Endeavour Silver Maps Its Next Leg of Growth: Higher Grades, a Bigger Colpa, and Pithoria Ahead

Dan Dickson of Endeavour Silver came to the Beaver Creek Precious Metal Summit with a growth story he argues few primary silver peers can still tell: output that has already doubled, a 2027 step-up from improving grades and an expanded Peru mine, and a feasibility study in Mexico that could add roughly half as much production again by the end of the decade.

## From 7 million to 15 million ounces, and almost 18 million next year

Dickson kept the summary simple. Endeavour is a primary silver producer in Mexico and Peru with gold byproducts and, since the Colpa acquisition, some base metals. Over the past three to four years, production has grown from about 7 million to roughly 15 million silver equivalent ounces — total output restated in silver terms, with the gold and base metals converted at their metal prices. For 2026 he expects about 15 million ounces; for 2027, nearly 18 million.

Three moving parts drive the step-up. Colpa, the operating mine in Peru bought last year, has been expanded from 1,700 to 2,500 tonnes per day and has run at the higher rate since March; 2027 brings the first full year at that level. Terranera processed lower-grade material in the first half of 2026, and Dickson said grades are now rising, with higher-grade ore feeding the plant through 2027. Behind both sits Pithoria, a silver deposit in Mexico with lead and zinc, where a feasibility study — the detailed engineering and economic work that turns a resource into a defined mine plan — is due relatively shortly. Dickson said Pithoria could add another 7 million silver equivalent ounces after a two-and-a-half-year build, with first production hoped for around 2030.

The growth is already visible in results: he cited second-quarter production up more than 30% year over year, helped partly by acquisitions.

## Two setbacks, measured in days

The host raised two recent disruptions, and Dickson quantified both as small.

At Guanesevi, a crack appeared in a trunnion — the thick steel pipe feeding the ball mill, which he described as the usual bottleneck in a grinding circuit. The plant can be reconfigured to run at about 60% of capacity for roughly two and a half to three weeks while a suitably large crane is brought to site. The spare part is already on hand and costs around $75,000. The real cost is time: about 10,000 tonnes, or roughly 10 days of material, deferred.

At Terranera, an August community blockade — which Dickson called civil — stemmed from environmental and social concerns. He said resolving it cost less than $200,000: a new antenna for the town, road cleanup, water access for some farmers, and 125 hectares added to the company's easement. That cost about 10 to 12 days of operation.

Between the two sites, he put the lost time at roughly 20-plus operating days and said the tonnes will be made up eventually — perhaps not this year, but possibly next.

## Replacing ounces underground

Dickson argued that ongoing exploration is underappreciated at producing companies. Endeavour's mines are underground epithermal vein systems — near-surface silver deposits — which typically mean shorter mine lives and constant drilling, done most cost-effectively from underground as mining advances. On his account, the drills are delivering: Guanesevi returned positive holes earlier this year, with results due in the fourth quarter; Terranera, where rigs were shut off in 2020 for construction, has about 20 new holes with 10 already public and described as extending the high-grade zone; and Colpa is being drilled ahead of a resource update at the end of the year that supports the acquisition.

That update carries a payment trigger: if the resource comes in at up to roughly 120 million ounces of silver, a $10 million contingent payment falls due by May 2027 — one Dickson said he fully expects to make. At Pithoria, drilling is feeding geotechnical and hydrology information into the feasibility study; he described the deposit as roughly 600 million ounces of silver plus lead and zinc.

## The market backdrop, in his words

Dickson's read on silver: after a strong run to about $120 into 2026, the metal pulled back to the mid-$60s, holding up well off its recent low near $55. He connects the setup to deficit talk ahead of US midterms and argues gold moves first, with silver following and overshooting. That is his market view, not company guidance — though he noted the pause lets him evaluate projects with a better sense of where the floor is.

## What to watch

- The Pithoria feasibility study, due shortly: it defines the 7-million-ounce growth leg and the 2030 timeline. - The year-end Colpa resource update, which also settles the $10 million contingent payment. - Fourth-quarter drill results from Guanesevi and further Terranera extension holes. - Whether the deferred tonnes at Terranera and Guanesevi are recovered in 2027, as Dickson expects.