(Kitco News) – Argenta Silver President and CEO, Joaquín Marias (TSXV: AGAG; OTCQB: AGAGF; FSE: T1K), says Argentina has reached “a no turning back point” as pro-business reforms under President Javier Milei reshape the investment climate. “There is no way to go back to what it was before,” Marias said.
Speaking with Kitco Mining’s Investment Trends, Marias said Argentina is emerging from “over 20 years of very turbulent politics” and that Milei’s policies have “changed a lot, not only the economic and the political scenario, but also made a very strong cultural change in people.” He added that optimism is returning, adding that, “People now have hope, and they have realized that if they go through this pain, that if they keep suffering a little bit more for these changes, the changes will be long-term.”
Marias highlighted alignment between the national and provincial governments as key to sustaining growth. Salta, where Argenta’s 100 percent-owned El Quevar Project is located, remains one of Argentina’s most mining-friendly jurisdictions. “If you comply 100 percent, you will get the permits,” he said.
Argenta’s recent drilling has confirmed the strength of the Yaxtché deposit, returning 40 meters grading 1,026 grams per tonne silver and a 70-meter step-out intercept of 43 meters at 545 grams per tonne silver. Both holes extend the deposit to the northwest and demonstrate continuity of high-grade mineralization, results confirmed by the company’s late-summer assay releases. “The 70-meter step-out is telling us the deposit keeps there, still there,” Marias said.
The company completed a C$17.5 million financing in August, including a C$2.5 million top-up from Argentine businessman Eduardo Elsztain’s group, bringing its treasury to C$23 million. “Even in Argentina, there is real interest in projects like El Quevar,” he said. Argenta is now fully funded for a 15,000-meter summer drill program that will devote 40 percent to resource expansion and 60 percent to exploration. “85 percent of our money’s going straight into the ground, and we’re very proud of that,” Marias said.
Marias added that El Quevar currently hosts about 50 million ounces of silver and remains open in multiple directions across a 1.5-kilometer trend. “Our cherry is the deposit itself, but then we have all this potential on top that we have to go after,” he said.
Watch Argenta’s previous Investment Trends interview for more on its early step-outs, 50 Moz base, and CEO Joaquín Marias’ vision to grow El Quevar into a 250 Moz silver district
For Marias’ full discussion on Argentina’s political transformation, Argenta’s funding and drill plans, and how El Quevar could anchor the next generation of silver discoveries in Salta, watch the complete interview on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel.
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