SSR MINING ANNOUNCES POSITIVE EXPLORATION RESULTS AT PUNA Drilling Highlights Include 27 Meters at 836 g/t Ag and 16 Meters at 699 g/t Ag Near-Mine Exploration Success Presents Opportunity to Extend Mineral Reserves and Mine Life
News Release
March 27, 2023
SSR MINING ANNOUNCES POSITIVE EXPLORATION RESULTS AT PUNA
Drilling Highlights Include 27 Meters at 836 g/t Ag and 16 Meters at 699 g/t Ag
Near-Mine Exploration Success Presents Opportunity to Extend Mineral Reserves and Mine Life
DENVER - SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ/TSX: SSRM, ASX: SSR) ("SSR Mining" or the “Company") is pleased to
announce results from 48 drill holes completed at the Puna project (“Puna”) for the period of August, 2022 to
December, 2022. Puna includes the Pirquitas and Chinchillas properties, both located in the Jujuy Province of
northern Argentina (see Figure 1 ). Chinchillas is an open pit silver-lead-zinc mine and is the current source of the
ore processed at the Pirquitas processing plant, located approximately 42 kilometers southwest of the Chinchillas
property.
The 2022 exploration program focused on resource expansion, discovery and reconciliation drilling at Chinchillas
and was the first exploration drilling completed at the property since 2016. Of the 48 holes reported, 27 targeted
extensions of the Chinchillas mineralization to the east, northeast and at depth. Drilling also intersected
mineralization at the Melina zone and at Socavon Del Diablo, two separate targets located adjacent to existing
Chinchillas infrastructure that host potential to complement the ore currently mined from the main Chinchillas
deposit. Additionally, two drill holes were completed at the Cortaderas target on the Pirquitas property.
Drilling highlights from the Chinchillas property include (see Figures 2 and 3) (see Table 1):
• CHN22-341: 65 meters at 386 g/t Ag (435 g/t AgEq) from 53 meters
o Including: 27 meters at 836 g/t Ag (913 g/t AgEq) from 73 meters
• CHN22-374: 63 meters at 219 g/t Ag (451 g/t AgEq) from 90 meters
o Including: 18 meters at 382 g/t Ag (840 g/t AgEq) from 101 meters
• CHN22-343: 31 meters at 453 g/t Ag (542 g/t AgEq) from 25 meters
• CHN22-347: 30 meters at 422 g/t Ag (479 g/t AgEq) from 2 meters
o Including: 16 meters at 699 g/t Ag (797 g/t AgEq) from 9 meters
Rod Antal, President and CEO of SSR Mining, said, “Puna has been a tremendous contributor to the SSR Mining
portfolio over the last two years, generating solid production and strong free cash flow. This update features the first
exploration drilling activity completed at Chinchillas since before the mine commenced production and
demonstrates mineralization from near-mine and in-pit step-out intercepts that bode well for potential extensions to
Puna’s current Mineral Reserve life. In addition, high-grade intercepts at the Melina and Socavon Del Diablo targets
indicate the potential for additional open pit mining opportunities immediately adjacent to the main Chinchillas pit,
while positive results from the Cortaderas target at the Pirquitas property could present a longer-term development
pathway for further mine life extension at Puna. We have expanded the Puna exploration budget to 15,000 meters
in 2023 as we aim to accelerate Mineral Resource conversion and expansion efforts.”
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Table 1: Significant intercepts from 2022 exploration drilling at the Chinchillas property.
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval (m) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) AgEq (g/t)
CHN22-341 40 49 9 590 2.1 0.6 671
53 118 65 386 1.4 0.3 435
Including 73 100 27 836 2.4 0.2 913
CHN22-342 49 69 20 177 1.5 0.5 238
91 103 12 544 1.0 1.3 619
CHN22-343 25 56 31 453 2.9 0.1 542
CHN22-347 2 32 30 422 1.9 0.0 479
Including 9 25 16 699 3.3 0.0 797
123 157 34 198 1.0 0.7 251
Including 127 143 16 292 1.0 0.8 350
CHN22-348 33 48 15 411 1.2 0.0 446
Including 33 42 9 658 1.4 0.0 699
CHN22-349 13 29 16 276 0.6 0.0 294
CHN22-353 0 66 66 149 1.2 0.1 189
CHN22-374 90 153 63 219 3.8 3.4 451
Including 101 119 18 382 6.2 7.7 840
CHN22-375 0 32 32 146 0.7 0.2 174
CHN22-383 160 179 19 175 1.4 0.1 220
Including 164 170 6 370 2.3 0.1 441
Significant intervals are reported using a 50 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq) cut-off and with a maximum 3 meters
of contiguous dilution. All intercepts are core width intervals.
Silver equivalent values are calculated using the following metal prices: Silver (Ag) price of $22 per troy ounce, Lead (Pb) price
of $0.95 per pound and Zinc (Zn) price of $1.15 per pound. Metallurgical recoveries for the Chinchillas operation were not used
in the calculation of AgEq values (recoveries were 95.7% for silver, 92.3% for lead and 48.7% for zinc in 2022).
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Overview of Puna
Puna is 100% owned by SSR Mining and is comprised of the Chinchillas and Pirquitas properties ( see Figure 1 ).
SSR Mining approved the start of the Pirquitas mine and processing plant in October 2006, and the Chinchillas
mine declared commercial production in December 2018. Chinchillas is an open pit silver-lead-zinc mine that
provides all of the ore currently processed at the Pirquitas processing plant, located 42 km to the southwest. The
processing plant produces a silver-lead concentrate and a zinc concentrate that are shipped to international
smelters.
The Chinchillas and Pirquitas properties are located within the Bolivian tin-silver–zinc belt that extends from the San
Rafael tin-copper deposit in southern Peru into the Puna region of Jujuy, Argentina. These deposits are generally
characterized by the intrusion of dacite dome complexes with mineralization hosted in shear zones and breccias
within the dacite domes or within the country rock. More rarely, as in the case of the Chinchillas property, the
deposits also contain disseminated flat lying manto bodies within sedimentary and pyroclastic rocks that are cut by
‘feeder’ shears.
Figure 1. Location of Puna’s Pirquitas property and Chinchillas property.
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Chinchillas Property Exploration and Overview
The Chinchillas property is comprised of three contiguous claims totaling over 2,000 hectares. The open pit
Chinchillas mine achieved commercial production in December 2018. As reported in the 2021 Puna Technical
Report Summary (the “Puna TRS”), the mine has a Mineral Reserve life extending through 2026 with an average
annual production profile of 7.0 million silver ounces. Over the next three years, SSR mining expects Puna to
produce 8.0 to 9.0 million ounces of silver annually.
Significant silver-lead-zinc mineralization occurs in four main areas at the Chinchillas property: the Silver Mantos
and Mantos Basement zones in the west part of the property, and the Socavon del Diablo and Socavon Basement
zones in the east part. Mining is currently active at the two Mantos deposits, which remain open for expansion to the
east.
In 2022, SSR Mining had two drill rigs operating at the Chinchillas property completing nearly 7,500 meters of
drilling across 46 drill holes ( see Figure 2 and Table 5). Drilling was completed within and around the margin of the
open pit operation, and focused on resource expansion and reconciliation drilling, as well as testing a series of high
potential targets including Socavon Del Diablo and Melina along the northern rim of the Chinchillas volcanic dome
complex. Fieldwork earlier in 2022 focused on geological mapping and prospecting to help identify mineralization
and drill targets.
Drilling within the center of the current Chinchillas pit successfully infilled sections of the Mantos Basement deposit,
returning broad intercepts of higher-grade mineralization that have the potential to enhance the resource. Drill hole
CHN22-347 intersected both the Silver Mantos (30 meters at 422 g/t Ag starting 2 meters from surface) and the
Mantos Basement deposit (34 meters at 198 g/t Ag starting 123 meters from surface) due to the stacked nature of
the two deposits, potentially extending the deposits vertically and down-dip to the east ( see Figure 3 ). At the
northeast end of the Chinchillas deposit, drill hole CHN22-349 expanded the shallow Silver Mantos deposit with
mineralization starting within 30 meters from surface (see Figure 2).
The undeveloped Socavon Del Diablo deposit is located approximately 700 meters east of current open pit mining
and consists of near surface silver-lead-zinc mineralization hosted within a clay-altered volcanic rock. A new
metallurgical program was initiated in January of 2023 to help evaluate the viability of this deposit and its potential
contribution to the Puna life of mine plan.
At the Melina zone, located on the northern rim of the Chinchillas dacite volcanic center, broad zones of
mineralization occur proximal to a brecciated volcanic-sedimentary contact that is similarly hosting the Mantos
Basement deposit 750 meters to the west. Near surface mineralization at the Melina zone appears to have a similar
geometry to the Silver Mantos deposit.
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Figure 2. Simplified geological map showing the Chinchillas pit and select drill locations.
Figure 3. Cross section A-A’ from Figure 2 showing select drill intercepts from the 2022 program at Chinchillas.
SSR Mining Inc. PAGE 5
Pirquitas Property Exploration and Overview
The Pirquitas property includes surface rights covering an area of approximately 7,500 hectares, which includes the
Pirquitas processing plant and the Cortaderas deposit, as well as the past producing San Miguel pit. The
Cortaderas deposit is a zinc-silver-lead deposit located approximately 500 meters to the north of the San Miguel pit.
Cortaderas is a structurally controlled sulfide breccia deposit that trends southeast and dips steeply (60-70 degrees)
to the southwest. It has a strike length of 440 meters, a vertical extent of approximately 350 meters and varies from
3 to 20 meters in thickness.
The current Cortaderas deposit includes a 1.46 Mt indicated resource grading 203 g/t Ag and 7.1% Zn, and a 1.03
Mt inferred resource grading 204 g/t Ag and 7.7% Zn. In 2022, 1,420 meters of drilling was completed in two deep
holes testing the western margin of the Cortaderas vein-breccia deposit. Concentrations of vein-type sulfide
mineralization were intersected at the expected depth and successfully expanded mineralization approximately 200
meters further down-dip and to the northwest. Starting at a downhole depth of 574 meters in DDH-398, an intercept
grading 10.6% ZnEq was intersected over 17 meters, including a high-grade sub-interval grading 24.2% ZnEq over
4 meters. Approximately 40 meters to the west, DDH-399 intersected 16 meters of mineralization starting at a
down-hole depth of 553 meters and grading 17.9% ZnEq. Within this brecciated zone, 4 meters grading 26.2%
ZnEq. With this successful and aggressive step-out to the west, the 2023 drill program is well positioned to continue
testing along strike to the west and further down-dip to the south.
Table 2: Significant intercepts from 2022 exploration drilling from the Pirquitas property.
Hole ID From (m) To (m) Interval
(m) Ag (g/t) Pb (%) Zn (%) ZnEq (%)
DDH-398 574 591 17 113 0.1 7.4 10.6
Including 581 591 10 149 0.1 9.4 13.7
Including 581 585 4 268 0.2 16.6 24.2
613 616 3 168 3.2 13.5 20.8
DDH-399 553 569 16 247 0.1 10.9 17.9
Including 554 558 4 341 0.3 16.4 26.2
575 584 9 95 0.9 6.0 9.5
Significant intervals are reported using a 50 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq) cut-off and with a maximum 3 meters
of contiguous dilution. All intercepts are core width intervals.
Zinc equivalent values are calculated using the following metal prices: Silver (Ag) price of $22 per troy ounce, Lead (Pb) price of
$0.95 per pound and Zinc (Zn) price of $1.15 per pound.
M e t a l l u r g i c a l r e c o v e r i e s f o r t h e C o r t a d e r a s d e p o s i t w e r e n o t u s e d i n t h e c a l c u l a t i o n o f Z n E q v a l u e s ( r e c o v e r i e s w e r e 8 1 % f o r
silver and 91% for zinc in metallurgical analysis completed in 2018).
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Figure 4. Plan view and long section showing step-out intercepts against existing Cortaderas resource.
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Technical Procedural Information Sampling and Analytical Procedures
All drill samples in respect of the Chinchillas and Cortaderas surface drilling program were analyzed at ALS
Laboratories (“ALS”) in Mendoza, Argentina. SSR Mining's drill and geochemical samples were collected in
accordance with accepted industry standards. SSR Mining conducts routine QA/QC analysis on all assay results,
including the systematic utilization of certified reference materials, blanks, field duplicates and umpire laboratory
check assays. Sampling interval was most commonly 1 meter, using geological and/or structural criteria. ALS
crushed each sample to 70% passing 2 mm mesh and a 250 g split was pulverized to better than 85% passing 75
microns. A four-acid multi-element analysis with a MS finish, using a 0.25 g sample, was used to produce Ag, Pb
and Zn analytical results. For all Ag, Pb and Zn results > 100 ppm (Ag) or >10,000 ppm (Pb and Zn), a four acid
overlimit method was completed using a 0.4 g sample size. Fire assay with an atomic absorption finish was
completed on a 30-gram aliquot to produce gold analytical results with a 0.005 g/t gold detection limit.
External review of data and processes relating to Chinchillas and Cortaderas exploration data has been completed
by independent consultant Carl Edmunds in the first quarter of 2023. There were no adverse material results
detected and the QA/QC indicates the information collected is acceptable, and the database can be used for further
studies.
Qualified Persons
The scientific and technical data contained in this news release relating to exploration activity at the Puna Project
has been reviewed and approved by David Gale, P.Geo., Senior Manager, Exploration, and a qualified person for
purposes of Subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K and National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral
Projects.
You are encouraged to also review the 2021 Puna TRS, which is available on SSR Mining’s Current Report on Form
8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s EDGAR system (sec.gov) on September 29, 2022.
About SSR Mining
SSR Mining Inc. is a leading, free cash flow focused gold company with four producing operations located in the
USA, Türkiye, Canada, and Argentina, combined with a global pipeline of high-quality development and exploration
assets. Over the last three years, the four operating assets combined have produced on average more than
700,000 gold-equivalent ounces annually. SSR Mining is listed under the ticker symbol SSRM on the NASDAQ and
the TSX, and SSR on the ASX.
SSR Mining Contacts:
F. Edward Farid, Executive Vice President, Chief Corporate Development Officer
Alex Hunchak, Director, Corporate Development and Investor Relations
SSR Mining Inc.
E-Mail: [email protected]
Phone: +1 (888) 338-0046
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www.ssrmining.com.
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