Close menu




February 23rd, 2023 | 16:17 CET

First Majestic Silver, Blackrock Silver, American Lithium - Long-term opportunity

  • Mining
  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Lithium
Photo credits: pixabay.com

The transformation towards greenhouse gas-neutral technologies leads to a significant metal demand for corresponding critical raw materials. In addition to copper, nickel, lithium and cobalt, silver, in particular, is experiencing steadily increasing demand. In addition, the precious metal is increasingly required in medical devices, smartphones and microchips, among other things. After a correction that has lasted since 2020, the next upward wave will likely follow after a bottoming out. For investors, this is an opportunity for long-term price gains.

time to read: 3 minutes | Author: Stefan Feulner
ISIN: FIRST MAJESTIC SILVER | CA32076V1031 , Blackrock Silver | CA09261Q1072 , AMERICAN LITHIUM | CA0272592092

Table of contents:


    Blackrock Silver - Triple opportunity

    Compared to gold, silver offers a twofold opportunity for significant appreciation. On the one hand, like its big brother, it serves as a hedge against inflation and crises. On the other hand, the gray metal is increasingly in demand from industry due to the energy transition and digitalization. In addition to direct investment in coins and bars, investors have many options at their disposal, for example, ETFs that track the price one-to-one. Investments in exploration companies, such as Blackrock Silver, offer unique leverage. The fact that the Canadian company's properties contain not only the precious metals gold and silver but also lithium, an essential raw material for electromobility, lends the Company, which is valued at CAD 75.66 million, additional fantasy.

    Blackrock Silver focuses on developing silver and gold projects in the US state of Nevada, which enjoys worldwide renown as the "Silver State." In doing so, Blackrock's flagship Tonopah West project consolidates the western half of the famed silver district within the Walker Lane trend. Known as the "Queen of the Silver Camps," the Tonopah Silver District historically produced over 174 million ounces of silver and 1.8 million ounces of gold, making it one of North America's most significant silver districts. As the first group to reactivate historic mining areas on the property since production ceased nearly 100 years ago, Blackrock has completed more than 150,000m of exploration drilling since 2020, making this the most active silver exploration project in North America. Tonopah West has a maiden mineral resource estimate of 2.97Mt at a block diluted grade of 208g/t silver and 2.5g/t gold for a total inferred mineral resource of 19,902,000 ounces Ag and 238,000 ounces Au or 446g/t silver equivalent for 42.6Moz, making Tonopah West one of the highest-grade undeveloped silver projects in the world.

    High-grade discoveries at Silver Cloud

    In addition to Tonopah West, Blackrock Silver controls Silver Cloud, another high-grade property measuring more than 45 sq km. The project is located 20km south of the Midas mine and just 3km from the Hollister mine along the prolific Northern Nevada Rift in northern Nevada. Late last year, the Company announced results from a three-hole program. The results showed discoveries of 52.62 g/t gold and 606 g/t silver over 1.5 meters, indicating that Silver Cloud has similar veins to the Midas mine. In addition, there has been little past drilling at Silver Cloud, making the deposit one of Nevada's largest unexplored volcanic epithermal gold and silver districts.

    High-grade Lithium discoveries

    Blackrock Silver hit the jackpot last year when it staked 20 sq km of claims adjacent to Tonopah in search of gold and silver and conducted a 9,300-meter drill program in 20 holes. Broad lithium zones were identified. Beginning near surface, drilling encountered grades of up to 1,217 ppm lithium in a 3km wide strip up to 56.4m thick, extending to 8m at surface. Another interesting aspect is that Tonopah North is directly adjacent to American Lithium's TLC deposit. An initial pre-feasibility study yielded an after-tax net present value (8%) of USD 3.26 billion and an after-tax internal rate of return (IRR) of 27.5%.

    A joint venture with Tearlach Resources to develop the lithium project was announced in January. Drilling has now commenced. The first phase of core drilling was designed to confirm the discovered lithium mineralization. Tearlach plans a bulk sample of 1 to 2t for the second quarter of 2023. The objective is to accelerate the design of the pilot plant. Material from the mineralized intercepts will also be used concurrently for initial metallurgical testing.

    Andrew Pollard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Blackrock, commented, "Tonopah is widely known as one of North America's great silver districts but is rapidly gaining prominence as a world-renowned district in the lithium sector following the release of American Lithium's first PEA for its TLC project, which describes a very robust, low-cost operation, and the announcement of our recent lithium discovery nearby."


    Blackrock Silver already owns two high-grade silver and gold deposits in addition to its flagship Tonopah West project and Silver Cloud. Tonopah North, which is adjacent to American Lithium's deposit, also added another project with high lithium grades. The Company, with prominent shareholders such as First Majestic Silver and Eric Sprott, could thus become an outperformer if the price of precious metals rises in the long term. Due to the increasing demand for lithium, the Canadians also benefit from the transformation in the transport sector.


    Conflict of interest

    Pursuant to §85 of the German Securities Trading Act (WpHG), we point out that Apaton Finance GmbH as well as partners, authors or employees of Apaton Finance GmbH (hereinafter referred to as "Relevant Persons") may hold shares or other financial instruments of the aforementioned companies in the future or may bet on rising or falling prices and thus a conflict of interest may arise in the future. The Relevant Persons reserve the right to buy or sell shares or other financial instruments of the Company at any time (hereinafter each a "Transaction"). Transactions may, under certain circumstances, influence the respective price of the shares or other financial instruments of the Company.

    In addition, Apaton Finance GmbH is active in the context of the preparation and publication of the reporting in paid contractual relationships.

    For this reason, there is a concrete conflict of interest.

    The above information on existing conflicts of interest applies to all types and forms of publication used by Apaton Finance GmbH for publications on companies.

    Risk notice

    Apaton Finance GmbH offers editors, agencies and companies the opportunity to publish commentaries, interviews, summaries, news and the like on news.financial. These contents are exclusively for the information of the readers and do not represent any call to action or recommendations, neither explicitly nor implicitly they are to be understood as an assurance of possible price developments. The contents do not replace individual expert investment advice and do not constitute an offer to sell the discussed share(s) or other financial instruments, nor an invitation to buy or sell such.

    The content is expressly not a financial analysis, but a journalistic or advertising text. Readers or users who make investment decisions or carry out transactions on the basis of the information provided here do so entirely at their own risk. No contractual relationship is established between Apaton Finance GmbH and its readers or the users of its offers, as our information only refers to the company and not to the investment decision of the reader or user.

    The acquisition of financial instruments involves high risks, which can lead to the total loss of the invested capital. The information published by Apaton Finance GmbH and its authors is based on careful research. Nevertheless, no liability is assumed for financial losses or a content-related guarantee for the topicality, correctness, appropriateness and completeness of the content provided here. Please also note our Terms of use.


    Der Autor

    Stefan Feulner

    The native Franconian has more than 20 years of stock exchange experience and a broadly diversified network.
    He is passionate about analyzing a wide variety of business models and investigating new trends.

    About the author



    Related comments:

    Commented by Juliane Zielonka on November 30th, 2023 | 07:00 CET

    Growth Industries in Focus: Investors see potential in Defense Metals, BASF and Volkswagen shares

    • Mining
    • Tungsten
    • RareEarths
    • Electromobility

    Investors are looking for opportunities in growing markets. Looking at industries currently requiring rare earths - such as energy, defense, electromobility, and many more - leads to the mining sector. Someone has to supply the valuable raw materials so these industries can continue growing. Defense Metals' Wicheeda project in Canada shows promising results, particularly the increase to 6.4 million tons with a TREO content of 2.86%. BASF secures EUR 124.3 million in government funding for a green hydrogen plant in Ludwigshafen, planned in collaboration with Siemens Energy. Volkswagen is facing challenges, emphasized by VW board member Thomas Schäfer, who announced tough cuts to maintain competitiveness without closing plants. Volkswagen will have to respond to change with a more agile approach, especially as China advances in electromobility.

    Read

    Commented by Fabian Lorenz on November 29th, 2023 | 10:00 CET

    Sell Varta shares? Positive news from JinkoSolar and Manuka Resources

    • Mining
    • Gold
    • renewableenergies
    • Solar
    • Batteries

    Is the Varta share price party over again? The shares of the former German battery darling have gained around 30% in value over the past six months. But now analysts are advising to sell. JinkoSolar's management had hoped for more buying when it announced the dividend at the end of September. While this was not the case, shareholders can at least look forward to a payout next week. Manuka Resources is currently managing the balancing act between positive cash flows from the sale of gold and investments in resource expansion. The Company is sitting on another potential "treasure" with a project for battery metals. Is the share undervalued?

    Read

    Commented by Stefan Feulner on November 29th, 2023 | 09:55 CET

    Aixtron, Blackrock Silver, Coinbase - Ready for the year-end rally

    • Mining
    • Gold
    • Silver
    • crypto

    Bets are increasing that the US Federal Reserve may have at least paused to raise interest rates further. This prompted the gold price to reach a six-month high of USD 2,016 per ounce. As with its little brother silver, the signs point to further price rises in the short term. The world's largest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, even reached a new high for the year of over USD 38,000. Optimists are already anticipating prices well above the USD 50,000 mark.

    Read