A US$40 Silver Budget Gave Americas Gold & Silver a Cushion for Its 2026 Budgets

• Americas Gold & Silver built its 2026 plan on a budget silver price of about US$40 per ounce, informed by stress-testing across a range of silver prices.
• Management says the halfway review of the 2026 plan, which tests metal price performance, cash generation, and budget deployment, concluded that Americas can unlock the upper end of its capital investment guidance range.
• The 2026 capital investment guidance is US$90 million to US$120 million, split between US$30 million to US$40 million of sustaining capital and US$60 million to US$80 million of growth capital.
• Agreements in May 2026, closed on June 11, 2026, removed US$76 million of variable metal-linked obligations and more than US$28 million of annual debt service for about 3.3% dilution.
• The capital program covers Galena's mill expansion from about 750 to 1,200 short tons per day and a paste fill plant, plus Crescent drilling and development, against 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces of silver.

What Has Happened

Americas Gold & Silver Corporation (TSX: USA | NYSE American: USAS) ran its 2026 budgets at about US$40 per ounce of silver, and management says the halfway review concluded that Americas can unlock the upper end of its 2026 capital investment guidance range of US$90 million to US$120 million.

The budget price addresses the downside and the range addresses the upside. The price sets the silver level at which the year's budgets were run, and the range lets spending step up when metal prices, cash generation, and budget deployment support it.

A Budget Price Tested Across a Range of Silver Prices

The budget price is the first of 2 settings in the plan, alongside the capital range.

Executive Vice President of Corporate Development of Americas Gold & Silver, Oliver Turner, said Americas stress-tests its operations and capital outlay budget at a range of silver prices when setting the budget price:

"We ran our budgets this year at about $40 silver, giving us a significant cushion at the beginning of the year. Obviously, when silver stepped down towards $50 an ounce, we're getting close to that."

A budget price is the silver price a company uses to set its annual budget. At a given production level, silver sold above that price adds cash generation beyond the budgeted amount, and cash generation is one of the 3 measures the mid-year review uses.

Management described the purpose of the combination as flexibility alongside a cushion for where metal prices are. The budget price sets the cushion, and the range sets the flexibility: spending can move between the lower and upper ends of the range depending on the review.

A Capital Range That Opens After a Mid-Year Review

The second setting is the capital investment range in the 2026 guidance, with defined components.

It splits into US$30 million to US$40 million of sustaining capital and US$60 million to US$80 million of growth capital. Exploration is budgeted separately at US$15 million to US$20 million and includes the largest drilling campaign in the Americas' history: about 64,000 meters of infill and exploration drilling. At Galena, the program covers shaft upgrades, underground development, a paste fill plant to support long-hole stoping, and an expanded underground mining fleet. At Crescent, it covers drilling, underground development, equipment purchases, and infrastructure upgrades. Capitalized infill drilling is included in sustaining capital and excluded from the exploration figure. The company's stated objectives for the US$60 million to US$80 million of growth capital are increased throughput and hoisting capacity, lower cost with improved safety and efficiency, and a foundation for sustained production growth.

Turner said the halfway review tests metal price performance, cash generation performance and how well the budget is being deployed, and described this year's result:

"Can we unlock the upper end of that range? The answer this year was absolutely yes."

Company guidance assumes the 2026 capital program is funded from cash balances, cash flow from operations, or third-party debt financing on terms acceptable to Americas. Cash and cash equivalents were US$63.3 million as of September 30, 2026, and available liquidity was US$113 million, including US$50 million from its existing term loan facility, available upon satisfaction of certain conditions. Management said free cash flow from Cosalá, Americas' operation in Sinaloa, Mexico, funds the work at Galena and lets the company be more aggressive there. 

Fewer Metal-Linked Obligations Behind the Plan

The plan operates with fewer metal-linked obligations than at the start of the year.

Agreements with Sprott Mining Inc. and Royal Gold in May 2026, closed on June 11, 2026, removed US$76 million of future variable obligations linked to metal prices. The Sprott agreement eliminated the remaining 592,000-ounce silver delivery obligation for about 2.5% dilution by issuing 7.96 million common shares at US$5.57 per share. The Royal Gold agreement eliminated the remaining 8,861-ounce gold delivery obligation for about 0.8% dilution by issuing 2.65 million common shares at US$5.86 per share, and a 5,000-ounce gold cash purchase was offset by about US$7 million of in-the-money instruments.

Annual debt service falls by more than US$28 million, which lowers the cash the budget price has to cover. The agreements also reduced derivative and mark-to-market volatility, and Americas describes the result as greater leverage to silver price upside and operational execution, with more value flowing to shareholders. The company has raised more than US$300 million through equity and debt financings.

Broader Context: What the Capital Range Funds

The capital range supports 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces of silver, up from 2.65 million ounces in 2025, and Americas expects to deliver towards the lower end of that range. Silver production was approximately 2.3 million ounces in the first 9 months of 2026, including a record 800,458 ounces in the third quarter.

Completed upgrades to the No. 3 shaft raised the skipping rate from 40 to 105 tons per hour. Mechanized mining has lifted productivity from about 50 tons per shift in 2024 to up to about 200 tons per shift in 2026, and 17 long-hole panels are now mined to design widths. Long-hole stoping cycles are about 1 month, against about 12 months for underhand cut and fill. Americas says higher silver prices and Cosalá's performance allowed it to push waste development ahead of key production areas.

At Crescent, power costs have been reduced from about US$0.55 to about US$0.07 per kilowatt-hour.

What to Watch Next

5 milestones will show how the plan develops.

• A mill expansion from about 750 short tons per day (stpd) to 1,200 stpd, through crushing, milling, and flotation circuit upgrades and tying in an additional existing ball mill.
• Delivery of the new flotation cells, at approximately US$4.8 million, in the fourth quarter of 2026.
• Completion of the paste fill plant in the first quarter of 2027, with commissioning to follow, as Americas targets faster fill cycle times and a 70%/30% split between long hole stoping and underhand cut and fill by 2028. 
• Extraction from additional long hole stopes in the fourth quarter of 2026 and into 2027.
• Completion of the Crescent air line, fleet, and infrastructure upgrades underway.

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