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This 100-Year-Old Silver Mine Keeps Getting Bigger | Oliver Turner - Americas Gold and Silver

The Deep Dive Sep 28, 2026 6:04

Summary

Turner says a decade of capital starvation ended in 2025; new exploration money at Galena has already produced six new high-grade discoveries.

Galena is one of the world's highest-grade silver mines — about 500 g/t (grams of silver per tonne) — with more than 200 million ounces.

A renegotiated smelter contract now pays for all byproducts, and a planned antimony leaching facility with US Antimony should lift recoveries further.

The guest points to de-bottlenecking (clearing production constraints) at Galena as what to watch, targeting 3.2 to 3.6 million silver ounces this year.

Key points on Americas Gold & Silver Corp

  • The guest says the company's two operating mines, Galena in northern Idaho and the Kosala primary silver mine in Mexico (mining the EC120 deposit), are building a combined silver production profile of 3.2 to 3.6 million ounces this year (2026).
  • Galena holds over 200 million ounces of silver resource at an average grade of about 500 g/t silver, pure silver grades rather than silver-equivalent, which the guest ranks easily top-five, if not top-three, among the world's silver mines.
  • In-mine exploration next to existing infrastructure has produced six new discoveries in the last 12 months, with intercepts of multiple meters up to 1 kg silver, including half a meter of 7 kg silver in a brand-new vein system hit while cross-cutting ground where no veins were expected.
  • The assets were capital-starved for about 10 years before the current team took over in early 2025, and the guest says newly deployed exploration and development capital is what is delivering the recent results.
  • Over the next 12 months the guest points to continued de-bottlenecking at Galena, with the shaft fully upgraded, the mining method being reworked to improve muck handling, ramping tonnages and more high-grade drill results.

Steve Hyland's takeaways

  • Top takeaway As The Deep Dive's host, he structures the interview for viewers new to the company, moving from the high-level story to the latest Galena assay results, the antimony angle and the 12-month outlook.
  • He anchors the conversation in the earlier interview with Paul about 15 months before, asking what has changed since and whether antimony is still a big part of the story.

Oliver Turner's takeaways

  • Top takeaway Turner's core thesis is a turnaround: after about a decade of underfunding, fresh exploration and development capital since the team took over in early 2025 is unlocking high-grade silver at Galena and Kosala, with a combined 3.2 to 3.6 million silver ounces targeted this year.
  • He argues that six discoveries in 12 months at the century-old Galena mine, including 0.5 m of 7 kg silver found in ground where no veins were expected, show how under-explored the mine remains.
  • He frames antimony as a byproduct credit rather than the core story, stressing that the company 'still remains a silver-focused company' and captures copper and antimony alongside the high-grade silver it mines.
  • He tells investors to judge the next 12 months on execution: continued de-bottlenecking at Galena, rising tonnages and more high-grade exploration results.
  • He emphasizes that Galena's roughly 500 g/t average grade is pure silver rather than silver-equivalent, which he says underpins its ranking among the top-five, if not top-three, silver mines by grade worldwide.