Avino Announces an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Avino Property
ASM: TSX/NYSE American
Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. T (604) 682 3701
Suite 900-570 Granville Street F (604) 682 3600
Vancouver, BC V6C 3P1 www.avino.com
February 21, 2018
AVINO ANNOUNCES AN UPDATED MINERAL RESOURCE ESTIMATE AT THE AVINO PROPERTY
Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (ASM: TSX/NYSE American, GV6: FSE, “Avino” or “the Company”) is pleased to
announce the completion of an updated mineral resource estimate for the Company’s Avino Property located
near Durango in west -central Mexico (the “Property”). The updated estimate encompasses the Property’s San
Gonzalo Mine, the Avino Mine vein systems, and the Property’s Oxide Tailings. The mineral resources estimate
has been included in an updated technical report prepared by Aranz Geo Ltd. under National Instrument 43-101
(“NI-43-101”), which will be available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) under the Company’s profile and filed on
Form 6-K with the SEC within 45 days.
This updated mineral resource estimate includes 34 drill holes that were completed during the drill programs
from 2016 to 2017. These drilling programs have significantly increased the amount of information available for
resource estimation. The drill holes and assay data were incorporated into the updated mineral resource
estimate. The results of the additional drilling contributed to an approximate 225% increase in tonnage in the
Measured and Indicated Resource categories and a decrease of 25% in the Inferred resource due to a conversion
of a portion of the Inferred Resources to the Indicated Resource category.
The total measured and i ndicated mineral resources in all deposits total s 10.7 million metric tonnes containing
47.5 million troy ounces of silver equivalent, 26.3 million troy ounces of silver, 217 thousand troy ounces of gold,
and 86 million pounds of copper. The total inferred mineral resources in all deposits total s 6,090,000 metric
tonnes containing 23.2 million troy ounces of silver equivalent, 13.6 million troy ounces of silver, 109 thousand
troy ounces of gold, and 33 million pounds of copper.
“We are very pleased with the updated mineral resource estimate, which demonstrates a significant increase in
the mineral resources potentially available for mill feed” said Avino President and CEO, David Wolfin. “ The
successful drill program that started in 2016 has allowed us to evaluate the tonnage and grade in the area
between the San Luis workings and the ET production area, the results of which have now been incorporated into
this updated mineral resource estimate . We are confident that our 2018 exploration program will continue to
build on the success of our past operations . I would like to thank the exploration team in Mexico for their
continued and invaluable efforts. Avino is celebratin g its 50th year in the mining industry, and this would not be
possible without the hard work and dedication of the entire Avino team.”
The following is a summary of current resources at the San Gonzalo and Avino Mines, as well as the updated
oxide tailings resource, grouped into the measured, indicated and inferred categories. The effective date of the
resource estimates is January 31, 2018.
The resource estimates were prepared by Michael O’Brien P.Geo., Pr.Sci.Nat., who is a “Qualified Person” within
the meaning of NI 43-101 and who is an employee of ARANZ Geo and independent of Avino, as defined by
Section 1.5 of NI 43-101.
N E W S R E L E A S E
February 21, 2018 - Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. – News Release
Avino Announces an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Avino Property
Page 2
Avino Mine
Mineral Resources Summary
as at January 31, 2018
Measured & Indicated Mineral Resources Grade Metal Contents
Resource
Category
Deposit Cut-off
(AgEQ
g/t)
Metric
tonnes
AgEQ
g/t
Ag
g/t
Au
g/t
Cu
%
AgEQ
Million
Tr Oz*
Ag
Million
Tr oz
Au
Thousand
Tr Oz
Cu T
Measured Avino - ET 60 3,890,000 141 71 0.54 0.55 17.6 8.9 67.4 21,000
Measured Avino - San Luis 60 650,000 142 67 0.70 0.49 3.0 1.4 14.6 3,000
Measured San Gonzalo System 130 290,000 397 314 1.65 0.00 3.7 2.9 15.4 0
Total Measured All Deposits 4,830,000 156 85 0.63 0.51 24.3 13.2 97.4 24,000
Indicated Avino ET 60 2,640,000 105 49 0.56 0.34 8.9 4.2 47.6 9,000
Indicated Avino - San Luis 60 1,620,000 126 54 0.82 0.36 6.6 2.8 42.9 6,000
Indicated San Gonzalo System 130 240,000 319 257 1.25 0.00 2.5 2.0 9.6 0
Indicated Oxide Tailings 50 1,330,000 124 98 0.46 0.00 5.3 4.2 19.8 0
Total Indicated All Deposits 5,830,000 124 70 0.64 0.25 23.3 13.1 119.8 15,000
Total Measured & Indicated 10,660,000 139 77 0.63 0.37 47.5 26.3 217.2 39,000
Inferred Deposit Cut-off
(AgEQ
g/t)
Metric
tonnes
AgEQ
g/t
Ag
g/t
Au
g/t
Cu
%
AgEQ
Million
Tr Oz*
Ag
Million
Tr oz
Au
Thousand
Tr Oz
Cu T
Inferred Avino - ET 60 2,380,000 111 58 0.51 0.33 8.5 4.4 39.1 8,000
Inferred Avino - San Luis 60 1,780,000 124 57 0.72 0.38 7.1 3.2 41.2 7,000
Inferred San Gonzalo System 130 120,000 262 219 0.86 0.00 1.0 0.8 3.3 0
Inferred Oxide Tailings 50 1,810,000 113 88 0.44 0.00 6.6 5.1 25.6 0
Total Inferred All Deposits 6,090,000 118 70 0.56 0.24 23.2 13.6 109.2 15,000
Mineral resources which are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. The estimate of mineral resourc es may be
materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, title, taxation, sociopolitical, marketing, or other relevant is sues. The quantity and
grade of reported Inferred resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration t o define these
Inferred resources as an Indicated or Measured mineral resource and it is uncertain if furthe r exploration will result in upgrading them to
the Indicated or Measured mineral resource category.
Figures in the table may not add to the totals shown due to rounding.
The mineral resource estimate is classified in accordance with the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum's " CIM
Definition Standards- for Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves" incorporated by reference into National Instrument 43 -101 "Standards
of Disclosure for Mineral Projects".
Mineral Resources are reported at cut -off grades 60, 130 and 50 g/t silver equivalent grade for the Avino, San Gonzalo and oxide tailings
respectively as indicated in the table.
Cautionary Note to United States Investors - The information contained herein and incorporated by reference herein has been prepared in
accordance with the requirements of Canadian securities laws, which differ from the requirements of United States securities laws. In
particular, the t erm “resource” does not equate to the term “reserve”. The Securities Exchange Commission’s (the “SEC”) disclosure
standards normally do not permit the inclusion of information concerning “measured mineral resources”, “indicated mineral res ources” or
“inferred mineral resources” or other descriptions of the amount of mineralization in mineral deposits that do not constitute “rese rves” by
SEC standards, unless such information is required to be disclosed by the law of the Company’s jurisdiction of incorporati on or of a
jurisdiction in which its securities are traded. U.S. investors should also understand that “inferred mineral resources” have a great amount
of uncertainty as to their existence and great uncertainty as to their economic and legal feasibility. D isclosure of “contained ounces” is
permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not
constitute “reserves” by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.
February 21, 2018 - Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. – News Release
Avino Announces an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Avino Property
Page 3
The silver equivalent was calculated using the following assumptions:
For Avino (ET and San Luis), San Gonzalo and Oxide Tailings
Au price US$1,300/oz
Ag price US$ 17.50/oz
Copper price US$3/lb
A net smelter return (NSR) was calculated and the silver equivalent was back calculated.
For ET using the formula:
AgEQ = (24.06 x Au (g/t) + 0.347 x Ag (g/t) + 43.0 x Cu (%) - 151.8 x Bi (%)) / 0.347
For San Gonzalo using the formula:
AgEQ = (0.03 x Au (g/t) + 0.385 x Ag (g/t) - 4.03 / 0.385
For Oxide Tailings using the formula:
AgEQ = 69.37 x Au (g/t) + Ag (g/t)
Highlights for each deposit include the following:
The Avino Mine
A measured and indicated resource of 8,800,000 tonnes (at an average grade of 61 g/t silver, 0.61 g/t
gold and 0.45% copper ) containing 17.2 million troy ounces of silver, 172,500 troy ounces of gold and
39,000 tonnes copper using a cut-off grade of 60 g/t silver equivalent.
An inferred resource of 4,160,000 tonnes (at an average grade of 57 g/t silver, 0.60 g/t gold and 0.35%
copper) containing 7.7 million troy ounces of silver, 80 thousand troy ounces of gold and 15,000 tonnes
of copper using a cut-off grade of 60 g/t silver equivalent.
The measured and indicated tonnage for the Avino Vein system at the ET Mine has increased from 1.45 million
tonnes to 8.8 0 million tonnes due to infill drilling, increased width of the vein below 11 th level, and additional
hanging wall units encountered between San Luis and ET. The inferred tonnage has decreased by 28% from the
previous estimate mainly due to in-fill drilling conversion to indicated resources.
The Avino Vein System at the ET Mine contains over three quarter of the tonnage on the Avino property and
includes significant copper grades.
San Gonzalo Mine
A measured and indicated resource of 530,000 tonnes (at an average grade of 288 g/t silver and 1.47 g/t
gold) containing 4.9 million troy ounces of silver and 25,000 troy ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of
130 g/t silver equivalent.
An inferred resource of 120,000 tonnes (at an average grade of 219 g/t silver and 0.86 g/t gold )
containing 0.8 million troy ounces of silver and 3,300 troy ounces of gold using a cut-off grade of 130 g/t
for silver equivalent. The decrease in Inferred resource is mainly due to development -based conversion
of inferred resource to indicated resource.
The San Gonzalo Vein System is comparatively higher grade and provides flexibility to the Company’s mining
production during times of uncertain metal prices.
February 21, 2018 - Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. – News Release
Avino Announces an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Avino Property
Page 4
Oxide Tailings
The oxide tailings estimate has not been modified since 2016 and no further sampling or modelling work has
been carried out.
The indicated silver resource is unchanged an d includes 1,330,000 tonnes at an average grade of 98 g/t silver
and 0.46 g/t go ld totaling 4.2 million troy ounces of silver and 19.8 thousand troy ounces of gold using a cutoff
grade of 50 g/t silver equivalent.
The inferred resource is also unchanged and includes 1,810,000 tonnes at an average grade of 88 g/t silver and
0.44 g/t gold totaling 5.1 million troy ounces of silver and 25.6 thousand troy ounces of gold using a cut -off
grade of 50 g/t for silver equivalent.
Method of Calculation
The estimation methods used were substantially the same for all three deposits, providing a consistent baseline
for strategic planning.
Mineral resources were estimated by ordinary kriging, optimized using kriging neighborhood analysis and
verified by means of nearest neighbor and inverse distance methods, swathplot comparisons of estimates and
visual inspections. Block models were created for the San Gonzalo and Avino Vein Systems and the Oxide
Tailings deposit and estimates were made utilizing blocks of sizes 20 m easting x 5 m northing x 10 m elevation
for Avino (ET Mine), sizes 10 m easting x 5 m northing x10 m elevation for San Gonzalo and 40 m easting x 40 m
northing x 2 m elevation for Oxide Tailings.
Classification of the mineral resource was based on ‘slope of regression’ as a measure of uncertainty , with
adjustment to practical geometries using geological knowledge of the deposit.
Fundamental changes since the previous mineral resource estimates are (1) depletion due to mining (over 800
thousand tonnes milled since the beginning of 2017), (2) significant new sampling information (3) changes to
cut-off calculations and (4) reclassification of mineral resources in the light of improved understanding of
confidence in the deposits at distances from the underground channel samples and drill hole samples.
More sampling information does not always lead to direct increases in resource tonnages and contained metal.
In some cases, the new information provides improved understanding (developed by variogram modelling and
kriging neighborhood analysis) tha t may demote some portions of mineral resource from high confidence
categories, such as measured and indicated, to a lower confidence category such as inferred.
Currently, for the San Gonzalo and Avino Vein Systems, estimated blocks more than thirty metres from sampling
are not considered to be of sufficient confidence to be included in the indicated category resources and have
been classified as inferred resources.
For the Oxide Tailings, estimated blocks more than fifty metres from sampling are not co nsidered to be
sufficiently confident to be included in the indicated category resources.
February 21, 2018 - Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. – News Release
Avino Announces an Updated Mineral Resource Estimate at the Avino Property
Page 5
Qualified Person(s)
Avino's projects in Durango , Mexico are under the geoscientific oversight of Michael O’Brien, P.Geo., Senior
Principal Consultant, ARANZ Geo, and under the supervision and Jasman Yee P.Eng, Avino Director, who are
both qualified persons within the context of NI 43-101. Both have reviewed and approved the technical data in
this news release.
About Avino
Avino is a silver and gold producer with a diversified pipeline of gold, silver and base metals properties in Mexico
and Canada employing close to 600 people, and has created over 1,600 indirect jobs in Mexico. Avino produces
from its wholly owned Avino and San Gonzalo Mines near Durango, Mexico, and is currently planning for future
production at the Bralorne Gold Mine in British Columbia, Canada. The Company’s gold and silver production
remains unhedged. The Company’s mission and s trategy is to create shareholder value through its focus on
profitable organic growth at the historic Avino Property near Durango, Mexico, and the strategic acquisition of
mineral exploration and mining properties. We are committed to managing all business activities in an
environmentally responsible and cost-effective manner, while contributing to the well-being of the communities
in which we operate.
On Behalf of the Board
“David Wolfin”
________________________________
David Wolfin
President & CEO
Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd.
Safe Harbor Statement - This news release contains “forward -looking information” and “forward -looking statements” (together, the “forward looking
statements”) within the meaning of applicable securities laws and the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including the updated
mineral resource estimate for the Company’s Avino Property located near Durango in west -central Mexico (the “Property”) with an effective date of
January 31, 2018 prepared for the Company, and reference to Measured, Indicated, Inferred Resources referred to in this press release. These forward-
looking statements are made as of the date of this news release and the dates of technical reports, as applicable. Readers ar e cautioned not to place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the future circumstances, outcomes or results anticipated in or implied
by such forward-looking statements will occur or that plans, intentions or expectations up on which the forward -looking statements are based will occur.
While we have based these forward -looking statements on our expectations about future events as at the date that such statements were prepared, the
statements are not a guarantee that such future events will occur and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors which could cause
events or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward -looking statements. No assurance can be given that the
Company’s Property does not have the amount of the mineral resources indicated in the updated report or that such mineral resourc es may be
economically extracted.
Such factors and assumptions include, among others, the effects of general economic conditions, the price of gold, silver and copper, changing foreign
exchange rates and actions by government authorities, uncertainties associated with legal proceedings and negotiations and mi sjudgments in the course
of preparing forward -looking information. In additi on, there are known and unknown risk factors which could cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward -looking statements. Known
risk factors include risks associated with project development; the need for additional financing; operational risks associated with m ining and mineral
processing; fluctuations in metal prices; title matters; uncertainties and risks related to carrying on business in foreign countries; environmental liability
claims and insurance; reliance on key personnel; the potential for conflicts of interest among certain of our officers, direc tors or promoters with certain
other projects; the absence of dividends; currency flu ctuations; competition; dilution; the volatility of the our common share price and volume; tax
consequences to U.S. investors; and other risks and uncertainties. Although we have attempted to identify important factors t hat could cause actual
actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or
results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward -looking statements will prove to be accurate, as actual
results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. We are under no obligation to update or alter any forward-looking statements except as required under applicable securities
laws.
Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX ) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy
of this release.