Investor Insight

Apollo Silver is advancing two high-impact silver projects in premier North American jurisdictions—California and Chihuahua—offering investors a unique combination of scale, optionality, and leverage to silver and critical mineral demand.

Overview

Apollo Silver (TSXV:APGO,OTCQB:APGOF,FSE: 6ZF0) is a silver-focused company advancing a dual-asset strategy centered on two high-impact projects in North America: the Calico silver project in California, USA and the Cinco de Mayo project in Chihuahua, Mexico. Both are located in mining-friendly jurisdictions with strong infrastructure and significant historical work.

At Calico, Apollo Silver is advancing the Waterloo deposit toward development through geological modeling, barite resource definition, and engineering studies. Calico boasts 125 Moz of silver (measured and indicated) and 58 Moz of silver (inferred), and recent test work has produced a 94.6 percent barite concentrate, supporting the asset’s potential as a US critical minerals supplier.

In Mexico, Cinco de Mayo offers rare optionality with a historical inferred resource of 154 Moz silver equivalent (385 g/t), and a potentially game-changing discovery at the Pegaso Zone. The project is under an option agreement between Apollo Silver and Pan American (previously MAG Silver), wherein Apollo Silver will complete a 20,000-meter drill program to convert the option to an acquisition of the Cinco de Mayo. Apollo Silver’s strategy is underpinned by disciplined capital allocation, high-impact exploration, and a proven ability to acquire and unlock value from high-quality assets—following a model similar to Prime Mining. With no debt, strong institutional backing, and an experienced team, Apollo Silver is well-positioned to deliver scalable, discovery-driven growth in a rising silver and critical minerals market.

Company Highlights

• Tier-1 US Silver Asset – Calico Project: Hosts 125 Moz silver (Measured and Indicated) and 58 Moz silver (inferred), making it the largest undeveloped primary silver deposit in the US.
• Barite & Zinc Critical Minerals Exposure: Calico includes an Indicated resource estimate of 2.7 Mt of barite and 354M lbs of zinc and an Inferred resource estimate of 0.65Mt of barite and 258M lbs of zinc.
• High-grade Discovery Potential – Cinco de Mayo: An option to acquire a district-scale carbonate replacement deposit with a historical inferred resource of 154 Moz silver equivalent at 385 g/t, offering further upside from the Pegaso Zone discovery target.
• Strategic Shareholder Registry: Backed by Jupiter Asset Management, Eric Sprott, Terra Capital, Commodity Capital and Ninepoint.
• Experienced Leadership Team: Proven M&A, discovery and capital markets expertise with over $5 billion in past transactions and most applicable to Apollo Silver, the success at Prime Mining.

Key Projects

Calico Project

The Calico silver project comprises three adjacent properties—Waterloo, Langtry and Mule—located in mining-friendly San Bernardino County, 15 km from Barstow, California. Resources at Calico sit primarily on private land with vested mining rights, simplifying the path to permitting. Infrastructure is excellent: paved roads, power lines within 5 km, and proximity to the expanding Barstow rail terminal.

Using a 47 g/t silver equivalent cut-off grade, the Waterloo Deposit includes 125 M oz of silver in in 55Mt at an average grade of 71 g/t silver in the Measured and Indicated categories, and 0.51 Moz silver in 0.6 Mt at an average of 26 g/t silver in the Inferred category. The Langtry Deposit now contains 57 Moz silver in 24 Mt at an average grade of 73 g/t in the Inferred category, using a 43 g/t silver cut-off grade. The deposits are approximately 2 km apart, shallow, laterally extensive, and exhibit excellent geologic continuity. The mining concept would be a potential open-pit operation, with a minimal environmental footprint and where Waterloo would have a low strip ratio of 0.8:1.

Apollo Silver recently added critical mineral resources for both barite & zinc at the Calico project. Barite has shown recoveries above 94.6 percent in earlier test work. Waterloo includes an Indicated resource estimate of 2.7 Mt of barite and 354M lbs of zinc at an average grade of 7.4 percent barite and 0.45 percent zinc at a cut-off grade of 47 g/t silver equivalent. It also contains Inferred resource estimate of 0.65Mt of barite and 258M lbs of zinc, at an average grade of 3.9 percent barite and 0.71 percent zinc at a cut-off grade of 47 g/t silver equivalent.

The company has recently acquired 2,215 hectares of highly prospective claims contiguous to its Waterloo property at the Calico silver project referred to as the Mule claims comprising 418 lode mining claims. The Mule claims expand the Calico Project land package by over 285 percent, from 1,194 ha to 3,409 ha of contiguous claims.

Having recently announced its mineral resource estimate, ongoing 2025-26 programs are contemplated to include exploration for additional gold mineralization, with a subsequent targeted drill program contingent on positive early results, and metallurgical and geotechnical work program on Waterloo.

Cinco de Mayo Project

Cinco de Mayo is a district-scale carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) system located in Chihuahua, Mexico along the same NW-SE structural trend that hosts some of the country’s largest silver and base metal deposits. The project was historically MAG Silver’s flagship asset, hosting a 2012 historical mineral resource estimate prepared by RPA. At an NSR cut-off of US$100/t, the Inferred resources were estimated to total 12.45 Mt at 132 g/t silver, 0.24 g/t gold, 2.86 percent lead, and 6.47 percent zinc. The total contained metals in the resource were 52.7 Moz of silver, 785 Mlbs of lead, 1,777 Mlbs of zinc, and 96,000 ounces of gold. Notably, a significant mineralized intercept—including 61 meters of massive sulphides—was drilled by MAG Silver in the Pegaso Zone beneath the known resource but never followed up due to social access issues.

The site also includes the Pozo Seco deposit, which hosts an additional historical resource consisting of 29.1 Mt grading 0.147 percent molybdenum and 0.25 g/t gold, containing 94.0 Mlbs of molybdenum and 230,000 oz of gold, in the Indicated resource category. An Inferred Mineral Resources were estimated at 23.4 Mt grading 0.103 percent molybdenum and 0.17 g/t gold, containing 53.2 Mlbs of molybdenum and 129,000 oz of gold. Cut-off grade used in the 2010 technical report was 0.022 percent molybdenum.

Apollo Silver has secured an option to acquire the Cinco de Mayo property from Pan American (previously Mag Silver) and is re-engaging with the local community to secure surface access. A new, development-friendly ejido administration, elected in December 2024, has created an opportunity to negotiate a mutually beneficial agreement for access rights. Once secured, Apollo plans to launch a 20,000-meter drill campaign, with priority targets at Pegaso and expansion zones at Jose Manto.

Under the option agreement with Pan American, Apollo must secure surface access, complete the 20,000 meters of drilling, and issue 19.99 percent of its common shares to finalize the acquisition. The company is also evaluating metallurgical studies and engineering reviews to support a future resource update.

Management Team

Andrew Bowering – Chairman of the Board

A venture capitalist with over 30 years of operational experience, Andrew Bowering has raised over $500 million in value and capital for companies within the natural resources industry. He is the founder of Millennial Lithium and American Lithium, and he is a director and executive advisor to Prime Mining.

Ross McElroy – President and CEO

Ross McElroy is a professional geologist with over 38 years of experience in the mining industry, spanning operational and corporate roles with major, mid-tier, and junior companies worldwide. He played a pivotal role in the discoveries of several world-class uranium and gold deposits, many of which have advanced through development into mining operations. Most recently he was the CEO of Fission Uranium Corp, where he oversaw the sale of Fission for more than $1.14B to Paladin Energy.

Chris Cairns – Chief Financial Officer

Chris Cairns is a CPA, CA and brings more than 13 years of experience working in the finance and mining industries. He obtained his designation while at PwC, working with numerous Canadian and US-listed mining and exploration companies operating in North America, South America and Mongolia, before leaving to serve in roles as controller and CFO of two publicly listed mining exploration companies listed in Canada and the United States.

Rona Sellers – VP Commercial and Compliance and Corporate Secretary

Rona Sellers is an experienced governance professional with more than 13 years of experience in corporate and securities law. Previously, she was VP compliance and corporate secretary at Maple Gold Mines, and previous to that she held corporate secretarial roles at publicly traded companies listed in Canada and the United States.

Isabelle Lépine – Director, Mineral Resources

With over 25 years experience leading resource focused technical programs and teams, Isabelle Lépine brings extensive knowledge in mineral resource management to Apollo. Her significant experience ranges across the advanced stages of the resource development cycle through to mining. Most recently, she was director of mineral resources at Stornoway Diamonds.

Spartan Metals (TSXV:W) is a US-focused explorer advancing its high-grade tungsten and rubidium Eagle Project in Nevada. The company is unlocking critical minerals essential to US defense, technology, and energy independence, supporting onshoring goals under the Defense Production Act.

The Eagle tungsten-silver-rubidium project in eastern Nevada spans 4,936 acres across three historic mine areas — Tungstonia, Rees, and Antelope. With historic production of 8,379 units of WO₃ grading 0.6–0.9 percent, Eagle ranks among the highest-grade past-producing tungsten systems in the US, enriched with rubidium and other defense-critical metals including antimony, bismuth, indium, and arsenic. Spartan is advancing an exploration program to validate and expand this potential using modern geochemistry, geophysics, and tailings drilling.

With multiple mineralized zones, district-scale potential and strong alignment with US strategic metal initiatives, the Eagle project is the cornerstone of Spartan’s growth strategy.

Company Highlights

• Flagship Eagle Project: One of the highest-grade, past-producing tungsten mines in the US.
• Multi-metal Exposure: Targets tungsten, rubidium, antimony, bismuth, and silver – all listed as US critical minerals.
• Tier-1 Mining Jurisdiction: Located in eastern Nevada, a world-class mining state with established infrastructure and regulatory clarity.
• Strong Management and Technical Team: Led by a CEO and VP of exploration with proven discovery track
• Alignment with US Critical Minerals Strategy: Positioned to benefit from Department of Defense and US government initiatives supporting domestic critical mineral supply chains.
• Attractive Capital Structure: Tight share strucuture with management and board holding ~42 percent of shares outstanding, ensuring strong alignment with investors.

This Spartan Metals profile is part of a paid investor education campaign.*

Click here to connect with Spartan Metals (TSXV:W) to receive an Investor Presentation

1. Santacruz Silver (TSXV:SCZ)

Year-to-date gain: 765.45 percent
Market cap: C$866.79 million
Share price: C$2.38

Santacruz Silver is an Americas-focused silver producer with operations in Bolivia and Mexico. Its producing assets include a 45 percent stake in the Bolivar and Porco mines, which it shares with the Bolivian government, and a 100 percent ownership of the Caballo Blanco Group mines in Bolivia, along with the Zimapan mine in Mexico.

In its Q2 2025 results, Santacruz reported silver production of 1.42 million ounces from the mines, as well as silver equivalent production of 3.55 million ounces, which includes its zinc, lead and copper production.

In addition to its producing assets, Santacruz also owns the greenfield Soracaya project, an 8,325 hectare land package located in Potosi, Bolivia. According to an August 2024 technical report, the site hosts an inferred resource of 34.5 million ounces of silver derived from 4.14 million metric tons of ore with an average grade of 260 g/t.

In October 2021, Santacruz acquired Glencore’s (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) 45 percent stake in the Bolivar and Porco mines and a 100 percent interest in the Soracaya project. Under the terms of the deal, Santacruz made an initial payment of US$20 million and was obligated to make an additional US$90 million over a four-year period from the closing of the transaction. Glencore also retained a 1.5 percent net smelter return.

The pair amended the deal in October 2024, giving Santacruz the option to either pay off the US$80 million base purchase price through annual US$10 million installments or to accelerate the repayment by paying US$40 million by November 2025. The deal also includes additional terms such as monthly payments to Glencore contingent on zinc pricing benchmarks.

Santacruz chose the accelerated option through a structured payment plan, allowing it to satisfy the base purchase price of the properties while saving US$40 million compared to the annual installment option. On September 4, the company announced that it had made its fourth and fifth payments, completing all payments to Glencore.

The most recent news for the Soracaya project was announced on October 7, when Santacruz stated that it was initiating development activities and would be applying for a full production permit.

Shares in Santacruz reached a year-to-date high of C$2.79 on September 29.

2. Andean Precious Metals (TSX:APM)

Year-to-date gain: 563.48 percent
Market cap: C$1.14 billion
Share price: C$7.63

Andean Precious Metals is a precious metals company with a pair of operating assets in the Americas.

Its primary silver-producing operation is the San Bartolomé facility in the Potosi Department of Bolivia. The onsite processing facility has an annual ore capacity of 1.8 million metric tons. The company has transitioned from conventional mining and is processing feed from both its low-cost fines deposit facility and third-party ore purchases.

Its other producing asset is the Golden Queen mine in Kern County, California, US. It hosts a 12,000 metric tons per day cyanide heap leach and a Merrill-Crowe processing facility. A mineral reserve statement showed a measured and indicated silver resource of 11.24 million ounces from 41.81 million metric tons at an average grade of 8.37 g/t silver. The company acquired Golden Queen from Auvergne Umbrella in November 2023 for total consideration of US$15 million.

On June 2, Andean announced it entered into an exclusive, long-term agreement with the Bolivian state-owned mining company Corporacion Minera de Bolivia to acquire up to 7 million metric tons of oxide ore from mining concessions in Bolivia.

The ore is located within a 250 kilometer radius of the processing facility at its San Bartolomé operation, where it will process the ore. Under the terms of the 10 year agreement, Andean will immediately receive an initial 250,000 metric tons of ore, with the remaining to be delivered in tranches of 50,000 metric tons.

On July 17, Andean released its Q2 operating results. During the first half of the year, it produced 2.04 million ounces of silver across its operations, toward the upper end of its guidance of 1.84 million to 2.16 million ounces. It also noted that it anticipates further ramp-up at both its mines in the second half of the year.

In its Q2 financial results released on August 12, the company reported an increase in net income for the first half of the year to US$32.02 million, compared to US$9.31 million during the first half of 2024.

Shares in Andean Precious Metals reached a year-to-date high of C$8.83 on October 1.

3. Avino Silver & Gold Mines (TSX:ASM)

Year-to-date gain: 455.12 percent
Market cap: C$1.06 billion
Share price: C$7.05

Avino Silver & Gold Mines is a precious metals miner with two primary silver assets: the producing Avino silver mine and the neighboring La Preciosa project in Durango, Mexico.

The Avino mine is capable of processing 2,500 metric tons of ore per day, and according to its FY24 report released on January 21 the mine produced 1.1 million ounces of silver, 7,477 ounces of gold and 6.2 million pounds of copper last year. Overall, the company saw broad production increases with silver rising 19 percent, gold rising 2 percent and copper increasing 17 percent year over year.

In addition to its Avino mining operation, Avino is working to advance its La Preciosa project toward the production stage. The site covers 1,134 hectares, and according to a February 2023 resource estimate, hosts a measured and indicated resource of 98.59 million ounces of silver and 189,190 ounces of gold.

In a January 15 update, Avino announced it had received all necessary permits for mining at La Preciosa and begun underground development at La Preciosa. It is now developing a 350 meter mine access and haulage decline. The company said the first phase at the site is expected to cost less than C$5 million, which will be funded from cash reserves.

In Avino’s Q2 financial report released on August 13, the company noted that work was progressing at the site according to plan, with blasting and construction of the San Fernando main access decline underway. It added that a new jumbo drill was working on the ramp towards intercepting the Gloria and Abundancia veins.

On the production and finance side, the company reported improved cost-per-ounce metrics, with cash costs per silver equivalent payable ounce decreasing 7 percent to US$15.11 and all-in-sustaining costs decreasing 8 percent to US$20.93. It also reported a 50 percent year-over-year increase in revenue during the quarter to US$40.64 million, from US$27.18 million during the same period in 2024.

Avino indicated silver production of 549,300 ounces in the first half of 2025, an increase of 1 percent over H1 2024, and 283,619 silver ounces in Q2 alone, a decrease of 3 percent over Q2 2024.

Avino shares reached a year-to-date high of C$7.60 on October 3.

4. Capitan Silver (TSXV:CAPT)

Year-to-date gain: 404.76 percent
Market cap: C$181.29 million
Share price: C$1.59

Capitan Silver is an explorer focused on advancing silver and gold projects in Durango, Mexico. The company’s flagship asset is the 100 percent owned Cruz de Plata project in the heart of Mexico’s historic Peñoles Mining District. The region is known for hosting significant silver mineralization and historic mining.

The Cruz de Plata project encompasses two historic silver mines — Jesús Maria and San Rafael — and the El Capitan oxide gold deposit.

According to a 2020 technical report, the Jesús Maria deposit hosts an inferred resource of 15.16 million ounces of contained silver and 26,000 ounces of gold from 7.57 million metric tons of ore with average grades of 62.3 g/t silver and 0.12 g/t gold.

El Capitan hosts an inferred resource of 1.83 million ounces of silver and 305,000 ounces of gold from 20.72 million metric tons of ore grading 2.8 g/t and 0.46 g/t respectively.

Capitan Silver has made a series of strategic acquisitions during the second and third quarters.

On June 11, the company completed the purchase of a 2 percent net smelter royalty in place at Cruz de Plata from Exploraciones del Altiplano and eliminated the royalty. Total costs incurred by Capitan were US$1 million.

Then, on August 22, the company executed a definitive agreement to acquire a strategic land package surrounding its Cruz de Plata property from Fresnillo (LSE:FRES,OTC Pink:FNLPF) for total cash consideration of US$4 million. The transaction was initially announced in June.

The new parcel consists of seven mineral concessions covering 2,171.4 hectares. It increases Capitan’s total holdings in the area by 85 percent and the surface expression of the silver-gold trend by 1.2 kilometers to the east.

Capitan’s most recent news from Cruz de Plata came on October 1, when the company reported it identified six priority targets and is advancing them a drill-ready stage. It also increased the total length of known veins containing silver mineralization from 7 kilometers to 20 kilometers.

As for the exploration program at the site, the company expanded its Phase 1 drill program by 50 percent to 15,000 meters, and is expecting a property-wide geophysical survey to be completed during the first quarter of 2026.

Shares in Capitan reached a year-to-date high of C$1.85 on September 22.

5. Americas Gold and Silver (TSX:USA)

Year-to-date gain: 312.14 percent
Market cap: C$1.59 billion
Share price: C$5.77

Americas Gold and Silver is a US and Mexico-focused precious metals producer. The company is one of the US’ largest primary silver miners.

Its primary operations consist of the Galena Complex in Idaho, US, and the Cosala Operations in Sinaloa, Mexico.

The Galena complex operates in the Silver Valley, a historic mining district that is home to Bunker Hill, Sunshine and Lucky Friday mines.

Americas Gold and Silver is currently working on a two phase plan to increase efficiency at the mine’s No. 3 shaft. On September 16, the company announced it completed the first phase, upgrading the hoisting capacity from 40 tons to 80 tons per hour of material movement.

It also said that Phase 2 upgrades are scheduled to begin before the end of 2025, including upgrades to the hoist pads, the installation of a hoist control console and the deployment of an antenna system in the shaft that will support upgrades to automation.

The Cosala operations in Sinaloa comprise 67 mining concessions spanning 19,385 hectares and include the Los Braceros processing facility, the San Rafael mine, and the EC120 development project.

The company is currently transitioning its operations away from San Rafael to the EC120 orebody, aiming to bring EC120 into production by the end of 2025. While San Rafael contains higher levels of zinc and lead, EC120 hosts higher grades of silver and copper.

In its second quarter results released on August 11, Americas Gold and Silver reported a 36 percent year-over-year increase in consolidated silver production during the quarter to 689,000 ounces, with zinc and lead by-products bringing its production to 839,000 silver equivalent ounces.

Despite the increase in production, the company noted a 19 percent decrease in revenue at US$27 million versus US$33.2 million during Q2 2024. It attributed the revenue decline to lower production and byproduct revenue from zinc and lead sales as it transitioned away from San Rafael.

Shares in Americas reached a year-to-date high of C$6.02 on October 8.