Pulacayo Project Feasibility Study - Apogee Silver

Pulacayo 1 000 t/d Phase I Feasibility Study - NI 43-101 Technical Report
090644-3-0000-20-IFI-100
on project samples. Project analytical work has been completed by ALS at its analytical
facility in Lima, Peru after completion of sample preparation procedures at the ALS facility
located in Oruro Bolivia. ALS is an internationally accredited laboratory with National
Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) certification and also complies with standards of
ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 17025:1999. The laboratory utilizes industry standard analytical
methodology and utilizes rigorous internal Quality Assurance and Quality Control (QAQC)
procedures for self-testing.
All samples are weighed upon receipt at the lab and prepared using ALS preparation
procedure PREP-31B that consists of crushing the entire sample to >70% -2 mm, then
splitting off 1 kg and pulverizing it to better than 85% passing 75 micron. The coarse reject
materials from this processing are returned to Apogee for storage on site at Pulacayo. Similar
processing was used by ASC.
Silver, lead and zinc concentrations for Apogee programs were analyzed by ALS using an
Aqua Regia digestion and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) following ALS method
codes AA46 and AA62. Samples returning assay values greater than 300 g/t Ag were further
analyzed using quantitative method Ag-GRAV22, which uses a Fire Assay pre-concentration
and Gravimetric Finish on a 50 g sample aliquot. Gold values were determined using the Au-
AA26 analytical method provided by ALS that employs a Fire Assay pre-concentration
followed by Atomic Absorption finish on a 50 g sample aliquot. A 35 element multi-element
analysis was also completed on samples using method code ME-ICP41 that uses Aqua
Regia digestion and ICP-AES analysis.
11.4 Drill Core Analysis from 2002 to 2003 ASC Programs
Samples from the ASC drilling programs carried out in 2002 and 2003 were also prepared
and analyzed by ALS. However, after preparation at the facility in Oruro, Bolivia under the
same protocols as noted above for Apogee, analytical work was carried out at the company`s
laboratory in Vancouver, BC, Canada. This facility is fully accredited, as described earlier and
analytical protocols were the same as those described above for Apogee.
11.5 Quality Assurance and Control from 2006 to 2012 Apogee Programs
Apogee developed an internal QAQC program that includes blind insertion of reference
standards, blanks and duplicates in each analytical shipment. A blank is inserted at the
beginning of each sample batch, standards are inserted at random intervals throughout each
batch of 50 samples and duplicates are analyzed at the end of each batch. All data gathered
for QAQC purposes is captured, sorted and retained in the QAQC database. Apogee
purchased two commercial reference standards from Western Canadian Minerals Ltd.
(WCM), these being PB-128 and PB-124, created an in-house standard and also purchased
commercial prepared blank materials. Coarse field blanks were prepared by Apogee from
locally sourced un-mineralized quartzite outcropping near Pulacayo.
Three quality control samples that include a field or commercial blank, a commercial standard
and a duplicate sample are inserted with a minimum frequency of 1 in every 50 samples.
Review by Mercator showed that in practice, an analytical standard typically occurs within
every 20 samples submitted for analysis. Analysis of duplicate samples of quarter core is
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