Trading Symbols: TSX/NYSE AMERICAN: SVM

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – January 14, 2025 – Silvercorp Metals Inc. (“Silvercorp” or the “Company”) (TSX/NYSE American: SVM), reports the construction of tailings storage facility (“TSF”) No. 3 and the new 1,500 tonne per day (“tpd”) flotation production line at the Ying Mining District, Henan Province, China (“Ying”) were completed in early December 2024, on time and under budget. Both facilities are now fully operating as designed, following a one-month commissioning period. The addition of the new flotation production line will enable the milling capacity at Ying to be increased to over 1.3 million tonnes per year.

Operation of TSF No. 3

Currently the Company is operating three TSFs at Ying, with TSF No. 1 in the process of closing and decommissioning, and TSF No. 2. having 6 years of life remaining.  The first phase of TSF No. 3, with storage capacity of approximately 9.92 million cubic metres, will support Ying at the expanded operating rate of 1.3 million tonnes of ore per year over 12 years. The second phase of TSF No. 3 will have approximately 9.29 million cubic metres of capacity. The total storage capacity of TSF No. 3 is 19.21 million cubic metres.

Phase 1 of TSF No. 3 was constructed for approximately US$28 million, less than the original budget of $38 million (February 24, 2022 news release); the main components of the project included:

1. Land purchasing and compensation;
2. Upstream “non-contact water” dam and 1,825 metre long “non-contact water” discharge tunnel, with a 40 centimetre thick steel reinforced concrete liner;
3. A 3,200 metre long tailings water discharge tunnel, with a 40 centimetre thick reinforced concrete liner. Eleven decant towers/wells (shown in Figure 1) at different elevations connected to the 3,200 metre long tunnel to discharge re-settled water to a recycling pond downstream;
4. A 52 metre high starter dam;
5. Non-contact water channels and emergency access road surrounding the entire tailings impoundment area,
6. Impoundment area covered by approximately 400,000 square metres of high density poly-ethylene liner to prevent tailings water from penetrating into the ground;
7. Tailings discharge and water recycle pumping system; and
8. Real-time tailings dam stability monitoring and video surveillance system.

In accordance with Chinese safety regulations, TSF No. 3 will be checked and assessed after a three month test run for safety and quality by the Department of Emergency Response of Henan Province, then have a safety production license issued.

Figure 1: Impoundment Area of TSF No. 3

1,500 tpd New Flotation Production Line

As previously announced (April 23, 2024 news release), the Company started to construct a 1,500 tpd flotation production line at Ying’s No. 2 Mill with a completion date by Q4 2024 and a cost of $7.2 million pursuant to a signed EPCM contract. The 1,500 tpd line was completed on time and on budget, with commissioning taking place in November 2024.

The relatively low capital expenditures are in part due to taking advantage of existing facilities and infrastructure at the No. 2 mill, including the crushing circuit, concentrate thickener and dewatering system, and the existing tailings discharge system.

The new 1,500 tpd flotation production line, equipped with a Knelson gravity concentrator, is able to produce silver-lead, zinc and copper concentrates, plus gold gravity concentrate.  The robust design of the production line allowed it to achieve 1,700 tpd capacity after one month in operation, with a final target of 1,800 tpd capacity.

With the addition of the new production line, the total milling capacity at Ying is expected to reach over 1.3 million tonnes per year, enough to process increased mining capacity at Ying, plus future production from the nearby Kuanping mine.

Figure 2: Completion Ceremony for the 1,500 tpd New Production Line