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Why Argenta Silver’s Metallurgical Results Massively De-Risk El Quevar

CEO.CA Sep 29, 2026 10:50

Summary

Argenta's preliminary flotation tests (which float silver minerals into a concentrate) recovered up to 99 percent of silver with no optimization done.

Cleaner-stage results returned 96 percent recovery and a concentrate grading 14,857 grams per tonne silver, with final results due in 30 to 60 days.

Step-out drilling at both open ends of El Quevar keeps hitting mineralization, expanding the deposit footprint by roughly 25 percent.

Argenta targets an updated mineral resource estimate (a formal tally of deposit size and grade) by March 2027 to capture that expansion.

The CEO reports about C$24 million in cash, no debt, and assay turnaround delays of up to 10 weeks now easing after a lab bottleneck.

Key points on Argenta Silver

  • The CEO reports preliminary metallurgical results from 15 deposit-wide samples: primary flotation averaged 95% silver recovery (up to 99%), and the cleaner stage reached 96% recovery with a concentrate grading 14,857 g/t silver, per the September 21, 2026 news release.
  • These results come from a first flotation pass with no optimization, and the CEO expects final metallurgical results within 30-60 days of the late-September 2026 interview.
  • Step-out drilling in the expanded 25,000-meter program is returning intercepts the CEO puts at close to 500 g/t silver over 20 meters, or roughly a kilogram over 40 meters, and he says the deposit footprint has grown about 25%.
  • The company is targeting an updated mineral resource estimate by March 2027, drilling both open ends of the deposit with the environmental baseline already completed.
  • The CEO says the company has about $24 million in the bank and no debt after raising roughly $60 million over the past two years — a bit more than half spent — which he expects to fund work through the resource update.

Mr. Joaquin Marias P.Geo.'s takeaways

  • Top takeaway Marias argues the metallurgical results de-risk El Quevar because recovery is high across the whole deposit regardless of mineralogy — about 95% on average — even before any optimization.
  • He says he was surprised by the 99% recoveries, pulled the flotation data himself, and points to kinetics showing the rock reaches 90% recovery quickly.
  • He expects the final concentrate to be very high-grade silver with very low lead, zinc and copper, and believes optimization can push recoveries higher.
  • He lays out a near-term catalyst path: final metallurgical results in 30-60 days and an updated mineral resource by March 2027, despite lab turnaround delays of up to 10 weeks that he says have now cleared.
  • He frames El Quevar as, in his words, probably the only pure silver play in the world, since the silver reports directly to the concentrate in flotation.