Vancouver, February 26, 2008 - Scorpio Mining Corporation (TSX:SPM) is pleased to provide an update on the mineralized stockpile material awaiting mill start up at the Company's 100% owned Nuestra Senora Project, Sinaloa State, Mexico.
Peter J. Hawley, Chairman, CEO reports, "We now have over 64,041 tonnes stockpiled on surface awaiting mill start up, which puts us in a strong position to stay ahead of the initial required mill feed. The current stockpile includes a mix of lower grade development material and is well suited for the initial mill commissioning and required fine tuning for optimal metal recovery. With formal stoping in progress and more stringent grade controls in place, less dilution will occur and head grades will increase. This higher-grade material will be used as mill feed once the mill facility is running at maximum recovery."
As of November 30, 2007, Stockpile No. 1 contained 52,148 tonnes at an average capped grade of 69 g/t silver, 0.08 g/t gold, 0.25% copper, 1.42% lead and 2.55% zinc based on 438 samples taken (Table 1). A capping grade of 552 g/t silver, 0.5 g/t gold, 2.83% copper, 6.77% lead and 11.80% zinc was used based on the 95th percentile of all core assay results in 2007.
Prior to September 2007, a total of 140 samples were collected directly from the existing surface stockpile from 28 backhoe pits, 2 to 2.5 metres in depth, using a 10 metre by 10 metre reference grid across the stockpile. Five samples were taken from the top to bottom of each sample hole. The grades obtained from this sampling were very homogenous with only 4 samples (3%) requiring capping. The capped grade of the pre-September 2007 stockpile was 61 g/t silver, 0.08 g/t gold, 0.21% copper, 1.41% lead and 2.39% zinc. The remaining 298 samples were taken underground on a daily basis from ongoing ore development, with a total of 5 representative muck samples taken from each round. Of these, 24 samples were capped (8%), which again reflects the homogeneity of the ore.
Grades obtained from muck sampling during the months of September and October (Table 1) are somewhat higher due to the greater percentage of mineralized material coming from the Main Nuestra Senora zone development compared to the lower-grade Hoag zone.
Table 1. Development Stockpile No. 1 - Metal Grades
Since January 31, 2008, development material has been being stockpiled in a separate area (Stockpile No. 2) and consists of an additional 11,893 tonnes. Complete assay results are pending.
President, Mr. D. Roger Scammell, PGeo, is the Company's Qualified Person for the Nuestra Senora project. Mr. Scammell is responsible for the current exploration and development program and has reviewed the contents of this release.
ON BEHALF OF SCORPIO MINING CORPORATION
Peter J. Hawley
Chairman & CEO
For further information contact:
Glenn Little, Jackson Little Holdings Ltd: 604-930-4375; 1-888-930-4375
Email: jlconsulting@telus.net
Rich Kaiser, YES International: 1-800-631-8127; 001-757-306-6090 (outside North America)
Email: yes@yesinternational.com
This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future exploration drilling, exploration activities and events or developments that the Company expects, are forward looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include metal prices, exploration success, continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions.
