Abra Silver 350 Million Silver Eq Ozs. and Growing | John Miniotis and Jimmy Connor
Summary
AbraSilver's Diablillos resource reached 350 million silver-equivalent ounces after a 100 million ounce measured-and-indicated addition in one year of drilling.
Argentina's RIGI incentive regime — 30 years of tax and legal stability — cuts AbraSilver's tax rate, removes import and export duties, and ends foreign-exchange controls.
The guest expects RIGI approval, environmental permits, and a definitive feasibility study within months, setting up a construction decision before end-2026.
Pre-feasibility economics assumed $25 silver and $2,000 gold; the guest says consensus prices imply after-tax returns above 50% and payback under one year.
Construction needs roughly $540 million; the guest cites debt, convertibles, or a stream as options, with first production targeted for 2029.
Key points on AbraSilver Resource
- The guest says the Diablillos resource now stands at about 350 million ounces of silver equivalent, with roughly 100 million ounces added to measured and indicated in one year of drilling, and a further resource update due alongside the definitive feasibility study next quarter (as of this February 2026 interview).
- He lays out a near-term catalyst path: RIGI approval expected within about a month, environmental permits hoped for before the end of Q1 2026, the definitive feasibility study in Q2, a construction decision before the end of 2026, and first production targeted for 2029 after a roughly two-and-a-half-year build.
- Under Argentina's RIGI regime he expects the project's tax rate to drop from 35% to 25%, with import and export duties eliminated and foreign-exchange restrictions lifted, benefits he sizes in the billions of dollars of additional free cash flow at anywhere near current spot prices.
- He argues the December 2024 pre-feasibility is robust even at its just-over-$25 silver and $2,000 gold assumptions, citing a roughly two-year payback and an after-tax net present value he puts at about 30%, and says that at around $40 silver and roughly $3,000 gold the after-tax rate of return would top 50% with payback under a year.
- Initial capex was $540 million in the pre-feasibility and is being updated for inflation; he says about C$60 million on hand at the end of 2025 funds the study, drilling, and early works, with debt, convertibles, or a gold or silver stream to be evaluated in the second half of 2026 to finance construction.
Jimmy Connor's takeaways
- Top takeaway Hosting the interview, Jimmy Connor notes AbraSilver made a lot of progress over the past year, with the stock up over 300%, and calls inclusion in Argentina's RIGI program one of the big drivers for the company in 2026.
- He points to the shallow, high-grade Jack deposit as a boost to early mine economics and steers the discussion to investor-focused specifics: pre-feasibility numbers, the $540 million capex, funding options, Phase 6 drilling, and the timeline to first production.