Pure Silver Play Begins Exploration Program

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Argenta Silver's (AGAG:TSXV) 15-cent paper will begin free trading on January 21, 2025. Argenta is a silver exploration company with a focus on advancing its projects, which it believes support the global energy transition. 

The company recently announced the commencement of exploration activity at its El Quevar Project in Salta Province, Argentina. This project has decent infrastructure, with a town 4 kilometers to the West. According to the company, "The project infrastructure includes a fully operational camp for 100 workers and a vast network of internal roads that allow access to most of the project areas."

Major Shareholder Frank Guistra commented on the project in the past, saying, "For 40 years, I've dreamed of building a pure silver company in Latin America. Exceptional pure silver assets are incredibly rare, and when the El Quevar opportunity presented itself, I knew instantly — this [was] it. We have a clear vision to scale this into a much larger company."

According to the press release, the company has already taken many steps to advance this exploration activity. The infrastructure around the area is suitable for the activities, and the company is confident in its management team. 

Argenta has also been working closely with members of the community and has undergone an inauguration ceremony led by local spiritual leaders to gain permission to start this program.

This exploration program will be in two phases:

• Phase 1 will begin with surface exploration, detail mapping, data validation, re-logging, and advanced studies.
• Phase 2 will involve targeting high-priority areas to drill. 

The press release states that "the El Quevar Project hosts an indicated resource of 45.3 million ounces of silver at an impressive grade of 482 grams per tonne silver (g/t Ag) and an Inferred Resource of 4.1 million ounces of silver at a grade of 417 g/t Ag, ranking it among the top three undeveloped silver deposits in Argentina. Originally explored extensively between 2008 and 2013 by its previous owner, the project has since seen only limited and sporadic exploration activities. Argenta Silver Corp. identified the strategic value of this exceptional asset and acquired it in late 2024, and the company is positioning itself to unlock its full potential."

In light of this news, Joaquin Marias, Vice President of Exploration and Development at Argenta Silver Corp., said, "In less than 60 days since acquiring the project and resuming trading, we have put together an experienced team, rehabilitated the camp and roads, established strong relationships with the local community and government, and secured all necessary services to commence exploration. The launch of this program highlights our systematic and disciplined approach to exploration, leveraging the latest tools and methodologies to unlock value and drive growth as we step into 2025."

Chen Lin of What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling? has been following the stock since October of last year. Upon hearing the recent news, he wrote in his January 7 newsletter, "AGAG.v started to explore El Quevar. This is one of the highest-grade silver discoveries in the world. It was a 10-bagger for us when it was discovered, and I hope to make more this round."

Why Silver?

Silver had made waves in 2024. As Rick Mills of Ahead of the Herd wrote on January 16, "Spot silver narrowly beat spot gold in 2024, with an annual gain of 27% to gold's 24%." Mills reported that silver benefited from physical buying in China and India; however, he pointed out that silver ETFs also contributed to the price. Silver has benefited mostly due to physical buying in India and China. Silver ETFs have also been a factor.

While gold is typically seen as the inflation hedge, Mills noted that silver has also benefited from economic uncertainty. Still, its main value, according to Mills, is as an industrial metal. It is used in solar panels, cars, and electronics, among others. In the article, Mills pointed out that silver has been in a supply deficit for four years in a row. 

Major Shareholder Frank Guistra commented on the project in the past, saying, "For 40 years, I've dreamed of building a pure silver company in Latin America. Exceptional pure silver assets are incredibly rare, and when the El Quevar opportunity presented itself, I knew instantly — this [was] it.

On January 14, Citizen Watch Report wrote that silver was experiencing a rise due to demand for technological products, such as solid-state batteries.

This demand has so far been primarily for automotive applications, and, according to the report, "if just 20% of global car production adopts this technology, the annual demand for silver could skyrocket to 16,000 metric tons."

"As industries continue to innovate, silver's role as an essential component in these advancements solidifies, potentially leading to a new era where silver is not just a precious metal but a critical industrial one," the report continued.

On January 10, Austin Meadows, writing for The Crux Investor, shared his outlook on silver as a 2025 investment. He pointed out that silver has seen an uptick due to industrial demand and due to demand as an investment, as shown above.

Meadows wrote, "The gold-silver ratio of over 85:1 suggests silver is undervalued relative to gold based on historical averages . . . Silver mining stocks provide operational leverage to rising silver prices for investors seeking higher returns."

Catalysts: Exploration at El Quevar

As mentioned above, Argenta Silver will be commencing its 2025 exploration activity at its El Quevar Project.  Joaquin Marias told Streetwise Reports that the acquisition of this project came on very fast, which led to Marias getting the ball rolling. He met with community and government leaders to get started as quickly as possible. 

"I brought on Guillermo Peralta," Marias pointed out. "He's an excellent geologist. He has a lot of experience in mineral systems, like the one at El Quevar. He has worked in Fruta Del Norte from the very beginning of Fruta Del Norte. He has worked in Lobo Marte, which is a huge and rich epithermal deposit in Chile, where he also entered during the early stages of the project and was crucial for it. He was also a part of the team that discovered the Cerro Negro deposit from Gold Corp. in Argentina's Patagonia. So he's a very well-known geologist. He knows what he's doing, and he helped me very quickly to put a technical team together."

Chen Lin of What is Chen Buying? What is Chen Selling? wrote, "AGAG.v started to explore El Quevar. This is one of the highest-grade silver discoveries in the world. It was a 10-bagger for us when it was discovered, and I hope to make more this round."

Marias continued, saying that they had already hired all the people needed to start operations. It was very important to move posthaste, as Marias said, "We promised the market."

So far, the company has kept its promises. "We have been delivering what we have been saying. We said that we were going to recondition the camp and rehabilitate the roads, and we did those things. We said that we were going to start early, as soon as we could, and we did that. We are committed to delivering results."

Marias also noted that Argenta has had community and government support due to the company's respect for the community's culture. "The government and community are convinced that this is a good combination of people that has been put together," Marias said.

Looking ahead, in the second and third quarter of 2025, Marias said, "We hope to be driven with all the targets and information we will acquire from Phase 1 of the El Quevar Project. While we are speaking, we are re-logging historical core.By Q2 or Q3 this year we hope to be entering on Phase 2 which will be involving mostly drilling activities on targets acquired through Phase 1.”

"It's a great opportunity today to see El Quevar as a silver project. We believe that the potential is huge. I believe, personally, that it's an undervalued company and an undervalued project . . . We have three areas that have huge potential of mineralization, and they have been barely explored.

"We, unlike other projects, are starting at a privileged point, with an indicated resource of 45.3 Moz of silver and impeccable infrastructure that allows us to save initial costs and to bring every invested dollar straight into the ground."

Marias also commented that while it is focused on El Quevar, Argenta is still looking for other opportunities in and outside of Argentina.

"We want to grow very, very fast, and we are looking for things that are very interesting in terms of the potential of mineralization, including projects that are close to production."

Ownership and Share Structure 

According to Refinitiv, the company's share structure comprises 169.21 million outstanding shares, with notable ownership by Frank Giustra at 13.76% and other insiders collectively holding approximately 16.63%.

The rest is mostly high-net-worth individuals and retail.