James McDonald

Kootenay Silver's 14-Year Mine Plan

• Top takeaway The CEO calls the La Saguera PEA economics really positive and sees a mine life over 10 years as what the investment community wants to see.
• He points to average production of 4.5 million ounces of silver per year, front-loaded with over 6 million ounces annually in the first five years.
• He notes the longer mine life also creates room to find additional ounces and extend the mine life further.

A mine life beyond 10 years gives a project time to ride out commodity cycles and fix startup problems, the guest argues. Kootenay Silver's La Saguera PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment — an early economics study) outlines a 14-year mine life averaging 4.5 million silver ounces yearly. The first five years are expected to run above 6 million ounces of silver — pure silver ounces, not silver-equivalent.

The Silver Bull Market Is Just Getting Started - Here’s Why

• Top takeaway His central call is that the silver bull market has only just started: he frames the December-to-February surge as the first spike of a long, multi-year bull market comparable to 2002-2012, and says the eventual base will sit far above the old $18-26 band, which is why he moved the parked Chihuahua projects forward once silver passed $30 in January.
• On the La Cigarra PEA he stresses the study is run at a $50/oz silver price he considers very conservative, and points to the 14-year mine life, average annual production of about 4.5 million ounces, roughly $332 million of capital including a large contingency, and an after-tax payback of just under two years.
• His next catalyst is a fall drill program of about 7,000 meters, budgeted within 10,000 meters for just over $3 million, to test the lightly drilled gap between the Sangrigoria and Las Carolinas pits inside the existing pit shell; he expects the answer by year end and a pre-feasibility study launched in 2027.
• On Columba he is running about 60,000 meters of expansion drilling aimed at pushing the resource toward 100 million ounces, and argues that number is not required because his in-house desktop studies may already show positive economics below it; the resource update is expected around the end of 2026 into early 2027.
• On risk and funding he says the company has been in Mexico for 25 years with an almost entirely Mexican staff and only works in areas he assesses as stable and safe, and that because Kootenay generates no revenue it must keep watching the market for its next financing even though about $34 million in cash covers both programs for at least 18 months.

Kootenay Silver now develops two Mexican silver projects after a preliminary economic assessment (PEA) on La Cigarra showed $763 million after-tax NPV at $50 silver. AISC (All-In Sustaining Cost - what it really costs to produce an ounce) is forecast below $19, with payback under two years at La Cigarra. The guest argues silver is forming a new price band several times higher than the mid-$20s range it occupied for years. A 7,000-metre fall drill program targets the undrilled gap between two deposits, a low-cost path to 10 to 20 million more ounces by year end. Columba's high-grade inferred resource is being drilled toward 100 million ounces, funded by about $34 million in cash.

SILVER Back to Triple Digits THIS Year? 'Dramatic' Move Coming

• Top takeaway McDonald argues silver will return to triple digits, with a reasonable chance of it happening before the end of 2026, and sees the drop from January-February's $120 spike to just under $60 as consolidation at the beginning of a multi-year bull market, not its end.
• He contends the supply side cannot respond quickly: few primary silver mines exist, most output is byproduct, and new discoveries take 10-20 years to reach production, so deficits keep the price strong while silver follows gold.
• He reads the early-2026 spike as the market waking up, driven by institutional and some central-bank buying, and expects silver to settle far above its 2025 band, by analogy to the post-2002 bull that lifted silver from a $4.50-5.50 band to a lasting ~$20 band.
• On silver as a strategic metal, he says government moves (US stockpiling, Russian central-bank purchases, which he calls the possible bell that rang, a Saudi SLV stake, and China's export controls) will not reverse, though he declines to predict acceleration.
• He believes silver miners are already earning strong cash flows near $60 and the sector has turned; institutions are in a show-me phase awaiting a confirmed bottom, and he expects general-market money to follow a few more quarters of producer cash flows.

The guest argues silver's 50% slide from January's $120-plus peak is consolidation inside a bull market, with triple digits possible this year. Six consecutive deficit years and a 10-to-20-year mine development timeline mean silver supply cannot quickly respond to rising demand, the guest notes. Governments now treat silver as strategic: US stockpiling, Russian central-bank buying, Saudi ETF purchases, and Chinese export controls tighten available supply. A first PEA (Preliminary Economic Assessment — early-stage mine economics) gives Kootenay's La Seguera a $763M after-tax NPV and 41% IRR at $50 silver. High-grade Columba drill results, including 98 metres at 200 g/t (grams per tonne) silver, feed a 60,000-metre program and a year-end resource update.

Positioned for a Silver Breakout

Kootenay Silver strategically positioned its projects years ahead for a potential silver price breakout. Company updated resources and prepared development plans early to capitalize on strengthening market conditions. Early preparation allows rapid project advancement as silver market fundamentals continue to improve.