Todd Williams of Unico Silver Ltd. presents at Metals Investor Forum in Vancouver | Sep 2026
Metals Investor Forum Sep 25, 2026 13:14
Summary
Unico Silver expects its maiden feasibility (the study defining mine economics) in January, targeting the pit-constrained free-milling oxide covering two-thirds of its resource.
Two years of acquisitions lifted resources from 90 to 330 million silver-equivalent ounces, giving Unico 47% of Santa Cruz district's silver.
A $50 million cash balance, near-30% insider ownership and recent GDXJ (junior miners ETF) inclusion fund a 30,000-metre drill season starting now.
Argentina's RIGI (a federal tax-equalization regime for large projects) should cut Unico's tax burden and improve project returns once included.
Management expects a re-rate from about $2 per resource ounce toward $10-15 per reserve ounce once the maiden reserve lands.
Key points on Barrick Mining
- Williams notes new project director Peter Holmes joined from Barrick, where he was a project director and built the large Pablo Viejo mine in the Dominican Republic.
Key points on Northern Star Resources
- Williams cites Northern Star as the scale model Unico aspires to, saying he wants to bring a project of that size to market within 24 months.
- He notes De Grey, where Unico's new financial director Peter Canbury was CFO, was sold to Northern Star for $6 billion.
Key points on Pan American Silver
- Williams says Pan American Silver once extracted 300,000 tonnes of silver ore from the Huacan project and trucked it 175 km to its Manantial plant, a mining history he argues derisks Unico's plans.
Key points on Gogold Resources
- Williams groups GoGold with the largest and most valuable silver developers, while noting Unico holds similar primary silver ounces at about a quarter of the market capitalization.
Key points on AbraSilver Resource
- Williams names AbraSilver among the top global silver developers that Unico compares itself to by primary silver ounces, despite a market cap about a quarter the size.
Key points on Vizsla Silver
- Williams names Vizsla among the leading silver developers in Unico's peer group, while arguing Unico offers similar ounces at about a quarter of the market cap.
Todd Jarrad Williams's takeaways
- Top takeaway Williams's core call is a significant re-rate once Unico declares its maiden reserve in January 2027, from about $2 per resource ounce toward $10-15 per reserve ounce.
- He argues the RIGI framework makes Argentina a pro-mining jurisdiction and says its tax relief improves NPV, payback and IRR enough to make the project financeable, with Unico applying for inclusion in early 2027.
- He is constructive on silver, citing protracted market deficits and a scarcity of producers of scale, and sees a 'Goldilocks window' of 5-7 million ounces of primary silver production that Unico aims to reach within 24 months.
- He presents Unico as a consolidation play, assembled from two majors and three juniors in five transactions between 2021 and 2024, now holding 47% of the silver ounces in the Santa Cruz district.
- He is confident on timing, citing Santa Cruz permitting precedents of 5-8 months and committing to full mining approvals by late 2027 alongside the January PFS and a sulphide scoping study.