Vizsla Silver shares surge on 43% resource boost
Vizsla Silver (NYSE: VZLA) (TSX: VZLA) saw double-digit gains on Monday following the announcement of a sizeable increase in the mineral resource for its flagship project in Sinaloa, Mexico.
The 100%-owned Panuco project is now estimated to contain 12.96 million tonnes in measured and indicated resources grading 307 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, 2.49 g/t gold, 0.27% lead and 0.85% zinc. This equates to 222.4 million oz. of silver equivalent (AgEq), for a 43% increase over the previous estimate.
The project also has 10.5 million tonnes of inferred resources grading 219 g/t silver, 1.96 g/t gold, 0.30% lead and 1.01% zinc, for 138.7 million oz. of AgEq. This is slightly down from the last estimate, as a large portion have been upgraded to the measured and indicated categories.
The update marks the first time that a measured resource has been calculated for Panuco, totalling 46 million oz. AgEq at an average grade of 640 g/t AgEq. A majority of this resource category is attributed to the Copala resource area that is designated for the first few years of mining.
Shares of Vizsla Silver shot up by 12.0% during the morning session, trading at a near 52-week high of $2.76 apiece. The Vancouver-headquartered precious metals miner has a market capitalization of approximately $768 million.
This resource estimate follows the inclusion of 157 new infill/expansion holes (69,754 metres) completed by Vizsla between September 2023 and September 2024. It comes five years after the initial Napoleon discovery, and according to the company, represents only about 10% of the known cumulative vein strike (86 km) at the district-scale Panuco property of about 170 sq. km.
Commenting on the resource increase, Vizsla CEO said: “This update reflects the excellent mineralized continuity that exists at Copala. Reducing the space between drill holes at Copala to 25 metres has resulted in a significantly higher-grade profile in the upper levels of the resource and PEA mine plan.”
The preliminary economic assessment (PEA) released last summer for Panuco outlined an initial 10.6-year mine with 15.2 million oz. AgEq of annual production. It has an after-tax net present value (at 5%% discount) of $1.1 billion, an 86% internal rate of return, and a 9-month payback.
To advance the project through its target first production of 2027, Vizsla is planning to implement a dual-track approach of mine development and district-scale exploration at the same time. Ongoing initiatives include a fully funded and permitted test mine program, a feasibility study and a 10,000-metre discovery-based drill campaign.
Depending on exploration success, the company said it plans to publish a further update to the resource estimate in the second half of 2025.