United Silver Corp. announced that on May 24, 2012 USC miners at the Crescent mine project broke through to the existing Big Creek #4 tunnel, a narrow, track tunnel dating back to the early 1920. The miners had been driving the new trackless Big Creek #4 adit since late March and have advanced more than 700 feet in virgin ground. The breakthrough is a milestone in the plan of the project to achieve commercial production by the second quarter of 2013. Having broken into the existing tunnel the crew will now advance westward by widening the tunnel for another sixteen hundred feet, at which point they will turn south into virgin ground to complete the connection with the countess decline. Simultaneously, development crews in the countess decline are continuing to ramp downward in the footwall of the South Vein. Projections are for the two crews to hook up on the 3490 level in Spring of 2013. When connected to the countess decline, the new Big Creek #4 adit and widened Big Creek #4 tunnel will provide a secondary escape way, which is necessary before the mine can go into regular production.