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Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.: Fortuna's In-Fill Drilling Results Continue to Confirm High-Grade Mineralization at San Jose Project

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^{Published in Business and Finance on Wednesday, January 7th 2009 at 6:41 GMT, Last Modified on 2009-01-07 06:43:55 by Market Wire}  

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Jan. 7, 2009) - Fortuna Silver Mines Inc. (TSX VENTURE:FVI)(BVL:FVI) is pleased to announce additional results from the in-fill drill program on the Trinidad Zone of the San Jose silver-gold deposit located in Oaxaca, Mexico. Highlights from the 33 new holes include:

 SJO-166 17.5 meters assaying 2.8 g/t Au and 285 g/t Ag SJO-175 6.6 meters averaging 11.1 g/t Au and 534 g/t Ag SJO-187 5.2 meters averaging 6.8 g/t Au and 628 g/t Ag and 21.4 meters averaging 6.0 g/t Au and 453 g/t Ag SJO-193 30.6 meters averaging 1.3 g/t Au and 113 g/t Ag and 12.7 meters averaging 6.0 g/t Au and 973 g/t Ag SJO-194 16.1 meters averaging 2.7 g/t Au and 316 g/t Ag SJO-205 16.6 meters averaging 2.4 g/t Au and 303 g/t Ag 

The 33,000 meter in-fill drill program was initiated in June of 2008 and is designed to convert a significant portion of the resources in the upper 250 meters of the deposit to the Indicated category. Initial drill results from the program have been previously announced in September, October and November of 2008 (see Fortuna news releases dated [ September 25, 2008 ], [ October 28, 2008 ] and [ November 27, 2008 ]). The in-fill drill program is projected to be completed by mid-January 2009 and has been designed following recommendations by AMEC E&C Services Inc. indicating that a drill spacing of 31 meters will be required for classification of the resources to the Indicated category.

The San Jose Project is being explored and developed under a joint venture between Fortuna (76%) and Continuum Resources Ltd (24%). In August 2008, Fortuna and Continuum announced an agreement whereby Fortuna will acquire all of the issued and outstanding securities of Continuum (see Fortuna's news release dated August 14, 2008). As a result of the acquisition, Fortuna will own a 100% interest in the San Jose Project.

Assay results from the 33 drill holes in the Trinidad Zone are summarized below. Length-weighted assay averages have been calculated for the mineralized intervals using a lower cut-off of 100 g/t Ag-equivalent. Updated longitudinal sections showing the location of the drill hole intercepts for each of the major veins and an updated drill hole location map are available on Fortuna's website at the following links: [ Bonanza Vein Longitudinal Section ], [ Trinidad Vein Longitudinal Section ], [ Trinidad Drill Hole Location Map ].

 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Interval Est. True Hole_Id From (m) To (m) (m) Thickness (m) Au g/t Ag g/t Ag Eq g/t --------------------------------------------------------------------------- SJO-166 210.15 213.75 3.60 2.5 8.11 548 961 And 229.15 246.60 17.45 12.2 2.78 285 427 And 282.75 297.10 14.35 9.0 1.88 284 380 SJO-172 264.20 271.65 7.45 6.1 4.35 264 486 And 297.90 304.50 6.60 1.92 303 401 And 307.45 314.75 7.30 5.4 1.93 447 545 SJO-175 138.70 145.25 6.55 4.9 11.06 534 1098 SJO-187 184.90 190.10 5.20 3.7 6.82 628 976 And 204.15 225.55 21.40 15.5 5.96 453 758 SJO-188 181.60 191.75 10.15 8.3 0.67 94 129 SJO-189 201.50 203.40 1.90 1.3 2.34 525 644 SJO-190 195.20 202.15 6.95 5.9 0.99 87 137 And 205.55 207.45 1.90 3.63 336 521 And 267.05 272.60 5.55 4.2 1.61 316 399 SJO-191 260.80 264.60 3.80 2.6 2.73 386 525 And 350.30 354.90 4.60 3.5 1.06 137 191 SJO-193 242.45 273.00 30.55 23.0 1.34 113 181 And 284.80 294.75 9.95 1.34 135 204 And 314.70 327.40 12.70 8.0 5.99 973 1279 SJO-194 290.25 306.35 16.10 12.0 2.74 316 456 SJO-195 183.85 188.10 4.25 3.8 2.05 99 204 SJO-196 191.65 193.10 1.45 1.1 1.00 84 135 SJO-197 216.40 218.40 2.00 1.5 0.92 68 115 SJO-198 142.45 143.15 0.70 0.5 0.89 194 239 And 174.55 176.70 2.15 1.5 0.43 115 137 SJO-199 203.35 207.90 4.55 2.9 1.51 191 267 SJO-200 335.70 338.20 2.50 1.8 0.53 88 116 SJO-201 191.05 196.95 5.90 4.1 4.25 719 935 And 213.10 237.20 24.10 17.0 0.68 140 174 SJO-202 295.95 311.35 15.40 11.6 1.91 173 270 And 339.75 341.85 2.10 1.22 326 388 And 344.25 349.35 5.10 3.2 4.54 714 946 SJO-203 179.20 194.55 15.35 11.6 0.96 228 277 SJO-204 166.65 167.50 0.85 0.6 0.54 97 125 SJO-205 235.90 252.50 16.60 11.3 2.36 303 424 And 254.10 260.70 6.60 5.0 0.76 201 240 SJO-206 225.65 226.90 1.25 0.7 4.07 960 1168 SJO-207 193.05 196.40 3.35 2.3 3.93 451 651 And 199.90 203.15 3.25 2.60 403 536 And 228.40 238.00 9.60 7.2 2.00 403 505 SJO-208 238.20 245.95 7.75 5.6 1.09 191 247 And 250.05 260.05 10.00 7.8 0.82 151 193 SJO-209 304.95 306.50 1.55 1.0 0.94 137 185 SJO-210 291.90 299.70 7.80 5.8 2.81 442 585 SJO-211 210.75 212.50 1.75 1.2 1.40 142 213 And 218.40 219.40 1.00 0.7 0.81 184 225 SJO-212 254.20 258.40 4.20 2.8 1.31 210 277 And 266.40 268.40 2.00 1.5 0.39 112 132 SJO-213 349.70 350.90 1.20 0.9 2.18 512 623 SJO-214 349.05 354.50 5.45 3.6 2.36 419 539 SJO-215 244.25 247.25 3.00 2.1 1.95 385 485 SJO-216 218.75 220.15 1.40 2.35 461 581 And 231.10 232.75 1.65 1.1 5.05 1015 1273 And 240.35 244.10 3.75 2.6 0.59 126 156 SJO-218 342.50 343.70 1.20 0.8 3.02 612 766 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- (i) Silver equivalency estimates were derived using a silver-to-gold ratio of 51:1. Metallurgical recoveries and net smelter returns are assumed to be 100% for purposes of estimating silver equivalency. 

Background

The San Jose deposit is a low sulfidation epithermal system located within the Taviche Mining District in southern Oaxaca and is characterized by mineralized multiphase quartz-carbonate-sulfide veins, hydrothermal breccias and stockwork veining within a sequence of Tertiary andesitic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks. The Fortuna-Continuum joint venture controls mining concessions covering approximately 56,000 hectares in the Taviche Mining District. Exploration is being carried out on a number of target areas within the concession area to define new drill targets. Underground development of the access ramp to the Trinidad Zone was initiated in the 4th quarter of 2007. The Company is advancing with engineering studies for the development of the San Jose deposit including preliminary mine design work, metallurgical testing, tailings dam design work and hydrological investigations. An Environmental Impact Study is in-progress and the Community Relations Department is engaging local communities through project presentations, site visits and sustainable development and education programs.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

Following detailed geological and geotechnical logging, drill core samples are split on-site by diamond saw. One half of the core is submitted to the ALS Chemex sample preparation facility in Guadalajara, Mexico. The remaining half core is retained on-site for verification and reference purposes. Following preparation, sample pulps are sent to ALS Chemex in Vancouver where they are assayed for gold and silver by standard fire assay methods using a gravimetric finish. Multi-element analyses are also completed for each sample by ICP methods. The QA-QC program at San Jose includes the blind insertion of certified reference standards for silver and gold at a frequency of approximately 1 per 15 normal samples and the insertion of assay blanks at a frequency of approximately 1 per 15 normal samples. All sample results reported in this news release correspond to HQ- or NQ-diameter core.

Qualified Person

Mr. Miroslav Kalinaj, P. Geo., is the Company's Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the accuracy of the technical information in this news release.

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

Fortuna is a growth oriented, silver and base metal producer focused on mining opportunities in Latin America. Our primary assets are the Caylloma Silver Mine in southern Peru and the San Jose Silver-Gold Project in Mexico. The Company is selectively pursuing additional acquisition opportunities. For more information, please visit our website at www.fortunasilver.com.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jorge Ganoza, President, CEO and Director

Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.

The TSX Venture Exchange has not reviewed and does not take responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.