(Kitco News) Kootenay Silver President and CEO Jim McDonald says the silver bull market is widening the gap between metal prices and equity valuations, creating opportunities for developers with scale, economics, and funding strength to re-rate as the cycle matures.
Speaking with Kitco Mining’s Investment Trends, McDonald said Kootenay’s strategy is to advance its assets far enough to reduce risk and increase value, while maintaining flexibility around potential outcomes. “We aim to be a seller,” he said, noting that technical progress and permitting milestones can materially improve pricing and optionality in any transaction.
Kootenay’s primary focus remains the Columba Project in Chihuahua, Mexico, where the company delivered a maiden inferred mineral resource of 54.1 Moz of silver grading 284 g/t, plus lead and zinc, based on an estimate effective May 29, 2025. The high-grade epithermal vein system remains open for expansion, with mineralization defined across multiple zones.
Vein width is a key economic differentiator at Columba, according to McDonald. “The better the width, the lower your cost,” he said, explaining that wider veins can support bulk underground mining methods, reduce cutoff grades, and improve margins.
The company is currently executing a 50,000 m drill program at Columba, with most drilling focused on step-outs from known mineralization to define the limits of existing zones. Additional drilling is testing secondary structures and targets with limited historic exploration. McDonald notes the company would like to update the resource by the end of the year, or into the first quarter of next year, depending on drill progress.
Alongside Columba, Kootenay is advancing the La Cigarra silver deposit, also in Mexico, where a Preliminary Economic Assessment is expected in Q2 2026. McDonald said the study represents a potential inflection point as the company moves from exploration toward development. “We’d like to exit the year as being a developer,” he said, adding that demonstrating first-pass economics can significantly change how the market values silver ounces.
McDonald emphasized that Kootenay’s investment case extends beyond any single asset. The company controls four silver deposits in Mexico, with a combined silver equivalent resource base exceeding 300 Moz across multiple categories, providing strategic optionality as the silver cycle advances.
With silver prices surging late in 2025 and into early 2026, McDonald said equity valuations have yet to fully reflect improvements to cash flows and project economics. “We traded these sorts of levels at much lower silver prices historically,” he said, adding that developers remain “very, very undervalued” relative to the metal.
On January 22, 2026, Kootenay announced a bought deal private placement that was upsized to gross proceeds of C$16.5 million at C$2.25 per share, reflecting strong investor demand. The company said the proceeds will be used to advance the Columba and La Cigarra silver projects in Mexico and for general corporate purposes, strengthening its balance sheet as it advances drilling and technical work.
McDonald also pointed to a shift in tone around mining in Mexico, citing recent permit issuances as a positive signal for the sector and for investor confidence.
Looking ahead, McDonald said Kootenay’s priorities are to complete the La Cigarra PEA, continue expanding the Columba resource, and position the company for the next phase of the silver cycle. “Once you’re a developer like that, your ounces start to get rerated,” he said.
Watch the full interview on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel for Jim McDonald’s detailed discussion on silver market dynamics, Kootenay’s exploration and development strategy, and how valuation gaps across the silver sector may evolve as the bull market continues.
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