Southern Silver’s growth strategy is to focus on the development of quality assets, in significant mineralized trends, close to infrastructure. Recent work on the company’s flagship Cerro Las Minitas project outlined a preliminary economic assessment with an after tax NPV5% of US$501M and IRR of 21.2%. For additional details, see news release dated June 10th, 2024. Combined with a low market capitalization, and low operating costs, this provides an excellent opportunity for future corporate growth and an increase in shareholder value.
Southern Silver continues to advance their flagship Cerro Las Minitas silver-lead-zinc property located in Durango State, Mexico. At over 270 square kilometers in size, the project features a large land position within the prolific Faja de Plata (Belt of Silver) of northern Mexico, with historic production and resources of over three billion ounces of silver and additional potential for future “world class” discoveries.
On June 10th, 2024, the company released an updated Preliminary Resource Assessment on the Cerro Las Minitas Project. Summary details are as follows (all figures in US$ unless noted):
Robust Project Economics - Base Case: after-tax NPV5% of $501M (C$682M) and IRR of 21.2% (using Au - $1850/oz, Ag- $23.00/oz, Cu – $4.00/lb, Pb – $1.00/lb and Zn - $1.25/lb);
Excellent Silver and Zinc Price Leverage - Base-case +20%: after-tax NPV5% of $875M (C$1,193M) and IRR of 30.2% (using Au - $2,220/oz, Ag- $27.60/oz, Cu – $4.80/lb, Pb – $1.20/lb and Zn - $1.50/lb);
Large-Scale Underground Mining Operation with a 17-year mine life with an annual average plant feed of 14.3 Mozs AgEq (inc. 5.8 Mozs Ag) at an AISC of $13.23/oz AgEq sold;
High-Revenue Project: Base Case gross revenues total US$4.5B with silver and gold representing 45% of revenues, zinc representing 35% of revenues. The project has an Initial CapEx of $388M and an NPV-to-CapEx ratio of 1.3X;
Well Located Project in a mining friendly jurisdiction with excellent infrastructure in southeast Durango state, Mexico; and
Further Exploration Upside: Deposits remain open laterally and to depth and remain to be explored
The study was based on a resource estimate, effective March 20th, 2024 of 43.4Moz Ag, 374Mlbs Pb and 921Mlbs Zn (116Moz AgEq) Indicated and 83.3Moz Ag, 582Mlbs Pb and and 1.1Blbs Zn (186Moz AgEq) Inferred(1)
The Company also continues to advance the Oro property, New Mexico, USA. This 100% owned 2,700 hectare, gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc property features a classic porphyry zonation over a 6 square kilometer area within the highly prospective Laramide Porphyry belt of the southern USA. Southern Silver is actively seeking a partner to finance further exploration on this property.
Southern Silver Exploration Corp.: A low risk junior exploration and development company with substantial upside potential is emerging as one of the premier Ag-Pb-Zn companies in Mexico.
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The current Resource Estimate was prepared by Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., of Kirkham Geosystems Ltd. All mineral resources have been estimated in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and Petroleum (“CIM”) definitions, as required under National Instrument 43-101 (“NI43-101”). Mineral resources were constrained using continuous mining units demonstrating reasonable prospects of eventual economic extraction. Silver Equivalents were calculated from the interpolated block values using relative recoveries and prices between the component metals and silver to determine a final AgEq value. Metal recoveries: 95%. silver, 75% gold, 70% copper, 87% lead and 93.2% zinc. Silver Equivalents and NSR$/t values were calculated using average long-term prices of $22.5/oz. silver, $1,850/oz. gold, $3.78/lb. copper, $0.94/lb. lead and $1.25/lb. zinc. All prices are stated in $USD. The formula used for NSR$/t calculations was as follows - $NSR = (Ag g/t x 0.55) + (Au g/t x 34.45) + (Cu% x 48.68) + (Pb% x 13.41) + (Zn% x 15.59) Mineral resources are not mineral reserves until they have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral resource estimates do not account for a resource’s mineability, selectivity, mining loss, or dilution. An Inferred Mineral Resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an Indicated Mineral Resource and must not be converted to a Mineral Reserve. It is reasonably expected that the majority of Inferred Mineral Resources could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration. All figures are rounded to reflect the relative accuracy of the estimate and therefore numbers may not appear to add precisely.