Americas Gold & Silver's Galena Upgrade: The Infrastructure Behind the Production Ramp

• Americas Gold & Silver Corp. completed Phase 2 of the No. 3 Shaft modernisation program at the Galena Complex, increasing total hoisting capacity by approximately 150% and average hoisting rates from 42 short tonnes per hour to 85 short tonnes per hour.
• The higher hoisting capacity allows Galena's long-hole stoping program, which has increased underground productivity by more than 300%, to translate into higher ore movement, mill feed and silver production.
• Management is targeting an increase in mining rates from approximately 410 tonnes per day to 650 tonnes per day by the end of 2026, using existing processing infrastructure with a combined capacity of approximately 1,558 tonnes per day.
• The upgrade also supports the company's strategy of integrating future production from the nearby Crescent Silver Mine, which management estimates could contribute approximately 1.5 million ounces of annual silver production following restart.
• The key investment question now is whether higher mining rates and improved infrastructure utilisation can support the delivery of the 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces of silver production.

What Has Happened

Americas Gold & Silver (TSX: USA | NYSE American: USAS) completed Phase 2 of the No. 3 Shaft modernisation program at its Galena Complex in Idaho on June 25, 2026. The project involved a 28-day continuous shutdown and included installation of a new braking system designed to support the 2,250-horsepower hoist motor installed during Phase 1.

The company reported that average hoisting rates increased from approximately 42 to 85 short tonnes per hour, while peak rates reached 105 short tonnes per hour. Management stated that total hoisting capacity increased by approximately 150% and skip payload capacity increased by 40%, creating a pathway toward approximately 1,350 short tonnes per day of hoisting capacity.

The quarter also included an isolated underground ventilation fire at Galena and a regional wildfire affecting access routes near the Crescent Silver Mine. Both events were resolved without injuries, and the company maintained its 2026 production guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces of silver.

Eliminating the Historical Production Bottleneck

Galena's production growth strategy depends on increasing the amount of ore mined from underground stopes and delivered to surface processing facilities. To achieve that objective, the company has been transitioning from conventional underhand cut-and-fill mining to mechanised long-hole stoping.

Long-hole stoping increased productivity by more than 300%, increased production from approximately 50 tonnes per shift using traditional methods to approximately 200 tonnes per shift using remote mucking operations and reduced stope cycle times from approximately 12 months to approximately one month. Those productivity gains increase the amount of ore available for processing and sale.

Executive Vice President of Corporate Development Oliver Turner identified hoisting capacity as the key operational constraint:

"The primary bottlenecks were that we couldn't hoist enough ore out of that number three shaft, which is the primary hoisting shaft. We fixed that."

Increasing average hoisting rates to 85 short tonnes per hour allows higher mining productivity to flow directly into mill feed rather than accumulating underground. The financial consequence is straightforward: more ore reaching the surface creates the potential for higher silver production with existing infrastructure.

Unlocking Spare Mill Capacity & Supporting Crescent Integration

Galena's processing infrastructure can already handle substantially more ore than the mine currently produces. The Galena and Coeur mills have a combined processing capacity of approximately 1,558 tonnes per day, compared with current mining rates of approximately 410 tonnes per day. The production constraint, therefore, sits in ore delivery rather than processing capacity.

Executive Vice President of Corporate Development Oliver Turner highlighted the scale of the available processing capacity:

"The mill we have no mill constraints. We have more milling capacity than we need. We're just modernising some things in the mill."

The company is targeting a production rate of approximately 650 tonnes per day by the end of 2026 and more than 1,000 tonnes per day in subsequent years. Achieving those targets would increase the utilisation of existing mill infrastructure without requiring major capital expenditure on processing plant expansion.

The same infrastructure also underpins the rationale for the Crescent Silver Mine acquisition completed in late 2025. Crescent is located approximately nine miles from Galena, and company materials indicate the project could contribute approximately 1.5 million ounces of annual silver production following restart. The acquisition was designed to leverage spare processing capacity at the Galena and Coeur mills while sharing infrastructure across the broader Idaho operating platform.

What to Watch Next

Achieving the targeted year-end throughput rate will provide the first operational evidence that the modernisation program is translating into higher throughput and production growth. The paste fill plant represents another key operational milestone, targeting a 250% improvement in fill-cycle efficiency and supporting a mining mix aimed at reaching approximately 70% long-hole stoping by the second half of 2027. A higher proportion of long-hole stoping would support greater mining productivity and lower operating costs per tonne mined.

Additional optimisation work remains underway, including installation of lighter cages and skips and expansion of the fibre-optic communications network. The communications upgrades are designed to support real-time equipment monitoring and future semi-autonomous mining functions, thereby improving equipment utilisation and operational efficiency. The most important measure of success remains production delivery. Americas Gold & Silver has maintained 2026 guidance of 3.2 million to 3.6 million ounces of silver production despite operational disruptions during the quarter, making guidance delivery the clearest test of whether the company's infrastructure investments are translating into higher production and stronger utilisation of the Galena platform.

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