Silver Mines has set itself up to maximise the enormous potential of its 100% owned Bowdens Silver Project and other assets after raising $18 million in an oversubscribed placement. The strong show of support from existing shareholders and new investors pushed demand well above the funds raised and meant final sum was significantly higher  $12-$15m the company expected.

The placement lays out a long runway for growth for Silver Mines (ASX:SVL) which will use the money primarily to do more of its aggressive exploration at Bowdens.

It comes just over a month after the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) announced it had assessed the Bowdens open pit project as being in the public interest and approvable.

That project already has a Mineral Resource of 318Moz silver equivalent, making it the largest undeveloped silver deposit in Australia and one of the largest in the world.

It’s still growing, too, with results from diamond drilling expanding the Southern Gold Zone, which will now be assessed in future pit optimisation studies.

And there’s more

Directly underneath the open pit project is the Bowdens Silver Underground deposit, which has a Maiden Mineral Resource of 42.9 million ounces silver equivalent.

Exploration of the three underground zones, one just 30m below the base of the existing open pit Ore Reserve, have been hugely successful and points to potential for a large contiguous underground operation, in addition to the planned open pit operation. Highlights from drilling include an eye-popping 1,769 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent intercept from 414m.

Also identified through seismic data is the “Bowdens Caldera”, adding to Silver Mines’ belief that Bowdens has the potential to be an operation that’s likely to run for at least 50 years.

While advancing the open pit project, including appointing a highly experienced Joel Ray as General Manager, SVL is also working to complete the underground mining scoping study.

Managing Director Anthony McClure said:

“We’re extremely pleased with the completion of this placement, with support from institutional, professional and sophisticated investors exceeding our expectations and vindicating our belief in the potential of Bowdens.

“The funds give us a very robust balance sheet to accelerate exploration efforts as we advance both the open pit and underground projects, as well as our regional assets.

“Although Mineral Resources at Bowdens now totals over 315 million ounces of silver equivalent, both the open pit and underground resource areas remain open.

“From what we’re continuing to see, and given that it’s all open, I feel confident in saying that this ore body will still be producing silver and providing local jobs in 50 years. We don’t know the full extent of it yet, but we know that it’s vast.”

The timing’s right for the NSW projects with analysts forecasting massive growth in silver demand in the coming decades due to the precious metal’s use in clean energy technology, especially solar panels and electric vehicles.

 

 

 

This article was developed in collaboration with Silver Mines, 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.

Read MoreSilverSilver NewsSilver Stocks

Featured Companies

You might be interested in