Americas Gold & Silver (TSX:USA) - Productivity Gains, Drill Growth, Antimony Upside

Why It Matters

The operational upgrades and resource expansion dramatically improve cost efficiency and production scale, strengthening the company’s competitive position and delivering higher cash returns for investors.

Key Takeaways

• 2026 execution plan targets >5 M oz annual production at Galena.
• Crescent acquisition adds 9‑mile adjacent ore, boosting mill utilization.
• Longhole stoping to replace cut‑fill cuts mining costs 40‑50%.
• Hoist upgrades aim for 800‑900 t/day, slashing per‑ton hoisting cost.
• 64,000 m of underground drilling to expand high‑grade veins, including 34 vein.

Summary

Americas Gold & Silver’s executive outlined a 2026 execution roadmap centered on scaling Galena to over five million ounces of annual silver output while integrating the newly acquired Crescent property. The company highlighted a refreshed resource model—190 million ounces at roughly 500 g/t silver, with a 90 million‑ounce high‑grade core exceeding 700 g/t—representing a 19% increase in ounces and a 21% grade uplift.

Key operational upgrades include doubling the primary shaft hoist capacity to 600 t/day and a second‑phase brake upgrade that will push throughput toward 800‑900 t/day, dramatically lowering hoisting costs. A shift to longhole stoping is underway, targeting 70% of mining activity and promising 40‑50% per‑ton cost reductions without sacrificing ore grade. The firm also launched a $20 million, 64,000‑meter underground drilling program to delineate veins such as the 34‑vein, now estimated at over seven million ounces.

Oliver Turner emphasized that the latest production run achieved 473 g/t silver—the highest grade in two decades—using longhole stoping, and that productivity has risen 300% in the past 15 months. Crescent’s ore will begin feeding the Galena mill in the second half of the year, utilizing spare capacity and generating immediate cash flow. Fiber‑optic networks and automated ventilation are also being installed to modernize the decades‑old mine.

These initiatives collectively aim to cut operating costs, boost throughput, and extend the mine’s life, positioning Americas Gold & Silver as a top‑tier, low‑cost underground silver producer with added antimony upside, while delivering stronger free‑cash‑flow generation for shareholders.

Original Description

Interview with Oliver Turner, VP, Corporate Development of Americas Gold & Silver Corp.

Our previous interview: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/posts/americas-gold-silver-tsxusa-undervalued-investment-series-with-oliver-turner-9605

Recording date: 20th April 2026

Americas Gold & Silver Corp. (TSX:USA) is one of the more straightforward turnaround-to-growth stories currently available in the silver sector. The company controls the Galena mine in Idaho's Silver Valley with 190 million ounces of silver in resource at 19% year-over-year increase in M&I mineral resources and 21% increase in M&I grades. After 14 months of operational restructuring under a new management team, the company has moved into active execution of a strategy it spent much of 2025 designing and capitalising.

The operational picture at Galena is improving on several fronts. The introduction of longwall stoping, a more productive mining method than the underhand cut-and-fill technique the mine had used for a century, has already delivered results. In 2025, Galena produced silver at 473 g/t, the highest grade in 20 years. Nine longwall panels have been completed, and the transition to 70% longwall stoping by late 2027 is projected to reduce per-tonne mining costs by 40–50%. At the same time, hoisting upgrades have doubled shaft capacity and are expected to triple skipping speeds by mid-May 2026, while a fibre optic network is being installed to automate mine operations and improve productivity further.

Alongside Galena, the company acquired the Crescent mine, located nine miles away, which produces the same ore type and will begin feeding the Galena mill in H2 2026. With the Galena mill currently running at roughly 55% of capacity, Crescent ore provides a near-term margin improvement by spreading fixed costs across a higher throughput base. Crescent has not seen an exploration drill hole since 2011, and the company plans to drill it aggressively as part of its 64,000-metre, $20 million 2026 exploration programme.

The antimony angle is one that distinguishes Americas Gold & Silver from most silver producers. Galena is the largest producing antimony mine in the Americas and has produced antimony continuously since World War II. Until recently, the company was contractually penalised for this production rather than paid for it. That changed on January 2026 when a renegotiated offtake agreement brought antimony and copper into the revenue column. A joint venture with US Antimony to construct an on-site leaching facility is expected operational within 16 months at a total cost of approximately $50 million which will further maximise the value of that production stream. Americas Gold & Silver's 51% share is fundable from operating cash flow, and US government financing discussions are underway.

From a valuation standpoint, the company currently trades at 0.6–0.7 times NAV based on eight-analyst consensus at spot prices. Comparable silver producers trade at 1.5–2 times NAV. Recent M&A in the silver sector has taken place at approximately 2 times NAV. That gap is the investment opportunity in its simplest form. Closing it requires execution and the first production report of 2026 was received positively by the market.

The risks are real. Underground silver mining ramp-ups are operationally complex, and the antimony leaching facility has not yet broken ground. Investors should treat 2026 quarterly production reports as the primary scorecard. But the resource quality, cost reduction trajectory, byproduct monetisation timeline, and valuation discount to peers combine to make Americas Gold & Silver one of the more compelling risk-reward propositions in the silver producer space today.

View Americas Gold & Silver's company profile: https://www.cruxinvestor.com/companies/americas-gold-silver-corporation

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