Driven by the global energy transition and geopolitical changes, the strategic value of precious metals and strategic metals is being repriced. Gold has consolidated a new platform in historically high-ranking regions. Silver has accumulated elasticity amid supply and demand shortages for six consecutive years, and copper is highly sought after as the “new oil” in the electrification era. In this context, comprehensive mining companies with a stable silver base, high incremental copper and gold landings, and a global resource layout have ushered in a historic value revaluation window. Silverway (SVM.US) is the core beneficiary of this round of market conditions.
In the field of silver production in China, Hilway occupies an important position — in terms of silver production in 2025, the company ranks third in China, with an annual output of over 7 million ounces and a market share of 6.3%. Relying on this stable basic market, the company successfully expanded its business footprint from China to South America and Central Asia through the acquisition of Adventus and Chaarat ZAAV, forming a diversified asset portfolio spanning three continents. With precise international mergers and acquisitions and solid project promotion, Hilway is accelerating its transition to a diversified global precious metals producer.
Copper and gold mine construction accelerates the South American sector to become a core growth pole
The South American market is the most determined performance growth pole for Hilway in the next 2 to 5 years. The core relies on the acquisition of Ecuadorian assets obtained from Canada's Adventus, with El Domo copper and gold mine as the core incremental and the Condor gold and silver mine as long-term reserves, forming a tiered growth system of “landing+long-term reserves under construction”.
As a flagship project under construction, the El Domo copper and gold mine has a total investment of 284 million US dollars, and the mine has a service period of 13 years. After commissioning, it is expected to produce nearly 150,000 tons of copper, about 10 tons of gold, more than 200 tons of silver, and nearly 200,000 tons of lead and zinc, which will contribute to the long-term and stable production capacity of gold, copper and silver core metals for Sylvie.
The economic performance of the project is also excellent. According to the silver price of 3,000 US dollars/ounce and the copper price of 9,700 US dollars/ton, the net present value (NPV 8%) after tax can reach 573 million US dollars, the internal rate of return is as high as 45%, the payback period is only 3 years, and the profit prospects are outstanding. After it is completed and put into operation, the overall profit level of Sylvie will be greatly increased, which is expected to reshape the market's performance valuation expectations.
Currently, the construction of the El Domo copper and gold mine is progressing steadily, and tasks such as team optimization, community work, plant selection construction, optimization of the beneficiation process, and pit peeling have been carried out in an orderly manner, and the pace of commissioning is clear. At the same time, project development will continue to drive local employment, infrastructure upgrading and comprehensive utilization of resources, inject strong impetus into local social and economic development, continue to improve the local business environment, and further reduce the risk of overseas operations.
In addition, Sylvie simultaneously holds high-quality reserve assets from the Condor gold mine in Ecuador. The project is located in the high-yield Zamora copper-gold belt with strong resource potential. Among them, the Camp and Los Cuyes deposits have 81 tons of gold and 570 tons of silver in control+inferred resources. According to the 2025 preliminary economic assessment report, the margin price is 2,600 US dollars/ounce, the net present value after tax is $522 million (NPV 5%), the internal rate of return is 29%, and the payback period is only 3 years. As a reserve project, after subsequent redevelopment, the Hilway resource reserves will continue to be increased, and the corporate value will once again increase.
Lay out Central Asia to build a global three-legged resource pattern
If the El Domo copper-gold mine in Ecuador is Hilway's strategic fulcrum for copper and gold in the Latin American market, then the Chaarat gold mine in Kyrgyzstan has established the company's core position on the high-end gold circuit in Central Asia, complements American assets across regions, and formally establishes the three-legged global industrial pattern of the company's “Latin Copper+Central Asian Gold+Domestic Base”.
In January of this year, Hilway completed the implementation of a key overseas strategy, acquired 70% of Chaarat ZAAV's shares with US$162 million in cash, and officially took over Kyrgyzstan's core gold assets. The main project is located in the core area of the Tianshan mining belt, with a mining rights area of 7 square kilometers, covering the two major gold deposits Tulkubash and Kyzyltash (Turkubash/Kyzyltash), with a total of 186 tons of proven gold resources and 644 tons of silver resources. At the same time, the company holds 27.42 square kilometers of high-quality exploration blocks in the surrounding area, including epitaxial mineralization zones such as Karator and Ishakuldy, of which the Karator gold mine alone has proven resources of 6 tons. The overall resources are abundant and the storage space is clear, providing a solid chassis for the release of the company's medium- to long-term gold production capacity.
At the equity structure level, the Kyrgyz National Mining Company holds 30% of the project interest, forming a “market-based enterprise operation+deep local government binding” cooperation model. The equity structure effectively reduces policy compliance and geographical operation risks of overseas mines, and provides a solid institutional guarantee for project development and operation.
In May, the core mining license for the Chaarat project was successfully extended for 30 years, and the validity period continued until 2062, completely breaking through policy barriers to the release of the project's medium- to long-term production capacity, and greatly improving the certainty of asset valuation.
In terms of the pace of project development, Hilway adheres to a prudent and efficient investment and construction strategy, releasing production capacity in stages, taking into account short-term cash flow return and long-term capacity expansion. The first phase of the project focuses on the development of the Tulkubash open pit mine. The overall capital expenditure is only 150 million US dollars. The investment cost is manageable and the capital intensity is extremely low. The average annual gold production after delivery is about 3.4 tons, and the mine has a service period of 4 years. It has strong short-term profitability and rapid return on capital, which can quickly contribute operating cash flow to the company and feed back the iterative development of subsequent projects.
The Kyzyltash sulphide ore developed in Phase II has larger resources and more development potential. It will rely on Phase I's mature mining facility, operation and maintenance system and territorial operation experience to achieve low-cost expansion of production. With the first and second phase of the project being implemented and put into operation, the Chaarat gold mine will gradually grow into the core gold production capacity pillar of the Sylvie Central Asia sector, forming a development pattern with regional linkage and complementary varieties with Latin America's El Domo copper and gold mines and domestic core mines, continuing to open up space for the company's medium- to long-term performance growth.
Bolivia's silver-tin asset reserves open up forward value space
In addition to the two core mines under construction in Ecuador and Central Asia, Hilway has indirectly held shares in New Pacific Metals (TSX: NUAG; NYSE-A: NEWP) and Auro Metals (TSX-V: AURO; OTCPK: AURFF) to complete the resource layout of high-quality silver mines in Bolivia, continuously supplement Latin American silver resource reserves, and build a global resource matrix covering gold, copper, and silver polymetallic categories to further strengthen its ability to resist cycles.
The core assets of New Pacific Metals are two world-class silver mines to be developed in Bolivia. Resource endowments and profit prospects are extremely scarce: one is the silver sand silver mine, containing 6,664 tons of silver, with a service period of 13 years, which is a high-grade pure silver open pit mine with outstanding mining cost advantages; the second is the Kolanga silver gold mine, which has a “upper rich silver and lower hidden gold” hierarchical structure. It is a large-scale composite precious metal deposit, with a total amount of silver equivalent metals exceeding 20,000 tons. In July 2026, the Kolanga Silver Gold Mine updated the Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) data. At $45 per ounce of silver, the NPV was 5%, the net present value of the project after tax reached US$2.7 billion, the internal rate of return was 36%, and the payback period was only 2.4 years. The project return on investment index was in the first tier of the global silver mine.
Auro Metals (formerly South American Tin) lays out high-quality mineral resources from many countries. It owns two tin mines in Bolivia and the Santa Barbara gold and copper mine in Ecuador. Among them, the Santa Barbara gold and copper mine is the core asset that has received the most attention in the market recently. The porphyrous gold-copper deposit has excellent grade and can be mined in the open. The total amount of proven and inferred resources is 235 million tons, containing 128 tons of gold and 224,000 tons of copper, and there is sufficient potential for resource growth and storage. The results of two batches of the first phase of drilling have been obtained, and 700 meters and 600 meters of continuous mining have been seen. As exploration results continue to be implemented, the Santa Barbara project's value delivery path is becoming more and more clear, and the future will usher in multiple rounds of fundamental catalytic opportunities in stages.
Restructured from a “single silver producer” to a “global leader in diversified precious metals”
From leading Chinese silver companies to two major overseas flagship projects entering the production preparation cycle, Hilway is entering a critical inflection point in the development process.
This overseas expansion coincided with a golden window period where precious metals had not changed their roots and the price center was rising systematically. Goldman Sachs is strongly bullish, using central bank demand, especially diversification of reserves in emerging markets, as a predictive anchor. The price of gold is expected to reach 4,900 US dollars/ounce by the end of 2026. Silver's structural support is just as strong. The World Silver Association made it clear that in 2026, the global silver market will face a supply shortage for the sixth year in a row, and the gap is expected to expand 15% to 46.3 million troy ounces.
The systematic rise in the gold and silver price center has created an extremely favorable pricing environment for mining companies, and Sylway also has four core barriers: a moat for low-cost domestic resources, highly flexible overseas growth assets, diversified cycle hedging advantages, and a global location layout. The company's valuation logic has been completely restructured, and the market perception is gradually shifting from a traditional “single domestic silver producer” to a “diversified and collaborative global precious metals leader”. As subsequent projects are put into operation, production capacity is released, and resources continue to be stored, the company is expected to experience a double increase in performance and valuation, and currently has extremely high medium- to long-term allocation value.