Far East Capital believes Investigator Resources’ time has come amidst silver boom

• A doubling in silver prices since 2023 could improve economics of Investigator’s Paris project
• Lachlan Wallace’s appointment as MD in July 2025 expected to guide company’s growth
• DFS due Q1 2026 could lower capital by $30m, reflect other improvements

Special Report: ASX-listed primary silver plays are few and far between, but the precious and industrial metal’s rising price and a new managing director has brought Investigator Resources back into the limelight.

Australia is well known for being mineral-rich, but its geology doesn’t seem to lend itself to the high-grade silver deposits that are found in the Americas.

Rather most domestic silver plays are really lead or other base metal plays with strong silver credits.

Far East Capital has highlighted one notable exception in Investigator Resources (ASX:IVR), which has been plugging away at its Paris project – one of Australia’s highest grade primary silver plays – for some years.

The project sits within the Paris Silver Corridor in South Australia’s central Eyre Peninsula close to the regional centres of Port Augusta and Whyalla.

It hosts an inferred and indicated resource of 24Mt grading 73g/t silver and 0.41% lead for contained resources of 57Moz silver and 99,000t lead.

Far East noted that while the late David Ransom – a geologist, well-known former funds manager and also former Investigator non-executive chairman – was enthusiastic about the company’s prospects and had opinions that carried gravitas, the company never seemed to make it past the finish line.

While the company has captured its share of attention each time there was a revival in silver prices, a lack of meaningful progress resulted in it dropping off the radar after the initial enthusiasm faded.

Getting match fit

However, Far East analyst Warwick Grigor believes the new surge of interest in Investigator might be sustained this time.

The first box he ticked off was the appointment of experienced and capable mining engineer Lachlan Wallace – who had led the successful development and commissioning of the Kanmantoo underground copper mine – as Investigator’s managing director in July 2025.

“For him it is not about talking up the geology, it is about getting the parameters right to make this a workable development,” Grigor said.

He also flagged the higher silver price that had almost doubled since 2023, which should in theory make the potential economics more attractive, though he flagged that it came down to ability as well.

“The earlier PFS delivered an NPV8 of $202m and an IRR of 48%, on an AISC of A$17.45/oz. The silver price is now A$65/oz, 270% higher. Back when the PFS was done, the mine life was a modest 7 years. What will revised numbers look like now?”

The answer seems to be pretty damn good. Even simple maths shows the leverage: take the 26.7Moz outlined in the PFS, expand the pit to capture more ounces, and at current silver prices there’s room for a margin of roughly A$40/oz. That starts to paint a very compelling picture.

Diving into the details, Grigor noted that Investigator could now afford to drop the cut-off grade from the 25g/t it had previously used, which could extend mine life and possibly increase annual production despite a potential increase in AISC to about $24/oz.

He also highlighted the company’s work on a definitive feasibility study for release in the first quarter of 2026 that would incorporate a number of changes.

This includes a push to reduce capital expenditure from the current estimate of $160m to about $130m by moving from dry stacking of the tailings to a conventional tailings dam, which will lower capital and operating costs.

There is also potential for the scale of the processing plant to be increased from the 1Mtpa discussed in the PFS to 1.5Mtpa, which would involve a nine month build time.

“A sharper look at all aspects of this design and build will be another pathway to bring the capex down to $130m,” Grigor said.

“Given that capital build costs in a remote area can be as high $200/hr, there may be savings in components being transported to site, and skid mounted crushers that require less concrete and steel in their footing.

“Another saving is going to come from switching from diesel generated power at a cost of 35-40c kWh, to gas at 17-20c kWh.”

Metallurgy and exploration

On the project’s metallurgy, Grigor pointed out that Investigator had not overlooked the challenges involved in recovering silver from oxide ore – a marked difference from gold.

Highlighting this, the company is only looking for recoveries of 50-60% silver in the oxidised zone.

“Fortunately, that oxidation only extends down to about 25m, quickly moving to primary ore below where recoveries are expected to be around 90%,” Grigor said.

“Average project recoveries, from including both styles, are estimated at 78%.

“Interestingly, most of the ore has a strong clay element. This could enable saving on crushers as an example, but the quid pro quo is that there needs to be care in the design to allow for higher viscosity levels that clay may cause.”

Looking further ahead is the potential for exploration to add resources.

Investigator has previously noted the district scale prospectivity contained within the 15km of strike at the project with drilling at the Apollo prospect 5km from Paris having returned an intercept of 8m at 1262g/t silver from a down-hole depth of 149m.

“Perseus and Manto are others that have returned positive results, both within 5km of the main Paris orebody. A $2m budget allocation has been made for near term exploration,” Grigor said.

Grigor concluded that with Wallace at the helm, Investigator was not just an exploration play anymore.

“Right now, it is about doing the proper homework and design, and making a production happen,” he said.

“News flow will be focusing on this activity and the rising silver price will be a good tailwind.”

This article was developed in collaboration with Investigator Resources, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.