Pure silver plays strongly leveraged to metal’s upside

• Silver prices remain high at close to US$80/oz despite falling from early 2026 highs past US$100
• Sprott’s Steve Schoffstall says the funds management firm remains bullish on long-term silver outlook
• Pure play companies like Investigator Silver and West Coast Silver have greater exposure to any potential price upside

 

However you look at it, silver has performed strongly as a commodity as industrial demand driven by ongoing electrification, growing renewable demand and high-tech electronics requirements outstrips production.

Traditionally considered to be gold’s poor cousin, its increasing use in photovoltaic solar panels, electronics manufacturing, electric vehicle components and medical applications has led commentators to conclude that it has decoupled from its fellow precious metal.

While silver prices have moderated from highs well above US$100/oz earlier in 2026, the current price of about US$78.20/oz is still up around 140% from where it was a year ago.

This growth trajectory also means that companies operating in the space have seen a marked improvement in the value of their resources that scales with exposure to silver.

Savvy investors have also been able to capture value by buying into the metal or companies with silver assets before it started climbing.

One such example is Sprott Asset Management, which rather adroitly launched its Silver Miners & Physical Silver ETF (SLVR) back in January 2025 well before silver started its run.

Speaking to Stockhead, head of ETFs Steve Schoffstall said the creation of SLVR reflected the fund management firm’s ongoing product development process.

“We take an intentional view of product development focusing on areas that combine our expertise in metals and mining with what we believe to be positive long term investment opportunities,” he said.

“When looking through this lens, we believe there was a gap in what was available to investors and their ability to participate in the silver investment opportunity.

“SLVR’s pure-play strategy, which focuses on physical silver and companies that have at least 50% of their revenue or assets tied to mining silver, offers about twice the exposure to silver relative to other silver mining ETF strategies.

“This differentiated strategy has been well received by investors as demonstrated by SLVR’s ability to quickly raise assets and increase market share, while delivering less unintended exposure compared to other silver mining ETF strategies.”

While the strategy does expose SLVR to fluctuations in the silver price, this might be more positive than negative.

 

Silver’s future

Silver prices are likely to stay elevated and one factor is actually related to most of the metal being produced as a byproduct of processing other metals.

Earlier this month, Kitco flagged industry reports as saying that China could ban exports of sulphuric acid soon.

This is concerning for miners as sulphuric acid is essential for heap leach processing of copper. No acid means no copper and this also translates into a reduction in silver supply as a large chunk of silver is produced as a byproduct of producing the red metal.

With silver already running at a structural deficit, this will force industrial users to compete for whatever supply is available.

“Silver is mainly mined as a by-product to other metals, with 72% of silver being mined alongside metals like copper, lead and zinc,” Schoffstall noted.

“The amount of silver mined in conjunction with copper is nearly equal to the output from primary silver mines. So it stands to reason that any disruptions to the mining of copper or other metals where silver is a by-product could have an impact on silver production.”

Schoffstall added that while silver possessed the characteristics of both a precious metal and an industrial metal, growing industrial demand may provide considerable structural demand.

This is important as unlike gold, silver does not normally see significant central bank demand.

“This industrial demand has helped push silver to annual production deficits for each of the last six years,” he added.

“Current market conditions have added uncertainty and volatility to the market, from which silver has not been immune.

“We continue to remain bullish on the long-term outlook for silver which is facing persistent production deficits due to rising demand and decreasing supply.

“Given the rise in silver prices, primary silver miners may see increased earnings, improved investor outlooks and stronger balance sheets, which may provide investor opportunity.”

The prospect of continued elevated or even rising silver prices is welcome news for these pure-play silver or silver-dominated companies on the ASX.

 

Investigator Silver is at a more advanced stage than most peers having released an attractive definitive feasibility study in early March 2026 that flagged estimated pre-tax NPV of $1.15bn and IRR of 93% using a US$80/oz silver price for its Paris project in South Australia’s Central Eyre Peninsula.

This flags an 11-month payback on a $260m development based on a 33Moz silver ore reserve that will be developed through a conventional 1.5Mtpa open pit operation to generate $1.87bn free cash over 11 years.

Even using a more conservative consensus case silver price of US$60.18/oz, the project would deliver pre-tax NPV and IRR of $618m and 61% respectively with payback in 13 months.

It fits perfectly within Sprott’s pure-play silver narrative, offering extreme exposure to the silver price because unlike most other companies virtually all of its revenue will come from the precious metal.

That directly links silver prices and cash flows – a US$1/oz increase in the silver price will equate to a A$42m lift in pre-tax net cash flows over the mine’s nine year operating life.

Paris will have a conventional low-risk development pathway consisting of a shallow open pit, contract mining, whole-ore cyanide leach + Merrill–Crowe doré, and wet tailings.

This is a well-proven, low-cost flowsheet and mine development approach that prioritises simplicity, constructability and ramp-up reliability, whilst tailoring design to efficient closure and rehabilitation outcomes.

Additionally, mining is expected to build up low-grade stockpiles containing ~1.3Moz of recoverable silver by the first year of processing.

The DFS is underpinned by a maiden proven and probable ore reserve of 12Mt grading 88g/t silver for 33Moz of contained silver.

This is contained within the indicated and inferred resource of 24Mt at 73g/t silver and 0.4% lead, or contained resources of 57Moz of silver and 99,000t lead.

Investigator has already raised $55m through a strategic placement of shares to new and existing institutional investors, including largest shareholder Jupiter Asset Management.

Investigator is also one of the companies included within Sprott’s SLVR ETF, giving it greater visibility and exposure to investors.

 

West Coast Silver’s 180km2 Elizabeth Hill project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region marks the first time an explorer has managed to consolidate the historical Elizabeth Hill and surrounding land package.

Elizabeth Hill was one of Australia’s highest grade silver mines with proven production of 1.2Moz from just 16,830t of ore at a head grade of 2194g/t.

Since taking ownership in March 2025, the company has steadily progressed exploration to unlock its upside potential.

Phase 2 diamond drilling intersected native silver in multiple holes including a jaw-dropping 0.35m interval grading 33,107g/t Ag from 74.6m.

Scout drilling has also intersected near-surface, high-grade mineralisation north of the Elizabeth Hill mine and south along the key Munni Munni Fault, which is interpreted to control the distribution of high-grade silver at the project.

The company launched a 4000m reverse circulation drill program in late March to test for extensions of high-grade mineralisation and a 1500m diamond drill program in mid-April to test for extensions beneath the historical mine along the fault.

Andean Silver holds the 285km2 Cerro Bayo silver-gold project in Chile that covers areas of the Laguna Verde mining district and processing facilities.

Cerro Bayo produced more than 45Moz silver and 650,000oz gold (~99Moz silver equivalent) over 15 years until it was placed on care and maintenance in October 2022.

It has a contained resource of 47Moz silver and 800,000oz gold.

Resource growth drilling continues to extend known mineralisation across the project while infill drilling revealed strong continuity of mineralisation with consistently thick, high-grade results.

The company is looking to release a resource update in the June quarter that is expected to deliver resource growth and an increase in the higher confidence indicated resources.

This will feed into initial restart studies while the company continues drilling operations.

 

In Nevada, Sun Silver operates the Maverick Springs silver-gold project on the northwest flank of the Maverick Springs Range between the fully serviced mining town of Elko and Ely.

It is just off the southeast end of the Carlin Trend, one of the most productive gold belts globally that hosts a multitude of world-class gold-silver deposits.

Work carried out by the company has led to the definition of an inferred resource of 539Moz silver equivalent at 71g/t, making it the largest pre-production primary silver deposit on the ASX and within the US.

Recent metallurgical testing achieved average silver recoveries of 77% and gold recoveries of 74% using cyanide leaching on coarse crush material, indicating ore from the project is non-refractory.

In early April 2026, Sun Silver started drilling at Maverick Springs with four diamond core rigs embarking on an accelerated campaign to drive resource upgrade and growth.

It also engaged Ausenco to carry out fast-tracked engineering studies that will support development of a maiden scoping study for H2 2026.

 

Moving south to Argentina, Unico Silver holds the Cerro Leon and Joaquin projects that grant it a commanding position within a historically underexplored and undercapitalised silver district.

The company recently increased resources at the Joaquin project by 143% to 45.3Mt at 115g/t AgEq, or 123Moz silver and 521,000oz gold, making it a unique silver dominant system.

Of this, 78% of the resource is within the higher confidence indicated category, providing a strong foundation for the upcoming pre-feasibility study.

It also holds the Cerro Leon project that sits within the same structural corridor as AngloGold Ashanti’s world-class Cerro Vanguardia mine in Santa Cruz province.

It hosts a resource of 31Mt grading 161g/t AgEq, or 61.4Moz Ag and 543,000oz Au.

Taken together, the two projects have combined resources of 330Moz AgEq, meeting its BEYOND 300 corporate strategy to increase resources beyond 300Moz AgEq to unlock value through exploration and delineation of deeper sulphide resources.

It also met the PLUS 150 corporate strategy to define at least 150Moz AgEq resource of pit-constrained oxide silver gold mineralisation as the basis of a maiden feasibility study that will focus on high-value, free-milling silver ounces.

 

Silver exposure

While pure-play companies are poised to reap the biggest benefit from high silver prices, there are also a number of companies that have significant silver resources.

Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY) recently upgraded resources at its Minyari gold-copper-silver project in WA to 60Mt at 1.62g/t gold equivalent, or contained resources of 2.9Moz Au, 91,000t Cu, 880,000oz Ag and 13,000t cobalt.

It underpins a standalone, scalable open pit and underground mining and processing opportunity.

Maronan Metals (ASX:MMA) holds the Maronan project that hosts contained resources of 122Moz Ag, 2Mt Pb, 271,000t Cu and 760,000oz Au.

It underpins a preliminary economic assessment that outlines a 10-year project that will generate NPV and IRR of $377m and 37% respectively.

Argent Minerals (ASX:ARD) has a resource of 63.7Mt grading 69.75g/t AgEq, or contained AgEq of 142.8Moz at Lode 100, which forms part of the broader Kempfield gold-silver-base metal system in New South Wales.

Also in NSW is Godolphin Resources (ASX:GRL) whose Lewis Ponds project has contained resources of 630,000oz Au, 30.1Moz Ag, 362,000t Zn, 194,000t Pb and 24,000t Cu.

Pivotal Metals’ (ASX:PVT) Horden Lake project in Quebec has contained resources of 234,000t of Cu, 72,000t of nickel, 12.27Moz of 3E, 5.23Moz of Ag and 5,231t of Co.

PolarX (ASX:PXX) has 3.13Moz of contained silver at its Alaska Range project along with just under 270,000t of contained copper and 213,000oz gold.

Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) holds the Bowdens project in New South Wales, one of Australia’s largest undeveloped silver deposits with an open pit resource of 180Moz silver of which 164Moz, or 91%, is contained within the higher confidence measured and indicated categories.

 

At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While West Coast Silver, Investigator Silver, Antipa Minerals, Maronan Metals, Argent Minerals, Godolphin Resources, Pivotal Metals and PolarX are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.