Silver Tiger Metals – Visually Unpacking The El Tigre Project Underground PEA
Summary
Silver Tiger Metals' underground PEA at El Tigre outlines a $304M after-tax NPV at 42.8% IRR, with a 15-year mine life and $83.5M initial capex.
The underground mine plan is designed standalone from the surface stockwork zone, allowing both projects to run in tandem without sequencing constraints.
The site already holds one year of high-grade waste-rock ore from the historic El Tigre mine, plus 1Mt of historical tailings for years 16-18.
An additional ~3Mt Northern Veins resource sits outside the PEA, ~700m north of the mine, and could nearly double the underground tonnage once drilled off.
The 25km district-scale land package hosts multiple historic past-producing mines, framing a multi-decade drilling pipeline beyond the current PEA footprint.
Key points on Silver Tiger Metals
- Underground PEA at study prices ($38 silver, $3,200 gold) drives $300M+ NPV at 42% IRR; the guest cites $1.2B NPV, 160% IRR, 6-month payback, and $1.8B life-of-mine cash flow at spot (~ $95 silver, ~$5,000 gold) on $83M capex.
- Underground and the surface stock works can be developed in tandem — atypical in Mexican epithermal systems — with $17M of the underground capex absorbed by shared surface infrastructure (roads, power), making incremental capex closer to ~$70M.
- Mine plan starts with one year of ~300 g/t waste-rock ore from the old Tiger mine plus three bonus years of tailings retreatment (~1M tons at ~1 g/t Au); a ~3M-ton Northern Veins zone at ~370 g/t sits 700m north as growth optionality.
- Combined underground plus surface NPV of $2B+ US is contrasted with a ~$400-600M CAD market cap; the guest frames execution over the next 18-24 months as the path to peer-level 0.9-1x NPV rerating.
Glenn Jessome's takeaways
- Top takeaway He argues the underground and surface stock works projects can be built simultaneously — atypical for Mexican epithermal systems — by sequencing mine development so neither sterilizes the other's ore, and he expects to start underground while surface mining is still being constructed.
- He frames Silver Tiger as undervalued on the strength of the underground PEA: $300M+ NPV at study prices and $1.2B NPV at spot, with $83M capex he calls 'nibble-size' versus peers running $300M-$1B.
- He argues a US big-board listing will be timed for maximum shareholder value, and that $50M US of treasury plus future production ('an ATM called the Tiger') will self-fund drilling north and south to build a district-scale resource beyond the current PEA.
- He positions the underground as primarily silver (~75% silver, 25% gold) while acknowledging the surface stock works' gold exposure (~60% gold, 40% silver) is a useful talking point at ~$5,000 gold.