Pacifica Silver: 60,000-70,000 m Drilling Targets 2027 Maiden Resource for Silver-Gold Asset in Durango

• Pacifica Silver has raised mineralised strike at its Claudia project in Durango by about 56% to more than 3.9 km across the Aguilareña, Central and Justina veins.
• A 500 m step-out outlined a Central Vein emerging shoot of about 750 m of strike that remains open along strike and at depth.
• The company is targeting a 2027 maiden resource, and Anthony said 60,000-70,000 m of drilling will feed it.
• A first drill test at Lizeth, targeted for the first quarter of 2027, will send more rigs north and push the estimate back to include the target.
• Staged payments to Silverstone start at US$7 million, and the project returns if no qualifying report is published by 2029 unless the premium is renegotiated.

Mexico is the world’s largest silver producer, and the Sierra Madre Occidental has yielded billions of ounces of the metal over more than 500 years of mining. Pacifica Silver Corp. (CSE:PSIL) owns 100% of the Claudia Silver-Gold Project in that belt, an over 11,800-hectare package of 37 contiguous concessions covering most of the historic El Papantón Mining District in Durango State. The company has more than 30 kilometers (km) of known veins on the property and 4 drill rigs running, and it is targeting a maiden resource estimate in 2027.

Todd Anthony, Chief Executive Officer of Pacifica Silver, described a program built to test the system quickly and move on from targets that do not deliver: 

“We’re here to find something big. We want money to go into the ground. We want to find a new mine in Mexico. We’re going to either fail fast or we’re going to find something.”

Anthony spent 2010 to 2023 at First Majestic Silver Corp., which ran 7 operating mines in Mexico during his tenure, and he said only about 10% of Claudia’s veins had been drill-tested before Pacifica’s work began.

Drilling Extends Mineralized Strike Past 3.9 km

Pacifica took over Claudia in July 2025 and drilled 7,992 meters (m) in 29 holes in 2025. Its fully funded Phase II program began in mid-January 2026, was expanded to 30,000 m, and had reached 27,941 m in 118 holes by October 26. Anthony said roughly 75% to 80% of this year’s holes have gone into the Aguilareña Vein, where operators in the 1990s sank a 94 m shaft and developed about 3 km underground. He said every hole has hit mineralization, though not all of it is economic.

Mineralized strike across the Aguilareña, Central and Justina veins extends to more than 3.9 km, an increase of about 1.4 km, or 56%. On the Central Vein, a step-out about 500 m south of earlier drilling returned 8.72 grams per tonne (g/t) gold and 49 g/t silver over an estimated true width of 5.04 m. That interval included 35.83 g/t gold and 159 g/t silver over 1.03 m, the highest gold grade over 1 m or more drilled on the project to date. The company reports an emerging shoot of about 750 m of strike and 100 m down-dip, open along strike and at depth.

The same release extended the Aguilareña Vein about 700 m south, for a footprint of about 2.7 km of strike and 225 m down-dip. Grades on that extension produce a best result of 0.63 g/t gold and 35 g/t silver over 6.34 m, compared with 8.00 g/t gold and 65 g/t silver over 4.44 m in the shoot north of the historical shaft. Anthony said a rig is now moving north to test a vein running about 1.5 km up the hill that has never been drilled.

Grade, Width & Method

Anthony’s case for the asset begins with depth. He said mineralization starts close to surface, which spares the company the cost of reaching ore at 900 m. A typical scoop tram needs about 2 m of width, he said, and the Aguilareña Vein has been running between 4 m and 7 m, with some intervals of 8 m to 9 m at lower grades. On the Central Vein, estimated true widths across 15 intercepts range from 0.56 m to 5.04 m and average 2.13 m, so dilution will be a live question for any study work.

Anthony compared Claudia with Tayoltita, at First Majestic’s San Dimas operation, which he placed 50 km to 60 km to the southwest and described as narrow, very high grade and mined for more than 300 years. Pacifica cautions that nearby properties are not necessarily indicative of Claudia.

The mining method is still under internal discussion. Anthony pointed to near-surface stockwork grading about 0.5 g/t gold over 50 m, which raises the option of a small pit ahead of a ramp-accessed underground mine, while noting that a pit increases the permitting burden in Mexico. A fluid inclusion survey is due for completion in January, with metallurgical testing to follow. Anthony said the core has shown no deleterious elements likely to affect recovery, and the company states that insufficient test work has been done to determine recoveries.

Interview with Todd Anthony, Director & CEO of Pacifica Silver

What Goes Into the 2027 Maiden Resource

Anthony said between 60,000 m and 70,000 m of drilling will feed the first estimate, with an internal cut-off under consideration for the end of the first quarter of 2027. Most of it will come from Aguilareña, with at least an inferred contribution from Central and some material from Justina, and that part of the estimate is likely to be classified as indicated. Vice President of Exploration Stephen Redak joined from Hecla, where his work included the San Sebastián vein system in Durango.

Lizeth, at the northern end of the property, could move that date. Closely spaced banded quartz veins there form a zone about 250 m wide and, according to the company, indicate a relatively shallow level in the epithermal system. Anthony said an earlier company sampled the area in the 2000s and could not secure drill permits. Pacifica is targeting a first test in the first quarter of 2027, and Anthony said a hit could send more rigs north and push the resource back to bring Lizeth in.

Durango Access & Drilling Costs

Claudia lies about 15 km by paved road from Santiago Papasquiaro, a town of about 49,000 people, and crews can stay there, so the company does not need to build a camp. Anthony explains,

“Infrastructure is just as important as geology, right? If you can find it but you can’t build it, what’s the value of it? We’re blessed to be 10 minutes away from a town of 50,000 people, right off the highway, with full access of the project in beautiful rolling hills.”

Anthony put all-in drilling costs at about $140 per meter, a level he contrasted with Nevada and the Yukon, and said work continues year-round apart from a Christmas break.

Capital Structure & the Discovery Premium

Anthony put the market capitalization at about $75 million and cash at about $20 million at the time of the interview. Insiders and advisors hold about 14% and the vendor about 13%, and the named register includes Eric Sprott, Vizsla Silver, First Majestic and Silvercorp.

The acquisition carries staged payments to Silverstone, a prior owner, due only if a Measured and Indicated resource is disclosed. The first is US$7 million for up to 500,000 ounces of gold or gold equivalent, followed by an additional US$10 million up to 1,000,000 ounces and an additional US$2 million up to 1,500,000 ounces. Pacifica is set to drill at least 50,000 m and publish a technical report disclosing Measured or Indicated resources by 2029. The agreement allows payment 50% in shares and 50% in cash, and Anthony said Pacifica is discussing converting the premium into equity. No such agreement has been announced.

The Investment Thesis for Pacifica Silver

• Pacifica Silver owns 100% of a Durango vein system with more than 30 kilometers of known veins, and its Chief Executive Officer says only about 10% had been drill-tested before the company arrived.
• Drilling has raised mineralized strike across the Aguilareña, Central and Justina veins to more than 3.9 kilometers, and the new Central Vein shoot remains open along strike and at depth.
• Near-surface veins and paved road access from Santiago Papasquiaro support low exploration costs, which management puts at about $140 per meter all in.
• The maiden resource targeted for 2027 is the next major valuation event, and its timing depends on whether a first-quarter 2027 drill test at Lizeth justifies a delay.
• The discovery premium starts at US$7 million, and the project must be returned if no Measured or Indicated resource is published by 2029, unless the premium is renegotiated.
• Follow-up drilling on the Central Vein, 4 pending assays from the southern Aguilareña extension and the first metallurgical testing are the next results to monitor.

The re-rating case depends on how many ounces the 2027 estimate can define at the grades drilled so far, and the company itself describes the investment as highly speculative.

Macro Thematic Analysis

Mexico ranks 1st globally in silver production and 7th in gold, yet the operating picture differs sharply by state. Asked about mixed messages on doing business in the country, Anthony drew on his years at First Majestic and said there are states he would not step into. Durango is not one of them. The 2026 Mexico Peace Index ranks it 4th most peacful of 32 states, against 26th for neighboring Chihuahua and 31st for Sinaloa.

Permitting is the other variable. The company cites drill permits in Durango taking roughly 45 days and has secured permits for 153 sites and then 491 more. Mine permitting is a later and separate test, as Vizsla Silver’s wait for a Mexico permit at Panuco shows. Anthony said the concentration of established operators in the state reflects its conditions and available talent:

"Durango is fantastic. It's a safe very mining friendly when it comes for permitting from the state and skilled talent too [...] There’s a reason why the large companies, the Heclas, the Pan Americans, the First Majestics, they all have their kind of operating offices in the city of Durango.”

Geology supplies the wider comparison. Pacifica places Claudia in the same Sierra Madre Occidental setting as San Dimas and Panuco, whose 2024 Measured and Indicated resources grade 311 g/t silver and 3.63 g/t gold, and 307 g/t silver and 2.49 g/t gold, respectively. Claudia also comes from the same private Mexican portfolio that sold Panuco to Vizsla Silver. Those comparisons describe the type of system Pacifica is seeking, and neither is evidence of what Claudia contains.

TL;DR

Pacifica Silver is drilling the 100%-owned Claudia project in Durango, where more than 30 km of veins are known and CEO Todd Anthony says only about 10% had been drill-tested before the company arrived. October results lifted mineralized strike past 3.9 km and outlined an emerging Central Vein shoot, including 8.72 g/t gold and 49 g/t silver over 5.04 m. A maiden resource is targeted for 2027, though a Lizeth test could delay it. A staged discovery premium and a December 31, 2029 deadline are the main obligations.

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