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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - March 31, 2017) - FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. (the "Company" or "First Majestic") (TSX:FR)(NYSE:AG)(FRANKFURT:FMV)(BVM:AG) is pleased to announce its 2016 Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates for its existing mineral property assets in Mexico as of December 31, 2016. Metal prices used to estimate the 2016 Reserve estimates were increased slightly compared to previous estimates to: $18.00/oz for silver, $1,250/oz for gold, $1.00/lb for lead and $1.15/lb for zinc.

"We began 2016 with a small exploration budget of only $9.9 million designed to primarily assist with our mining activities," stated Keith Neumeyer, President and CEO. "In the second half of 2016, we increased the exploration budget by 71% and returned our focus on growing the ounces in the ground. For 2017, we are investing $27.0 million to complete over 183,000 metres of diamond drilling across our Mexican assets. This renewed investment is expected to add significant growth to our Reserves and Resources in the years ahead."

The following table shows the total tonnage mined from each of the Company's six producing properties during 2016, including total ounces of silver and silver equivalent ounces produced from each property and the tonnage mined from delineated Reserves and Resources at each property. A portion of the production from each mine came from material other than Reserves or Resources, as set out below under the heading "Material Not in Reserves".

The Company completed a total of 97,576 metres of diamond drilling at its six operating mines in 2016, representing a 170% increase in metres drilled compared to the prior year.

For 2017, First Majestic is planning to invest $27.0 million towards exploration to drill approximately 183,000 metres at its core Mexican assets consisting of approximately 43,000 metres of diamond drilling intended to upgrade Resources to Reserves at La Parrilla, Del Toro, La Guitarra and Santa Elena; approximately 100,000 metres of diamond drilling intended to increase or add new Measured & Indicated or Inferred Resources at the six operating mines, with a focus at Nazareno in La Guitarra and the Ermitaño West project in Santa Elena; and drill approximately 40,000 metres at the Plomosas Silver Project. A combination of surface and underground drill rigs will focus on assisting mining activities, definition drilling and to support future updates to the Company's NI43-101 Technical Reports.

As of December 31, 2016, Proven and Probable Reserves totaled 116.7 million silver equivalent ounces, representing a 14% decrease or 18.6 million silver equivalent ounces in metal content compared to the prior estimate. This reduction is primarily due to the production depletion of 14.5 million silver equivalent ounces despite a modest increase of 3% in the assumed silver and gold prices and higher metal prices for lead and zinc. In addition, the reduction is the effect of an average increase of 10% in the cut-off grades for most of the mines. The escalation in the cut-off grade is a reflection of an increase of the mining and sustaining cost per tonne motivated by adopting more selective mining methods and the re-activation of sustaining development and near-mine exploration.

The Company's consolidated Measured and Indicated Resources totaled 139.6 million silver equivalent ounces, representing an 11% decrease from 2015 estimates primarily due to the production depletion and an increase of the production cost per tonne. In addition, Inferred Resources decreased 15% to 233.2 million silver equivalent ounces primarily due to the escalation in the cut-off grade as a reflection of an increase of the mining and sustaining cost per tonne.

The complete 2016 Mineral Reserve and Resource estimates for all metals, tonnage and grades are shown below in the following tables: