Joaquin Marias, CEO of Argenta Silver | Rule Symposium 2026: Rick Rule interviews

Rule Investment Media May 14, 2026

Summary

Historical metallurgy points to 90-96% silver recoveries, and refiners told the CEO his high-grade concentrate would face no arsenic penalties.

Smelters blend concentrates to hit furnace grades, so exceptionally high-grade silver concentrate can be diluted and stay fully economical.

The project holds about 50 million ounces of silver, 45.3 million of them indicated at 482 grams per ton, with only 8% of ground explored.

Infrastructure serving Salta's lithium industry — rail, gas pipeline, power line — reaches within 3 kilometers of camp, keeping future capex low.

Geologist CEO Joaquin Marias followed the Salta project for 16 years before taking Argenta from creation in October 2024 to drilling by May 2025.

The CEO says the Salta project hosts around 50 million ounces of pure silver, with 45.3 million ounces indicated at 482 g/t, and that only 8% of the project has been explored to date.
About a year after the company was created in October 2024 and began drilling in May 2025, the CEO says Argenta ranked number 30 in the 2025 TSX Venture 50 for share-price and market-cap appreciation.
The CEO argues nearby lithium-driven infrastructure (an operational railroad and pressurized gas pipeline 3 km from camp, an all-year road, a high-voltage line 16 km away, and two solar farms including South America's largest) plus over 100,000 m of historical drilling and 80 km of internal roads should keep future capex low.
On the metallurgy debate, the CEO cites historical test work from 2009-2012 showing 90-96% silver recovery into a 10-13.5 kg per ton concentrate, and says eight of the world's largest smelters and refineries he met in Europe in November 2025 indicated the arsenic level of about 0.4% is well below penalty thresholds and antimony (1-2%) is not penalized.
The CEO says the company is completing its own metallurgical study, expected within months of the interview, which could support a PEA and a path toward production.

Rick Rule compares Argenta to Skeena, saying that as with Skeena the concentrate penalties are irrelevant given the grade.

Top takeaway Rick Rule closes by endorsing the CEO's summary of Argenta as a large, rich deposit whose known envelope is growing with exploration upside, where the grade makes concentrate penalties irrelevant.
He discloses that the symposium sponsors own shares in every exhibitor, including Argenta, and counts himself among the company's shareholders.
He says Frank Giustra brought Argenta to his attention, and he presses the CEO to respond to the metallurgical concerns being raised online.

Top takeaway The geologist says he has followed the northern Argentina project for 16 years, since starting his career, and eventually brought it to Frank Giustra's group, where he has worked almost five years identifying assets.
He credits his background in exploration, project generation and team building for the company's rapid progress from creation in October 2024 to drilling by May 2025.
He says lab bottlenecks from rising activity in the Andean region have delayed news flow, with results to be released as assays come back.
He describes a deposit sitting inside a volcano, with a 100-person camp 13 km away on a high plateau and key infrastructure within a few kilometers.

Top takeaway Rick Rule credits his longtime friend Frank Giustra with bringing Argenta Silver to his attention.
Joaquin Marias says he brought the project to Giustra's group at the right moment, after following it for 16 years and working for the group for nearly five years.