Selwyn says metallurgical drilling defines thick, high grade mineralization at XY Central

Selwyn Resources (CVE:SWN) unveiled Wednesday drilling results from nine metallurgical holes at the XY Central deposit at its Selwyn zinc-lead project in the Yukon Territory.
All nine drill holes were focused on the XY Central deposit in order to provide sample media for ongoing test work in support of the feasibility study, the company said.
The Selwyn project is being advanced by Selwyn Chihong Mining, the joint venture company equally owned by Selwyn and Chihong Canada. Chihong is a subsidiary of Yunnan Chihong Zinc & Germanium Co. of China.
Highlights from the latest results included a thick, high grade section of 45.08 metres true thickness grading 7.57% zinc and 2.65% lead, including 6.19 metres of 26.41% zinc and 10.34% lead in hole XYC-297.
The company said the results from this hole correlate well with adjacent high-grade intercepts, reinforcing the confidence in the detailed 3D modeling.
Hole XYC-298 also intersected 27.23 metres true thickness grading 8.35% zinc and 2.76% lead, including 4.29 metres of 25.02% zinc and 10.17% lead.
In addition, hole XYC-299 returned 28.78 metres true thickness grading 10.22% zinc and 5.45% lead, including 4.72 metres of 22.5% zinc and 16.26% lead.
"The assay results from the metallurgical drilling program at XY Central deposit continue to demonstrate the strong continuity of high-grade mineralization in the XY Central deposit," said president and CEO, Dr. Harlan Meade.
Earlier this week, Selwyn said it has retained a specialist corporate finance mining firm to act as its financial advisor as the company prepares to move into the next phase of development at its Selwyn project in the Yukon.
Cutfield Freeman & Co. will help Selwyn in evaluating its financing and strategic options relating to the Selwyn zinc-lead project.
As part of the mandate, Cutfield will consider all financing alternatives including debt, equity and other financial instruments, as well as concentrate offtake-related finance, partnership arrangements and the company's corporate options.
The review is designed to help the company as it assesses its options and responsibilities in the execution of the joint venture agreement with Chihong, it said.
Selwyn's Scotia Mine in Nova Scotia is expected to provide the company with cash flow for advancing the Selwyn property.
The Selwyn project is believed to host the largest undeveloped zinc-lead deposit in the world, with initial mine development to focus on 16.06 million tonnes of indicated mineral resources grading 10.06% zinc and 4.23% lead, and 26.7 million tonnes grading 8.81% zinc and 2.81% lead.
Initial mine production is forecast at 255,000 tonnes per year of zinc and 65,000 tonnes per year of lead in concentrate, starting early 2015, coinciding with forecast shortfalls in mine supply.
Last November, Selwyn said that the initial proposed work for the feasibility study is nearing completion, but the joint venture decided to expand the scope of the study, with a range of additional programs now being considered, including the confirmation of potentially significant new mineral resources at the Don deposit.
Refinements to the feasibility study will focus on the reduction of operating costs in the mill, impacts on the mine plan and optimization of the mining sequence, with the finalization of the feasibility study now expected in late 2012.