Americas Gold & Silver Doubles Galena Hoisting, H2 Ramp-Up and Mill Upgrades Next

• Management says Galena's shaft can now hoist more than 1,400 tons a day, up from about 650 tons when the current team took over roughly 18 months ago, after about $7 million of upgrades.
• Long hole stopes at Galena take about 28 days to mine against 14 months with conventional jack-leg methods, according to CEO Paul Andre Huet, and 19 have now been completed.
• The company produced 1.45 million ounces of silver in the first half against 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces.
• Cosalá in Mexico has a seven-year mine life at EC120, and recent drilling at San Rafael Upper returned 654.7 grams per tonne silver and 1.5% copper over 20.5 metres of estimated true width.
• Executives put the shares at 0.55 to 0.65 times net asset value (NAV), below the 0.75 times shown in the company's own August peer comparison, and estimate a beta to silver of about 1.51 times, which magnifies gains and losses in both directions.

Silver has cooled since its surge in late 2025 and early 2026. That has moved investor attention from price momentum to operating delivery. Americas Gold & Silver (TSX:USA, NYSE American:USAS) sits at the centre of that shift, with mines in Idaho and Mexico and a management team that says it is building the business rather than waiting for a rebound.

Chairman and CEO Paul Andre Huet and Oliver Turner, Executive Vice President, Corporate Development, updated Crux Investor on the past year's work. They described a rebuilt shaft at the Galena Complex, a new mining method, a Mexican operation that now helps fund growth, and a NAV discount they say has room to close.

Galena Upgrades Lift Production Ceiling

Galena's shaft was limited to about 650 tons a day when the current team arrived, Huet said, and the mill was running two days a week. After two phases of shaft work, which he put at about $7 million of capital, he said the shaft can now hoist safely at more than 1,400 tons a day.

Huet compared that with Galena's 2002 peak, when the mine produced 5.2 million ounces of silver at 592 tons a day, according to the company's presentation. He described that level as a first step and said the team is looking at what all of the adits can deliver.

He also pointed to less visible constraints. A year ago a miner was breaking oversized rock on a grizzly with a sledgehammer. Galena now has five new grizzlies and rock breakers, and each rail car fills from a chute in about 20 to 25 seconds without a scoop tram. The Galena mill processes about 750 tons a day, with a target of 1,200 tons a day by the end of 2026.

Long Hole Stoping & Paste Fill Drive the Cost Case

Huet said Galena has completed its 19th long hole stope. Each is about one metre (3.3 feet) wide, which he said limits dilution as tightly as jack-leg mining could. The target is a mine that is 70% long hole.

Mining a stope conventionally with jack legs, as he did earlier in his career, would take 14 months. Of the new method, Huet said.:

"We're mining that in 28 days. We're not diluting the grade. So, we're getting all the ounces. We're not getting added tons, it's reducing the cost, it's improving the safety."

The main outstanding piece is a paste fill plant. Galena currently uses sand fill, which takes 14 to 16 days to fill a stope. Huet said paste fill will be more homogeneous.

Safety is part of his cost argument. Galena has gone 18 months without a lost-time accident, against 10 in the year before the team arrived, which Huet costed at $250,000 to $300,000 each. He added that September is on track to beat the March 2026 record for total footage by 30%.

First-Half Output & Guidance Test

Huet described the first half as in line with management's plan. The shaft was down for a full month in the second quarter for phase two work, so Galena produced for two months of that quarter. The company produced 1.45 million ounces of silver in the first half. Guidance for 2026 is 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces, so reaching the low end would need about 1.75 million ounces in the second half.

First-half all-in sustaining cost (AISC) was US$36.92 per ounce, above the US$30 to US$35 guidance range. Huet pointed to the finished shaft, grizzlies, rock breakers and remote controls as the base for adding long hole tonnage.

Interview with Paul Andre Huet, CEO, and Oliver Turner, Corporate Development of Americas Gold & Silver Corp.

Cosalá Turns From Cash Generator to Growth Driver

Turner agreed that the Cosalá operations in Sinaloa, Mexico, had received little attention until recent months. EC120 has a seven-year mine life ahead of it, he said, and is mining a silver-copper zone at about 110 grams per tonne silver and 0.5% copper. The company reports record Cosalá output of 1.2 million ounces in 2025. Turner said 2026 will exceed that and 2027 should grow again.

Exploration is the newer story. Turner said Mexico saw essentially no exploration spending after 2019, and the company has spent about $3 million to $5 million on drilling there this year. The best result, hole SR583 at San Rafael Upper, returned 654.7 grams per tonne silver and 1.5% copper over 20.5 metres of estimated true width. Hole 120-26-G141 at 120 Lower returned 409.3 grams per tonne over 14.1 metres. The company places SR583 about 30 metres outside the 2025 inferred resource boundary.

Turner said analysts carry Mexico at roughly 10% to 12% of corporate valuation and that he expects the figure to grow. He said San Rafael Upper is expected to enter the mine plan in the second half of 2027.

The mill is a second lever. Recoveries had been about 80% to 82%. A finer grind added 8 percentage points but limited tonnage. Management is now tying in a third mill that was already on site. Turner said the plant will then treat 2,000 tons a day at about 90% recovery.

Crescent Set for 2027 as Antimony Earns Its Keep

At Crescent, management said mining is planned for next year, and the company's September 18 release puts it in 2027. That is later than the mid-2026 start the company pointed to when it announced the acquisition in November 2025. The mine cannot start until it has a secondary egress, so the BC4 adit is being connected through. Infill drilling is under way to add certainty to the resource.

Management described recent grades as similar to Galena's. Assays from the first 12 of 45 holes include 1,891 grams per tonne silver over 1.3 metres in the Alhambra vein, and two new veins have been identified nearby. Small test lots put through the Galena mill returned recoveries in the mid-90% range, against expectations in the low 80% range. The company does not treat the 2015 historical resource at Crescent as current.

Huet also held up an antimony bar produced with partner United States Antimony (NYSE American:UAMY) and said all of the antimony came from Americas' own mining. He said the United States needs about 50 million pounds a year domestically, plus 40 million pounds for its allies. Antimony was once a penalty metal at Galena, and the company is now paid for it. Galena produced about 561,000 pounds of antimony in 2025, which the company says makes it the largest US producer. Commercial terms and construction timing for the planned processing hub under the 51/49 joint venture have not been disclosed.

The Investment Thesis for Americas Gold & Silver

• Management says Galena's shaft hoists more than 1,400 tons a day while the mill runs at about 750 tons a day, so the mill expansion to 1,200 tons a day by year-end is the step that turns hoisting capacity into ounces.
• The second half must deliver about 1.75 million ounces to reach the low end of 2026 guidance, which makes third-quarter production the first test.
• Long hole stoping shortens stope cycles sharply, but the paste fill plant is unfinished and first-half AISC sits above the US$30 to US$35 guidance range.
• Cosalá offers a seven-year EC120 mine life, high-grade drilling close to the existing resource and a third mill aimed at 90% recovery.
• Crescent mining depends on a second exit and on firming up a resource the company does not yet treat as current, with a start now set for 2027.
• Antimony is now paid rather than penalised, but the terms and timing of the processing hub are undisclosed.
• A beta to silver of about 1.5 times cuts both ways, so a narrowing NAV discount would be the clearer sign that execution, rather than the metal price, is driving the shares.

Macro Thematic Analysis

Turner framed the valuation debate around what kind of silver exposure investors are buying. He said Americas' beta to silver is around 1.51 times, so a move in the metal produces a swing about one and a half times larger in the shares. That worked strongly in late 2025 and early 2026 and works the other way on the way down.

Turner put silver at over 90% of current revenue and said the share will likely slip below that as copper and antimony grow. He argued that many silver producers now earn far less of their revenue from the metal. The company's own peer chart shows most producers still above 50%, so the sharper contrast is with larger names such as Coeur, Hochschild and Pan American, at 31% to 35%. His explanation was history. In the last low-price cycle, miners without strong by-products bought gold or copper assets, while lead paid the bills at Galena.

Turner pointed to recent silver deals, many struck around two times NAV:

"You've seen companies want to buy silver exposure. Companies are paying two times the current valuation of the company now because they expect to find more value which is typically more metal or higher margin opportunities inside that company."

Turner said Americas trades at around 0.55 to 0.65 times NAV, in the lower third of the silver producer universe. The company's August 7 presentation put it at 0.75 times average broker NAV, against about 1.17 times for intermediate and senior silver producers. Turner said the company is funding the majority of its growth from operating cash flow, and Huet said this avoids the dilution that a two-year pause to fix the mines would have caused. Huet tied that approach to his earlier companies, Karora and Klondex.

TL;DR‍

Americas Gold & Silver (TSX:USA) says Galena's shaft now hoists more than 1,400 tons a day, up from about 650, and long hole stopes take 28 days instead of 14 months. First-half output of 1.45 million ounces means the second half must deliver about 1.75 million to reach the low end of 2026 guidance. Management flags Cosalá drilling, a third mill targeting 90% recovery, Crescent mining in 2027 and paid antimony. Executives put the shares at 0.55 to 0.65 times NAV. Watch paste fill, mill expansion and third-quarter production.

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