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First Majestic Silver Corp.: Del Toro NI 43-101 Technical Report & Pre-Feasibility Study

May 22, 2012

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - May 22, 2012) - FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER CORP. (TSX:FR)(NYSE:AG)(FRANKFURT:FMV)(WKN:A0LHKJ) (the "Company" or "First Majestic") is pleased to announce a new NI 43-101 Technical Report (TR) and Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Del Toro Silver Mine.

REPORTED HIGHLIGHTS

  • Silver Equivalent Measured & Indicated Resources increased by 186% to 74.5 million ounces
  • Silver Equivalent Inferred Resources increased by 79% to 79.0 million ounces
  • Total estimated production to reach 9.7 million silver equivalent ounces in 2014
  • Estimated total operating costs at $34.96 per tonne and cash costs of $7.32 per ounce of silver on a by-product basis
  • Post Tax NPV at 5% discount = US$147.1 million using a US$25 silver price
  • Internal Rate of Return (IRR) is 43% with a payback period of 2.5 years from completion
  • Life of Mine (LOM) currently estimated at 6.5 years taking into consideration mine dilution from underground mining operations and metallurgical silver recoveries of 77% in Sulfides and 81% in Oxides
  • Total capital requirement over three years of $124.2 million including a 5% contingency
  • The Del Toro Silver Mine is 100% owned by First Majestic Silver and there are no Royalties payable

This new NI 43-101 TR and PFS considers exploration and development work completed as at the cut-off date of March 31, 2012. These estimates include all work completed as at the cut-off date, including a total of 35,230 metres of diamond drilling over 117 holes and development metres totalling 7,133. Assays for 33 holes did not make the cut-off date and were not included in this report. Seven drill rigs remain actively drilling on site. The new Resource estimates as at the cut-off consists of 74.5 million ounces of silver equivalent in Measured and Indicated Resources, representing an increase of 186% from the 2008 estimates plus an additional 79.0 million ounces contained in Inferred Resources representing a 79% increase from the previous estimate.

Construction of the new 4,000 tpd dual circuit processing mill commenced in April 2011. As of today's date, construction remains on time with first phase of production scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter 2012. Ramp up of production used in the PFS was as follows; Phase 1 - starting in October 2012 through the first half of 2013 includes only sulfide ore processing through the flotation circuit at a capacity of 1,000 tpd; Phase 2 - includes the last half of 2013 through 2017 which includes oxide ore processing through cyanide leaching at a capacity of 2,000 tpd plus sulfide ore processing through flotation at a capacity of 2,000 tpd for total throughput of 4,000 tpd; Phase 3 - Year 2018 includes only 4,000 tpd of sulfide ore though flotation.

Total estimated throughput, described in more detail in the table below, reaches a production level in 2014 of approximately 9.7 million equivalent ounces of silver represented by 6.7 million ounces of pure silver annually plus approximately 39.4 million pounds of lead and 39.9 million pounds of zinc. Life of Mine (LOM) calculated in the Report is estimated at 6.5 years taking into consideration mine dilution and metallurgical silver recoveries of 77% in sulfides and 81% in oxides and lead and zinc recoveries from sulfides of 50% and 40%, respectively.

Keith Neumeyer, CEO and President of First Majestic Silver, states: "It should be apparent from the great strides being made with Del Toro that First Majestic is well on its way to achieving its objective of becoming the next senior silver producer. Our greatest challenge with the Del Toro is keeping ahead of reporting the rapid growth in the underground resources. As we continue to drill and further define the resources we anticipate it will be necessary to file yet another Technical Report by the end of this year. When we commission Del Toro later this year, and with the pending acquisition of Silvermex, First Majestic will have five producing mines with annual silver production exceeding ten million ounces and rapidly ramping up to over 15 million ounces by 2014. Our primary focus remains to continually expand production while driving costs downward to maintain our status of having our costs within the first quartile amongst our mid-tier and senior peers. As always, my continuing congratulations go out to our entire First Majestic team for its outstanding achievements."

Total Resources as at the cut-off date reached a silver equivalent Measured & Indicated Resource of 74.5 million ounces plus an additional silver equivalent Inferred Resources of 79.0 million ounces. More details can be seen in the table below.

The following three summary tables were taken from the complete Del Toro Silver Mine NI 43-101 TR and PFS prepared by Pincock Allan & Holt, Lakewood, Colorado (PAH). Shareholders and interested parties are encouraged to read this positive report in its entirety which can be viewed on SEDAR (www.sedar.com) and the Company's web site at www.firstmajestic.com.

Mineral Resources "In-Situ" as of March 31, 2012

Deposit

Tonnes M
Width
m
Au
g/t
Ag
g/t
Pb
%
Zn
%
Ag
(only)

oz

Ag
oz eq
Total
Ag
oz eq
Measured Sulfide Resources 1,042,705 6.73 0.00 90 1.66 3.72 3,021,927 4,448,816 7,470,744
Indicated Sulfide Resources 5,457,078 9.03 0.11 155 2.55 3.12 27,158,770 25,716,434 52,875,205
Total Measured + Inidicated Sulfides 6,499,783 8.66 0.09 144 2.40 3.21 30,180,698 30,165,251 60,345,948
Measured Oxide Resources 1,111,441 10.03 0.00 136 1.38 1.74 4,866,988 526 4,867,514
Indicated Oxide Resources 1,837,759 11.54 0.01 156 1.98 2.08 9,222,395 24,421 9,246,816
Total Measured + Indicated Oxides 2,949,200 10.97 0.00 149 1.75 1.95 14,089,383 24,947 14,114,330
Total Measured + Indicated Sulfides + Oxides 9,448,983 9.38 0.06 146 2.20 2.82 44,270,081 30,190,198 74,460,278
Inferred Sulfide Resources 8,617,965 8.42 0.09 120 2.12 3.83 33,233,695 42,234,881 75,468,576
Inferred Oxide Resources 641,136 6.49 0.00 173 2.33 1.86 3,573,464 0 3,573,464
Total Inferred Sulfides + Oxides 9,259,101 8.29 0.08 124 2.12 3.83 36,807,159 42,234,881 79,042,040
PAH review = Mineral Resources "In Situ", including mine dilution, but no mine and metallurgical recoveries.
Resource estimate based on Cutoff grade of Ag eqv. = Sulfides 118 g/tonne; Oxides 63 g/tonne. Metal prices: Silver $25/oz, Gold $1600/oz, Lead $0.90/lb, Zinc $0.90/lb.
Due to the uncertainty that may be attached to Inferred Mineral Resources, it cannot be assumed that all or any part of an Inferred Mineral Resource will be upgraded to an Indicated or Measured Mineral Resource as a result of continued exploration.
Inferred Mineral Resources do not have economic value and these have not been included in this TR as part of the economic analysis.

In PAH's opinion, and as described in the Report, numerous prospective mineralized structures and alteration zones within the Del Toro property holdings remain either under-explored or unexplored such as the already know areas of San Juan, Perseverancia and San Nicolas and the areas for future exploration such as the extension to depth of the Perseverancia chimney, the extension to the Northeast of the San Nicolas Vein, the newly purchased Dolores mine, in addition to Lourdes, Las Cotorras, La Nueva, India, Tayoltita, El Huitrón, and La Verdiosa structures.

Estimated Capital Expenditures
YEARS
Category 2012 2013 2014 TOTALS
Mine Development $ 5,259,339 $ 3,707,559 $ 1,322,283 $ 10,289,181
Exploration $ 4,000,000 $ 2,000,000 $ 2,000,000 $ 8,000,000
San Francisco Shaft and Mine Equipment $ 12,510,000 $ 7,715,000 $ 20,225,000
Process Plant $ 32,227,500 $ 44,345,295 $ 76,572,795
Total Direct Costs $ 53,996,839 $ 57,767,854 $ 3,322,283 $ 115,086,976
Owner Costs $ 1,200,000 $ 1,200,000
First Fills (Process + Mine) $ 500,000 $ 1,000,000 $ 500,000 $ 2,000,000
Total Indirect Costs $ 1,700,000 $ 1,000,000 $ 500,000 $ 3,200,000
Subtotal Capital Expenditures $ 55,696,839 $ 58,767,854 $ 3,822,283 $ 118,286,976
Contingencies @ 5% $ 2,784,842 $ 2,938,393 $ 191,114 $ 5,914,349
TOTAL CAPITAL EXPENDITURE $ 58,481,681 $ 61,706,247 $ 4,013,397 $ 124,201,325
Life of Mine Production Schedule
YEARS
CATEGORY 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 TOTALS
Total Sulfide Tonnes Mined/Milled 82,000 350,000 660,000 660,000 660,000 851,381 1,234,158 131,375 4,628,914
Average Head Grades
Silver - gpt 173 178 173 173 179 179 170 167 174
Lead - % 2.71 2.80 2.71 2.71 2.81 2.82 2.65 2.60 2.73
Zinc - % 2.74 2.68 2.74 2.74 2.67 2.66 2.78 2.82 2.72
Gold - gpt 0.11 0.09 0.11 0.11 0.09 0.10 0.12 0.13 0.11
Total Oxide Tonnes Mined/Milled 240,000 660,000 660,000 660,000 468,619 85,842 2,774,461
Head Grades *
Silver - gpt 146 141 141 141 144 140 142
Total Sulfide + Oxide Tonnes Mined & Milled 82,000 590,000 1,320,000 1,320,000 1,320,000

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