SS1 starts drilling at US silver project with four rigs turning

Our 2024 Small Cap Pick of the Year Sun Silver (ASX: SS1) just started drilling at its 539M ounce silver equivalent JORC resource in Nevada.

SS1 will have FOUR diamond drill rigs on the project looking to grow SS1’s already giant resource with a mix of infill and extensional drilling:

(source)

SS1’s project already has a 539M ounce silver equivalent JORC resource which makes it the largest pre-production silver resource on both the ASX and in the USA.

With the current round of drilling we are hoping SS1 can move more of its resource out of the inferred category into the higher confidence indicated/Measured categories.

(source - our article on JORC resources)

Basically, that upgrade happens when a company drills more holes, closer together so that the “confidence” in the resource estimate is stronger - literally a data collection exercise.

A higher confidence resource estimate matters because its typically what the larger institutional investors look for when thinking about development financing for a project.

(the more certain a company is in its orebody, the less risky it is for a financier to back)

See our educational article on resource categories here: What is a JORC resource? How does a company define a resource? 🎓

The added bonus for us will be if the resource grows even further…

Especially if that drilling to the north-west comes in:

(source)

We also noticed SS1 detail its development plan today

In the short term the two catalysts we will be looking out for will be around drilling and a resource upgrade.

But we also noticed SS1 lay out its development roadmap that puts in line a few other big catalysts inside the next 12 months including:

• Progressing environmental permitting and baseline studies
• Mine planning including pit optimisation
• Scoping study - targeting maiden study completion in Q4 2026
• Pre-Feasibility Study - targeting Q2 2027

(source)

We think that scoping study could be an important one for SS1 because it will finally give the market an idea of the potential economics of a 539M ounce silver equivalent resource in Nevada.

We think it will also allow SS1 to answer the “how will it get processed”? Question - on top of what SS1 announced a few weeks back with metwork results - see our take on that news here.

What's next for SS1?

🔄 Drill results from the current program

With four rigs turning, we should see a steady flow of results.

The infill drilling for the resource upgrade and the one we are looking out for the most - the extensional drilling to the north-west of the existing resource:

(source)

🔲 Scoping study - Q4 2026

The maiden scoping study will pull together the resource, met testwork, and mine planning into an economic picture.

This is the one we think could change the way the market views SS1’s projects (finally giving it some project economics context)

🔲 Maybe a maiden antimony resource?

We have written in the past about how SS1’s deposit may also host a giant antimony resource to go with the silver.

IF a maiden antimony resource can be defined, we think it would be a game changer for SS1’s deposit AND could open up US government funding pathways for developing its project.

See our deep dive on the antimony potential here: Antimony could unlock government funding for SS1