Advance Metals is an Australian-listed silver and gold explorer with four projects, three in Mexico (Yoquivo, Gavilanes, and Guadalupe y Calvo) and two in Victoria, Australia (Myrtleford and Beaufort). The interview covers company history, ownership, financing, and a project-by-project update with CEO Dr Adam McKinnon, focused mainly on the recent Yoquivo resource upgrade and ongoing drilling at Gavilanes.

TL;DR

Advance now holds 116 million ounces of silver equivalent across its three Mexican projects. Yoquivo’s inferred resource was just doubled to 33 million ounces AgEq (from a 17 million ounce foreign estimate) after the company re-assayed historic core that a previous owner, Golden Minerals, had never sampled. Drilling is now underway at Gavilanes (fourth hole in progress of 15 to 18 planned), with a maiden JORC resource upgrade targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026. The company had C$7 million in the treasury as of last quarter and expects to need to raise capital again within about six months. McKinnon said he personally holds 9.5 million shares, making him the seventh largest shareholder, and confirmed there are no related-party royalties on any project.

What have they done for shareholders lately?

The company completed a maiden JORC resource estimate at Yoquivo, taking it from a 17 million ounce to a 33 million ounce inferred JORC resource, driven largely by re-assaying roughly 5,500 metres of historic core that had never been sampled by the previous owner. That re-assay work returned up to 850 grams per tonne silver equivalent in some intervals and led management to reinterpret the deposit from a narrow, high-grade vein system toward a broader, potentially bulk-mineable zone, with one hole showing 144 metres of contiguous silver mineralisation. At Gavilanes, drilling started in the past two months, with early holes returning intercepts including 34 metres at 220 grams per tonne silver and a 55 metre zone carrying copper, silver, and gold, which the company says points to a poly-metallic system beneath the high-grade silver. In Victoria, the company completed a program of 30 diamond holes at Myrtleford’s Happy Valley area since February of last year, including a recent hole of 2 metres at 130 grams per tonne gold, and has also moved to acquire 100% of the Myrtleford and Beaufort projects (up from an 80% earning arrangement) for an additional C$1 million payment.

How much money do they have and what are they spending it on?

As of the last quarter, the company had C$7 million in cash. McKinnon said cash burn has been high because the company has been drilling continuously, including in two countries at once, since February of last year, and he expects Advance will need to return to the market within the next six months. The last capital raise was in early October 2025, a C$13 million private placement with associated broker and performance options. McKinnon said the company prefers straightforward equity raises over other financing structures. On spending, Gavilanes drilling (about 4,500 metres) is budgeted at roughly US$1.2 to US$1.3 million (about A$2 million), Yoquivo follow-up work is being scoped depending on cash position, and total marketing spend runs about A$500,000 per year. He noted the company has no head office and runs a low G&A structure since it operates from decentralized sites in Mexico and Victoria. He said existing listed options (exercisable at 5 cents, not exercisable until 2029) and unlisted options from the last raise (struck at 15 cents, currently out of the money) are not expected to bring in meaningful additional capital in the near term.

Upcoming catalysts

Technical and operational: continued drill results from Gavilanes over the next three months (holes 5 through 15 to 18), a JORC resource upgrade for Gavilanes targeted for the fourth quarter of 2026, metallurgical test work at Yoquivo aimed at bulk-mining grade recoveries in the 40 to 50 gram per tonne range, a conceptual pit shell for Yoquivo’s Pertenencia zone expected within about a month, and further Yoquivo news flow (including a possible upgrade toward indicated resource classification) expected in roughly two months. Corporate: management is negotiating access agreements with two ejidos and the municipality at Guadalupe y Calvo, with a hoped-for resolution by year end 2026 that would allow drilling to start early next year; a capital raise is expected within about six months; and the company said it continues to evaluate a potential dual listing in Canada, without a firm timeline.

Risks

McKinnon flagged silver price volatility and weak market sentiment as the main near-term concern, despite silver trading near historic highs in absolute terms. He also pointed to permitting risk in Mexico, noting that open-pit mining had faced an informal barrier to approval in past years, though he said several open pits have been approved in the last six months and he is more confident on that front now than a year ago. At Guadalupe y Calvo specifically, getting sign-off from two ejidos and the municipality (rather than the single ejido required at the other two Mexican projects) was described as more complex and time-consuming. On the Victoria gold project, McKinnon called the nuggety nature of the gold mineralisation the most geologically difficult target in the portfolio, saying grade variability has made resource definition harder there than at the Mexican silver projects. He also acknowledged the company still needs to raise capital again within roughly six months, which carries the usual dilution risk common to pre-revenue explorers.

Advance Metals CEO Interview

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