Integrating open-pit and underground value

Glenn Jessome, President & CEO of Silver Tiger Metals (TSX.V:SLVR – OTCQX:SLVTF), joins us for a comprehensive update on all the development work going on at ground level now that  the Company has secured all of the required approvals and permits from the Mexican Federal Environmental Department (“SEMARNAT”) to construct the El Tigre Stockwork Silver-Gold Project in Sonora, Mexico.  We also discuss the upcoming underground PEA, set for release later this month, the coming regional drill programs to the north and south of El Tigre, and the capital management flexibility that the company has moving into 2026.

With all approvals for the Project now granted, Silver Tiger is advancing the El Tigre Project towards construction over the 18-month plan, as outlined in the October 2024 Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) for the Project. Glenn shares with us the many earlier-stage initiatives their operations team, led by VP of Operations, Francisco Albelais, was working on for the last half of 2025,  like building the 365 day per year haulage road, and the 6 months of detailed engineering work that is mostly completed and gives them a large head start on hitting the ground running now that the permit is in hand. 

Glenn highlights that in addition to more land clearing and surface earth works, that a key initiative is optimizing the road already built with a new bridge currently in review with engineering and slated to be built over the next few months.  Another priority is the building of the camp to house all the staff that will be working on-site from here on out.  Additionally, there will be water wells completed, and all the workstreams that flow into the final engineering plan.    All of this derisking sets the company up for even better debt terms, and gives them a huge head start into the eventual mine construction beginning over the course of this year.

We also recap all the exploration, development, and derisking work that has gone into the upcoming imminent release of the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) for the underground mine, set to release to the market later in January. The team at Silver Tiger has been compiling the last 5 years of work delineating the 113 million ounces of silver equivalent resources in the high-grade veins, shale, and sulphide zones underground portion of El Tigre, the metallurgical studies, and engineering work to be able to release the upcoming PEA early in Q1.   This report will center around the already permitted underground scenario utilizing an 800 tonnes-per-day (tpd) mill, and focusing on the initial first 10 years of mine life.

With regards to the capital management strategy, and the coming debt term sheets and how the company will fund the remaining capex for the mine build, Glenn shares the flexibility and optionality that their team now has, after having raised CAD$40 Million bought deal financing with a syndicate of underwriters led by BMO Capital Markets and Stifel Nicolaus Canada in the late Fall last year.  When combined with the ~CAD$30 million the company already had in their treasury, they essentially have a large percentage of the US$85 million capex needed to build the bulk tonnage surface mine at El Tigre.  This means that they can negotiate less restrictive debt covenants, giving them the flexibility to keep pursuing work on the underground strategy, as well as regional exploration to the north and south of El Tigre. 

If you have any follow up questions for Glenn regarding Silver Tiger Metals, then please email them into me at Shad@kereport.com.

In full disclosure, Shad is a shareholder of Silver Tiger Metals at the time of this recording, and may choose to buy or sell shares at any time.

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