Spotlight: Global gold and silver projects – Part 2

Economic and geopolitical uncertainty continues to fuel the gold price rally in 2025, while industrial demand is lifting silver prices. Here’s a look at eight juniors with interesting gold and silver projects in different parts of the world.

Prime Mining 

Prime Mining (TSX: PRYM; US-OTC: PRMNF) is advancing its Los Reyes gold-silver project in Sinaloa state of western Mexico.  The company this year planned a 40,000-metre drilling program to identify new targets at Los Reyes which sits on Mexico’s Sierra Madre belt, about 160-km southeast of state capital Culiacán. However, in February it announced the program was suspended due to security concerns in the state. 

The project is in the Guadalupe De Los Reyes mining district, where mining activity goes back into the 1700s. The Guadalupe de los Reyes underground mine opened in the late 1800s and has been the main source of gold production in the district. 

An update last October almost doubled the indicated gold-equivalent ounces at Los Reyes, with open pit, underground and heap leach resources totaling 49 million tonnes grading 0.95 gram gold and 34.2 grams silver. Contained metal was estimated at 1.49 million oz. gold and 53.9 million oz. silver. Inferred resources came to 17.2 million tonnes at 0.97 gram gold and 39 grams silver for 538,000 oz. gold and 21.5 million oz. silver.  

Despite the suspension of its drill program, Prime this year is working towards completing a PEA for Los Reyes and more closely refining the metallurgical, geotechnical and mine planning aspects of the project, it said. It also completed 1,500 metres of drilling until the end of January and expects to complete the program this year. Drill rigs remain on site and drill contractor crews are on standby to resume work as soon as security conditions improve. 

Prime is funded with about $19 million in cash which it expects will support it for this year’s programs, CEO Scott Hicks said.  

Prime Mining has a market capitalization of $216.3 million. 

Probe Gold 

Probe Gold (TSX: PRB; US-OTC: PROBF) is progressing its Novador project, an open pit and underground gold mine, about 25 km east of Val-d’Or, Que. Novador is among Canada’s top undeveloped multimillion-ounce gold projects due to its resource size and strong economics. Results of the completed winter infill program aimed at resource conversion are to be incorporated into an upcoming pre-feasibility study, expected by the end of the year. 

A PEA for Novador, released in 2024, expanded the resource and improved the project’s economics over the initial PEA from 2021. The 2024 update demonstrated Novador’s economic viability, even at a conservative gold price. The company is steadily de-risking the project and enhancing its overall value. 

Probe posted robust economics for Novador. The updated PEA gives Novador a post-tax NPV of $910 million (US$652 million), a post-tax IRR of 24% at a gold price of $1,750 per ounce. Initial capital costs are estimated at $602 million.  

The mine is anticipated to produce 255,000 oz. gold over a 12.6-year mine life. 

Novador comprises the Monique, Pascalis, Courvan, and Beaufor deposits, with Monique being the largest. Monique hosts 3.3-million pit-constrained oz. grading 1.33 grams gold per tonne and 543,800 inferred oz. at 1.86 grams gold. Monique’s underground resources total 163,000 measured and indicated oz. and 135,500 inferred ounces.  

In early May, Probe announced it had awarded a contract for the environmental impact statement (EIS) documentation to WSP. The federal Impact Assessment Agency, which began the assessment last August, needs the EIS to eventually approve permitting for Novador. Probe hopes its permits are approved by 2027, CEO David Palmer said.    

Probe Gold has a market cap of $423.2 million.  

Southern Silver Exploration 

Southern Silver Exploration (TSXV: SSV) is advancing its Cerro Las Minitas (CLM) silver-copper-lead-zinc project in Durango state of north-central Mexico. The company is engaged in a staged 25,000 metre drill program it started last November which is aimed at resource expansion.  

The project represents one of the largest and highest-grade undeveloped silver projects in the world, according to a 2024 resource estimate. It hosts 13.3 million indicated tonnes grading 102 grams silver per tonne, 0.07 gram gold, 0.17% copper, 1.3% lead, and 3.1% zinc, for 43.4 million oz. silver, 32,000 oz. gold, 49 million lb. copper, 374 million lb. lead and 921 million lb. zinc. 

Its inferred resources total 23.4 million tonnes at 111 grams silver, 0.14 gram gold, 0.21% copper, 1.1% lead and 2.1% zinc, for 83.4 million oz. silver, 104,000 oz. gold, 111 million lb. copper, 582 million lb. lead and 1.1 million lb. zinc. 

CLM has an after-tax NPV (at a 5% discount) of US$501 million and an IRR of 21.2% with a payback period of two years, according to an updated PEA from 2024. Initial capital costs are pegged at US$388 million. The underground mine would average 11.4 million silver-equivalent ounces in annual output over a 17-year life. All-in sustaining costs are estimated at US$2.5 billion, at a silver-equivalent price of US$13.23 per ounce. 

Drilling at CLM’s South Skarn deposit in February demonstrated the lateral and down dip extensions of shallow mineralization, the company said, with hole 24CLM-198 cutting 8.9 metres grading 97 grams silver, 0.1 gram gold, 0.7% copper, 0.1% lead, 0.7% zinc from 554.4 metres depth. 

Southern Silver has a market capitalization of $64.3 million. 

Westhaven Gold  

Westhaven Gold (TSX-V: WHN) is progressing its Shovelnose gold property, located about 30 km south of Merritt, B.C. The project is advancing a high-grade gold discovery in the Spences Bridge gold belt, one of Canada’s most recently recognized gold districts. 

Shovelnose has potential as a low-cost and high margin underground mine with an 11-year life, according to an April 2025 updated PEA. Its average annual life-of-mine production is estimated at 56,000 oz. with an after-tax NPV of $454 million (at a 6% discount) and an IRR of 43.2%. The update doubled the NPV over the initial PEA from 2023. 

Initial capital costs are pegged at $184 million, and the payback period is 2.1 years.  Shovelnose hosts 3.4 million indicated tonnes grading 6.1 grams gold and 32 grams silver for 677,000 contained gold oz. and 3.5 million contained silver ounces. Inferred resources total 2.2 million tonnes at 3.6 grams gold and 25 grams silver for 270,000 contained gold oz. and 1.8 million contained silver ounces. 

Westhaven also drilled the highest-grade gold intercept ever on the Shovelnose property in April 2022 at the FMN zone. This intercept cut 23.03 metres grading 37.24 grams gold and 209.52 grams silver from 94 metres depth, including 1.12 metres at 294 grams gold and 2,110 grams silver.  

In February, Westhaven announced its winter drilling program at Shovelnose that was to drill about 2,500 metres at the Certes 1, Certes 3 and Corral targets. That came one year after Westhaven received a five-year, 650-drill hole exploration permit.  

The company plans to continue with exploration work at Shovelnose as it advances the project and de-risks it with environmental baseline studies and permitting work, CEO Gareth Thomas said.  

Westhaven Gold has a market capitalization of $23.5 million.