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Kootenay Silver is a Mexico silver story, with Columba in Chihuahua as the growth project and La Cigarra, also in Chihuahua, as the nearer-term study asset. Promontorio and La Negra in Sonora are secondary projects. This conversation was about expanding Columba through step-out drilling, getting the La Cigarra PEA out in Q2 2026, and showing that the recent financings are meant to fund those two tracks.

TL;DR

Jim told me Columba is still the growth engine, the drill program has been increased to 60,000 metres, and they’re still treating La Cigarra as the nearer-term economic milestone with the PEA targeted for Q2 (May sounding like the working target). He also said that Columba gets more drilling and then an updated resource before they decide whether it is ready for a PEA or still needs more ounces.

What have they done for shareholders lately?

What Jim pointed to as recent concrete progress was Columba, which has been pushed from a 50,000 metre plan to 60,000 metres, drilling was about 18,000 to nearly 20,000 metres complete at the time of the discussion, and the work was described as systematic step-out drilling around existing resource areas rather than a fresh discovery swing. On La Cigarra, he said the PEA work was already into mine design, tailings and costing. Permits are in place for further drilling there.

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

CEO McDonald referenced roughly C$40 million of treasury after the latest financings (a C$20.0 million bought-deal in June 2025 and a C$18.0 million bought-deal financing in February 2026). He said KTN is funded for the next 18 to 24 months. The spending priorities are project-driven with Columba drilling first, La Cigarra drilling and the PEA next, plus geotechnical, geohydrology and geophysics work. C$14.4 million for Columba drilling, C$3.0 million for La Cigarra drilling, C$0.6 million for the La Cigarra PEA, and additional technical work on top. Marketing will also be a real spend line, and the externally confirmed piece of that is the US$1 million, three-month contract announced in February 2026.

Upcoming catalysts

They expect more Columba drill results, completion of the 3D-IP and AMT geophysical program that the company said should take about eight weeks, and then a Columba resource update in the first part of next year. Operationlly, the biggest items are the La Cigarra PEA, which is expected to be a Q2 2026 event, followed by a planned 10,000 metre La Cigarra drill program later in the year. Corporately, there was no separate M&A or transaction catalyst promised, so the corporate read-through is mostly continued financing support and steady news flow from the two main assets.

Risks

The near-term risks are more about execution than balance-sheet risk. The La Cigarra PEA could slip if consultants need more iterations or get backed up, Columba still needs a lot of drilling before investors can know how far the current resource really scales, and La Cigarra’s water picture is not fully closed out at PEA stage because management said follow-up hydro work, water-well drilling and pump testing would come after that. Jim did not present community relations, permits for further drilling, or local security at Columba and La Cigarra as current blockers, so the main watch items are study timing, drill conversion into resource growth, and whether the next technical work answers the water question cleanly.

Kootenay Silver CEO Interview

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