TORONTO, Sept. 24, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Canada News Group News Commentary - The silver market has spent 2026 teaching investors how quickly a metal can move. Silver touched a record above $121 an ounce in late January, gave back roughly half of that by the end of summer, and was trading around $65 in the third week of September, still close to 50% higher than a year earlier. For companies trying to bring new ounces to market, the swing has sharpened one question above all others: how much of the capital, permitting and infrastructure a mine needs has already been spent? Honey Badger Silver Inc. (TSXV: TUF) (OTCQB: HBEIF) (FSE: 1QA) has made that question the center of its strategy at the PC Silver Mine in the Northwest Territories, and it offers a useful lens on a sector where Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL), Americas Gold and Silver Corporation (NYSE American: USAS), First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) and Vizsla Silver Corp. (NYSE: VZLA) are each taking different routes to the same goal.
Greenfield silver mines are slow. A discovery typically has to move through resource definition, economic studies, environmental assessment, community agreements, road and power infrastructure and financing before the first concentrate ships, and each stage carries its own risk of delay. Projects that already have underground workings, a mill, permits or benefit agreements in place can skip parts of that sequence. That is why past-built and past-producing silver assets have become some of the most closely watched stories in the sector.
A 1980s Mine With a 2026 Study
The PC Silver Mine, historically known as Prairie Creek, sits in the Mackenzie Mountains of the Northwest Territories, within an enclave surrounded by, but excluded from, Nahanni National Park Reserve. It was built in the early 1980s, and the Company notes it was purchased at the time by the Hunt Brothers for its silver endowment. Honey Badger Silver acquired 100% of Canadian Zinc Corporation, the owner of the mine, from Resource Capital Fund VI L.P. in April 2026.
On September 17, 2026, the Company released an updated Preliminary Economic Assessment prepared by JDS Energy & Mining Inc., together with an updated Mineral Resource estimate. The PEA outlines a 22-year underground operation mining approximately 2,400 tonnes per day, with dense media separation upgrading material before milling at about 1,500 tonnes per day. Over the first seven years, the study estimates average annual production of approximately 3.7 million ounces of silver plus zinc, lead and copper, or about 10.7 million silver-equivalent ounces. Over the full life of mine, it estimates approximately 2.5 million ounces of payable silver a year, or about 7.9 million silver-equivalent ounces.
At its Long-Term Consensus pricing case of US$50 silver, the PEA outlines after-tax life-of-mine free cash flow of approximately C$3.2 billion, an after-tax NPV8% of approximately C$1.2 billion, an after-tax NPV5% of approximately C$1.7 billion, a 29.3% IRR and a 3.1-year payback. Pre-production capital is estimated at C$667 million, of which C$205 million is for a 170-kilometre all-season road. The Company reports all-in sustaining costs net of by-product credits of negative US$22 per ounce of silver in that case, reflecting the value of zinc, lead and copper credits. The underlying resource totals 11.63 million tonnes Measured and Indicated at 424 g/t AgEq and 8.47 million tonnes Inferred at 492 g/t AgEq.
“PC Silver is an existing mine, which was built in the early 1980's, with significant capital already invested, extensive existing infrastructure, key permits in place and strong relationships with Indigenous governments, territorial and federal governments and other partners,” said Chad Williams, Executive Chairman of Honey Badger Silver. “We are advancing a significantly developed asset with decades of hard work and capital investment already behind it.”
The Company says the site hosts a historic mill, an airstrip and approximately five kilometres of underground workings, and that it holds Impact Benefit Agreements with the Nahɂą Dehé Dene Band and the Łíídlįį Kų́ę́ First Nation, as well as a Transportation Corridor Benefit Agreement with Acho Dene Koe First Nation. A federal National Trade Corridors Fund contribution of up to C$25 million toward the all-season road has previously been announced, subject to drawdown conditions. On September 10, the Company announced it had engaged Tusk Automation to optimize the mill restart. The Board has authorized engineering toward a Feasibility Study targeted for the second quarter of 2027, and the Company has said it will evaluate a staged, lower-capital initial start.
The logistics plan is conventional for a northern mine. Concentrates would be trucked in 20-tonne bulk containers along the all-season road to Fort Nelson, British Columbia, and transferred there to CN Rail for shipment to domestic or overseas smelters, with inbound supplies moving back along the same corridor. The Company expects year-round access to reduce inventory requirements and logistical risk compared with relying on a seasonal winter road.
The Critical Minerals Angle
The PEA assigns no value to germanium, antimony or tungsten, and does not include recent Canadian tax incentives, which the Company says it intends to evaluate. The updated resource reports antimony at 997 ppm in the Measured and Indicated category and 1,617 ppm in the Inferred category. Across its wider portfolio, Honey Badger Silver has also been investigating germanium and sulphur-rich pyrite potential at its Nanisivik project on Baffin Island, where it executed a 2026 field program announced on September 4. None of that work has yet been translated into economics, and it should be read as exploration, not production.
How the Sector Compares
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE: HL), the largest silver producer in the United States and Canada, offers the closest northern Canadian parallel. Its Keno Hill mine in the Yukon restarted in 2023. On its second quarter 2026 call, Hecla updated Keno Hill's 2026 guidance to 2.2 to 2.6 million ounces of silver as it focuses on permitting and site build-out, and reported receiving a permit to expand the tailings storage facility during the quarter. Keno Hill shows both sides of a northern restart: a producing mine with existing infrastructure, and a ramp-up that takes time.
Americas Gold and Silver Corporation (NYSE American: USAS) has built its strategy around past-producing ground in Idaho's Silver Valley. The company describes its Galena Complex as the largest antimony mine in the United States, acquired the fully permitted, past-producing Crescent Silver Mine nine miles away in December 2025, and in February 2026 formed a 51/49 joint venture with United States Antimony Corporation to build an antimony processing hub at Galena. It is the clearest example of silver and antimony being developed together in North America.
First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE: AG) reported second quarter 2026 production of 3.8 million ounces of silver from four underground mines in Mexico, raised its production guidance for the second consecutive year, and said Santa Elena secured construction permits for the Santo Niño and Navidad portals ahead of schedule. First Majestic represents the scaled, producing end of the sector that development-stage companies are working toward.
Vizsla Silver Corp. (NYSE: VZLA) is a reminder that jurisdiction and site access matter as much as grade. Its Panuco project in Sinaloa, Mexico has a November 2025 Feasibility Study outlining 17.4 million silver-equivalent ounces of average annual production over an initial 9.4-year mine life. The company has disclosed that on-site operations have been paused since February 2026 following security-related events, and that its targeted 2027 first production is contingent on a construction decision, permitting, financing and site access.
What the Comparison Shows
Placed side by side, the group sorts by stage and by risk. First Majestic and Hecla are producers managing expansions and ramp-ups. Americas Gold and Silver is combining producing and past-producing assets with an antimony strategy. Vizsla has feasibility-level economics and substantial funding, but faces a site-access constraint outside its control. Honey Badger Silver is earlier than all of them, at the PEA stage, but starting from a past-built mine in a Canadian jurisdiction with benefit agreements already signed.
The risks are real. The PC Silver PEA is preliminary in nature, includes Inferred resources, and does not establish mineral reserves. Pre-production capital is substantial, and more than 30% of it is tied to an all-season road through remote northern terrain. The project's location beside a national park reserve brings its own permitting and regulatory interface, which the Company itself lists among its risks. The Feasibility Study is a 2027 target, a staged start has not yet been defined, and financing has not been committed, although the Company says it has received inbound interest from smelters, off-takers, lenders, government agencies and infrastructure investors.
What to Watch
Four markers will shape the next year at PC Silver: the filing of the PEA technical report on SEDAR+, which the Company expects within 45 days of the September 17 release; any definition of a staged restart; progress on financing and the all-season road; and the Feasibility Study targeted for the second quarter of 2027. Across the sector, the broader question is whether silver holds at levels that keep capital flowing to developers, and which of these companies turns an existing head start into sustained production.
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Article Sources:
[1] Honey Badger Silver Inc., “Honey Badger Silver Announces Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment for the PC Silver Mine; Sees Significant Silver plus Critical Minerals Production,” September 17, 2026 (PEA and MRE results, Chad Williams commentary, Qualified Persons), available at www.honeybadgersilver.com and www.sedarplus.ca.
[2] Honey Badger Silver Inc. releases dated September 4 and September 10, 2026.
[3] Public disclosures of Hecla Mining Company, Americas Gold and Silver Corporation, First Majestic Silver Corp. and Vizsla Silver Corp.
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Qualified Persons: Honey Badger Silver Inc. has disclosed that the PEA was prepared by JDS Energy & Mining Inc., with PEA information other than the Mineral Resource estimate prepared by or under the supervision of Mike Makarenko, P.Eng., and the Mineral Resource estimate prepared by or under the supervision of Greg Mosher, P.Geo., of Global Mineral Resource Services, both of whom the Company describes as independent Qualified Persons under NI 43-101.
Cautionary Note Regarding the Preliminary Economic Assessment: The PC Silver Mine PEA is preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred Mineral Resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have the economic considerations applied to them that would enable them to be categorized as Mineral Reserves, and there is no certainty that the PEA will be realized. Mineral Resources that are not Mineral Reserves have no demonstrated economic viability, and no Mineral Reserves have been calculated for the mine. No feasibility study has been completed and no production decision has been made. Silver-equivalent figures are calculated by the Company using its stated price, recovery and payability assumptions and are presented for illustrative purposes. Figures cited in this publication use the Company's Long-Term Consensus pricing case; the Company has noted that its spot-case economics had not been fully run in its PEA model at the time of release and may differ materially. References to germanium, antimony, pyrite or other critical minerals relate to exploration and evaluation work to which no economic value has been attributed. Readers should refer to the Company's filings at www.sedarplus.ca. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the Company's releases.
References to Hecla Mining Company, Americas Gold and Silver Corporation, First Majestic Silver Corp. and Vizsla Silver Corp. are provided solely as market and sector context. Those companies are not peers, competitors, or financial comparables of Honey Badger Silver Inc., none of them is involved in this publication, their results are not indicative of Honey Badger Silver Inc.'s prospects, and no partnership, affiliation, or endorsement is implied.
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Forward-Looking Statements: This publication contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities laws, including statements regarding the results and interpretation of the PEA, the timing of the technical report and Feasibility Study, a potential staged restart, financing, the all-season road, critical minerals evaluation, and silver and base metal markets. These statements are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially, including study results, capital and operating costs, permitting and regulatory decisions, engagement with Indigenous governments, financing, metal prices, and general economic conditions. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this publication, and we undertake no obligation to update them except as required by law.
