127 g/t silver and 2.05 g/t gold (4,494,000 Silver Equivalent Ounces) and represents results from just the first 24 diamond drill holes over a strike length of only 300 metres. The mineralized zones remain open along strike to the north and south along the entire four kilometre long property. As drilling productivity has recently doubled, the addition of a second drill to the program has been rescheduled for the first quarter, 2012.

Highlights (see table below) of the Intermediate zone drilling include 213g/t silver and 5.12g/t gold over a true width of 3.26 metres, and 201g/t silver and 6.34g/t gold over a true width of 4.96 metres in ESI11-039 (section 450N). These two intersections are separated by a void with a true width of approximately 0.7 metres that is possibly an old mine working from the 1800's implying a vein width of almost nine metres from which only a very narrow portion has been previously mined. On section 700N drill-hole ESI11-048 intersected 296g/t silver and 1.28g/t gold over a true width of 3.86 metres in the Intermediate zone at an elevation of 2345 metres above sea level ("masl"), presently the intersection at the highest elevation with significant mineralization (see sections and longitudinal posted on the Company website at www.greatpanther.com).

The Nombre de Dios vein drilling demonstrates a thickening of the vein on section 600N, also at a high elevation of 2335 masl, with an intersection of 106g/t silver and 2.11g/t gold over a true width of 5.15 metres in ESI11-044 (section 600N). Fill-in drilling on the Melladito vein included 198g/t silver and 2.26g/t gold over a true width of 3.69 metres in ESI11-048 (section 700N).

Presently, and through to February 2012, the drill rig is completing fill-in holes to upgrade the mineral resource estimate, anticipated near the end of the second quarter of 2012. A second drill will be added to the project in the first quarter 2012 to expand the drilling south of section 450N for approximately 800 metres, northwards of section 900N for approximately 300 metres, and to initially test a 600 metre strike portion on the southern San Antonio claim. Drill-hole sections for 450N, 550N, 600N, 650N and 700N have been modified with the new drilling and posted on the website.

Detailed geological mapping, structural geological studies, outcrop sampling, and re-sampling of old underground workings are on-going to highlight additional priority targets along the four kilometres of prospective structures.

The San Ignacio Project is located in the La Luz vein system of the Guanajuato silver-gold district, in central Mexico, 20 kilometres by vehicle from the Company's Guanajuato Mine milling facility. Processing of some low grade dump material from the San Ignacio property demonstrates satisfactory gold and silver recoveries and excellent concentrate quality. A program of metallurgical testwork has been initiated to establish optimal performance requirements relating to the Guanajuato processing plant.

 

Table of Significant Intersections from ESI11-039 through to ESI11-050
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                                True
             From     To Width Width     Au     Ag
Hole ID       (m)    (m)   (m)   (m)    g/t    g/t Zone             Section
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ESI11-039   39.55  41.55  2.00  1.28   3.32    180 Unnamed             450N
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ESI11-039   44.15  45.55  1.40  0.90   9.20    173 Unnamed             450N
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ESI11-039  139.25 144.35  5.10  3.26   5.12    213 Intermediate        450N
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ESI11-039  145.45 153.20  7.75  4.96   6.34    201 Intermediate        450N
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ESI11-040   62.05  63.30  1.25  0.80   0.53     96 Unnamed             550N
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ESI11-040   84.45  86.55  2.10  1.34   0.59     97 Unnamed             550N
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ESI11-040  143.35 145.05  1.70  1.09   1.05     29 Intermediate        550N
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ESI11-040  148.40 149.30  0.90  0.58   4.81     44 Unnamed             550N
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ESI11-041  129.60 131.40  1.80  1.39   4.13    173 Intermediate        600N
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ESI11-042  225.20 227.75  2.55  1.63   2.59     16 Melladito           600N
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ESI11-043  193.82 197.25  3.43  1.72   5.64    445 Intermediate        600N
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ESI11-043  264.75 269.00  4.25  2.13   0.72      9 Melladito           600N
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ESI11-044   62.00  67.20  5.20  5.15   2.11    106 Nombre de Dios      600N
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ESI11-045  100.00 102.85  2.85  2.59   3.71    164 Nombre de Dios      600N
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ESI11-046  187.60 189.60  2.00  0.84   0.52     76 Intermediate        650N
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ESI11-047   90.00  90.55  0.55  0.52   1.28    141 Nombre de Dios      650N
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ESI11-048   68.35  73.79  5.44  3.86   1.28    296 Intermediate        700N
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ESI11-048   87.80  88.39  0.59  0.42   9.41     25 Unnamed             700N
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ESI11-048  140.20 145.40  5.20  3.69   2.26    198 Melladito           700N
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ESI11-049   90.13  91.52  1.39  0.75   1.00    119 Intermediate        700N
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ESI11-049  171.80 176.95  5.15  3.14   1.35    135 Melladito           700N
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ESI11-050  139.30 141.20  1.90  0.91   1.41    222 Intermediate        700N
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Robert F. Brown, P. Eng. and Vice President of Exploration for the Company is the Qualified Person for the Guanajuato Mine and San Ignacio Project, under the meaning of NI 43-101, and has overseen all of the aforementioned work. A full QA/QC program is being followed including the regular insertion of splits, blanks, and standards into the core sampling sequence. Analysis of the drill core samples is being conducted at the Guanajuato Mine on-site laboratory, independently operated by SGS.

The Company also announces that it has granted a total of 2,705,000 stock options to new (since the last grant in November 2010) directors, new employees and new consultants, under its stock option plan. The options are exercisable at a price of $2.40 and expire five years from the date of grant.