Silver is popping.

As of September 24, 2026, it was trading around US$63.49, after trading over US$67 earlier in the week. Yes, still volatile, but this mineral continues to build interest. The reason? A persistent supply deficit.

The Silver Institute reported that 2025 marked the fifth consecutive annual market deficit, with demand surpassing supply by a whopping ~95 million ounces. The cumulative 2021-2025 shortfall totaled almost 820 million ounces. This year doesn’t look to be any different with industry analysts projecting yet another year the market will consume more silver than it produces.

That means silver price has been supported by a blend of industrial demand, investment demand and physical tightness, rather than one single growth driver.

A fact that could bode well for juniors.

Silver trading at more than US$60 radically changes project economics. A deposit that looked “meh” at US$22-25 can suddenly get sexy at these prices. Silver doesn’t need to climb to US$100, right now it is most likely trading well above any assumptions used in many older technical studies. The real question now is which juniors can turn those improved economics into actual mines, resources, permits and cash flow.

So we went looking.

Honey Badger Silver (TUF.V): The mine that’s already mostly there

Honey Badger entered the spotlight this year after it graduated from the typical junior story of “look at our portfolio, can you see the potential?” to “we have a definite mine restart opportunity” at its 100%-owned PC Silver Mine (Prairie Creek).  The company released a PEA for PC September 17. That technical document attracted a lot of attention, including industry analyst and pundit, Peter Epstein, who carried out an in-depth examination of Honey Badger’s value proposition.

Why the excitement?

Well, the numbers are pretty phenomenal.

Honey Badger’s September 2026 PEA outlines a 22-year mine life, with average production during the first seven years of approximately 10.7 million silver-equivalent ounces annually. At the the long-term consensus case of US$50/oz silver, US$1.50/lb zinc, US$0.90/lb lead and US$5.00/lb copper, the PC Silver Mine is expected to generate an after-tax NPV8 of C$1.2 billion, a 29% IRR and 3.1-year payback.

Sexy, but we’re trading above US$60 now, how much better could it get? Well, Honey Badger’s PEA also does a calculation at the August 31, 2026 spot-pricing of US$66.41 per troy ounce. That sets the NPV8 at C$1.8 billion, giving a 38% IRR and totaling C$4.7 billion in life-of-mine free cash flow. This from a company who’s market cap hovered around C$156 million pre-PEA.

That’s a pretty big market disconnect.

What’s nice about PC Silver Mine is silver isn’t paying all the bills. This is a poly-metallic mine. And the situation is such that the PEA states those by-product credits produce an estimate of negative US$22/oz silver AISC under the US$50 silver case, falling to negative US$36/oz under the August 31 spot-price case. Of course, in reality, silver production costs can’t be negative. What this means is that the projected revenue from the other metals more than covers the cost allocated against silver production.

This definitely isn’t greenfield exploration. A considerable amount of cash has already been spent on PC Silver Mine. Honey Badger states that approximately C$65 million was invested in the underground mine, mill, surface facilities and gravel airstrip between 1978 and 1982. And over 80,000 metres of drilling and more than C$150 million of expenditures have taken place in the subsequent years. Most of the infrastructure for a functioning mine already exists. There you have it, the money and effort have already been sunk into this project, so Honey Badger can stand on the shoulders of giants instead of having to develop this asset from scratch.

So with the current state of silver pricing, PC Silver Mine makes economic sense, Honey Badger doesn’t have to wait. But before you throw down your hard-earned money, one thing needs to be made clear. A PEA is not an operational mine.

Honey Badger still has something to prove. PC Silver Mine may have a billion-dollar NPV but Honey Badger needs to put together financing to complete the necessary development work, restart an old mining complex in a remote region of the Northwest Territories and come back with the actual grades, recoveries, throughput and operating costs assumed in the study. Also, it’s not only contending with the price of silver, the junior explorer can be materially impacted by movements in zinc, lead and copper prices.

However, if Honey Badger can execute on the financing, re-produce the assumed numbers, the robust economics of the PC Silver Mine could make the junior a major monster. Of course, do your due diligence before making any investment decision.

Outcrop Silver (OCG.T): High grade, how about the scale?

Outcrop Silver arguably sits on one of the more interesting high-grade primary silver systems in the junior space. The company’s 100%-owned Santa Ana project located in northern Tolima Department approximately 15 km southeast of the town of Mariquita and 190 km from Bogota in Colombia.

The more-than 27,697 hectare project hosts six or more mapped or projected vein zones across a trend 12 kilometres wide and 30 kilometres long. The geography is big on this one, but it’s the numbers that are drawing attention.

The September 2026 updated resource at Santa Ana contains 29.9 Moz AgEq Indicated grading 518.7 g/t AgEq, including 21.7 Moz silver and 104,000 oz gold. Another 27.9 Moz AgEq sits in the Inferred category at 368.5 g/t AgEq, including 20.1 Moz silver and 98,000 oz gold. Since the 2023 maiden resource, Indicated contained ounces increased 23.5%, while Inferred ounces more than doubled.

That’s 57.8 Moz AgEq altogether. Not bad. But the “518.7 g/t AgEq” is the real eye-popper. This isn’t some low-grade high bulk snooze fest requiring a mountain of rock to be processed. Santa Ana is underlaid with a series of narrow, very high-grade silver-gold vein systems. Individual veins with an Indicated resource grade ranging from roughly 197-855 g/t AgEq.

And some of the drill results that are coming back are downright insane.

At Guadual, Outcrop reported 0.84 metres estimated true width grading 2,844 g/t AgEq, including 2,505 g/t silver and 3.84 g/t gold. Another hole hit 1.17 metres ETW at 1,889 g/t AgEq. At Aguilar, drilling returned 0.80 metres ETW at 1,405 g/t AgEq, including 0.23 metres at 2,820 g/t AgEq.

Yeah, no wonder investors are paying attention.

So grade really isn’t a question with this project. But scale is.

Potential does exist. Outcrop has now defined resources across 13 vein systems, while management says another dozen known veins still haven’t been adequately drill tested. Known structures can extend for more than two kilometres, and exploration continues across the rest of the Santa Ana property.

If these other under explored veins prove out with the same results Outcrop pulled from Guadual, the junior explorer could add even more high-grade ounces without having to dig out a whole new geological system discovery.

However, even if Outcrop shows scale, there is something to think about. A drill hole containing thousands of grams per tonne over less than a metre is a press release spectacle, but mining narrow-vein deposits successfully requires tremendous precision. Then there’s the matter of dilution. Outcrop has to be able to mine these veins without losing enough grade to seriously impact economics.

The company also still doesn’t have a feasibility study or even a PEA for that matter. So there are no established economics based on the new resource. The September MRE explicitly cautions that mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability.

If Outcrop is able to prove both scale and economics, this could be a tasty investment opportunity. Please do your due diligence before making any investment decision.

Kootenay Silver (KTN.V): Two paths to success

Kootenay Silver is a two-pronged investment case. The explorer already has a robust PEA at its 100%-owned La Cigarra project located in Chihuahua’s Parral mining district. It also has the past-producing Columba project located in Chihuahua as well.

La Cigarra’s June 2026 PEA outlines a 14-year open pit operation, producing 63.7 million payable ounces of silver over its mine life with the last five years producing an annual 6.22 million ounces.

This PEA also assumes a silver price of US$50 per ounce and projects an after-tax NPV5 of US$762.7 million, a 41% IRR and US$1.166 billion in after-tax life-of-mine free cash flow. Payback is estimated at 1.9 years. Average AISC is approximately US$18.73 per payable ounce, while 94.1% of projected revenue comes directly from silver.

That’s some serious leverage.

The PEA also ran the flag up on US$67.23 per ounce and came up with an after-tax NPV5 of US$1.295 billion and an IRR of 64%. Not so bad.

The challenge is capex. The upfront bill comes to US$332.2 million in initial capital to build La Cigarra. That’s a lot of green for a junior. Will Kootenay be able to advance, permit and eventually finance La Cigarra without destroying the value proposition for existing shareholders?

The nice thing is, Kootenay could have another wild card in its pocket – Columba. Sitting about 400 kilometres north of La Cigarra, the past-producing high-grade project hasn’t seen much modern exploration before Kootenay acquired it.

Columba’s 2025 maiden resource contains 54.1 million ounces of silver Inferred, within 5.92 million tonnes grading 284 g/t silver, plus lead and zinc. You should note that the resource was put together using only US$26 silver and encompasses 17 epithermal veins. So the economic assessments on this one are a little out of date and not registering today’s increased prices.

Kootenay is also throwing a lot of drilling at this one.

The junior explorer expanded its Columba program to 60,000 metres. As of September 16, more than 29,700 metres had been completed, with results reported from 42 holes and another 14 awaiting assays. The first half of the program is systematically stepping out from the existing resource, which remains open in multiple directions. Drilling has extended the D Vein test area to roughly 1.32 kilometres of strike and as deep as 600 metres below surface.

Earlier in the year, drill results came back including 4.56 metres estimated true width averaging 299 g/t silver at Lupe, including 0.27 metres at 1,830 g/t silver. At B2, one hole returned 2.72 metres ETW averaging 390 g/t silver, including 0.67 metres at 882 g/t.

Columba provides optionality to La Cigarra, strengthening the company’s investment thesis, but Kootenay still has work to do.

La Cigarra’s PEA is impressive, but US$332 million of initial capital is a pretty heavy target for a junior and development can’t substantially add to value dilution.

Columba needs to be successfully transitioned from inferred to indicated. Continued drilling needs to add to those ounces and eventually improve confidence in them.

Also Mexico has its own jurisdictional, permitting and regulatory considerations to deal with.

If Kootenay can establish a clear non-dilutional development plan at La Cigarra and bolster confidence in Columba, it could become a market force to be reckoned with. Remember, do your due diligence before making any investment decision.

Silver47 Exploration (AGA.V): A big American resource looking for scale

Unlike the companies we just discussed, Silver47 isn’t trying to take one project over the finish line. The junior explorer has assembled a large collection of high-grade U.S. silver and polymetallic resources. Now it needs to prove those ounces, deposits and exploration targets can add up to a much larger district-scale development story.

There is already a lot in play.

Silver47 currently reports a combined resource across its U.S. portfolio of approximately 236 million ounces AgEq Inferred grading 334 g/t AgEq, plus 10 million ounces AgEq Indicated at 333 g/t. Its principal projects are Red Mountain in Alaska, Hughes in Nevada and Mogollon in New Mexico.

Red Mountain is the driver.  The 100%-owned project is located in Alaska and contains an Inferred resource of 15.6 million tonnes grading 336 g/t AgEq, or approximately 168.6 million AgEq ounces.

This poly-metallic asset contains silver, zinc, lead, gold and copper, with additional critical-mineral potential including antimony and gallium. That’s a heavy grab bag. And the current resource numbers appear to be only scratching the surface.

Red Mountain covers approximately 620 square kilometres and a 60-kilometre mineralized trend containing more than 35 known prospects. Yet the current resource comes from just two of them: Dry Creek and West Tundra Flats.

Silver47 launched a fully funded 10,000-metre drill program at Red Mountain in June, targeting both expansion of known mineralization and new discoveries. An updated resource is targeted for H2 2026, with a PEA expected to follow.

Now we haven’t seen the assays yet, but the junior just reported an interesting development at the new Second Chance Zone. Apparently, drilling encountered 197 metres of continuous sulphide mineralization containing 74 metres of visually observed semi-massive to massive sulphides. Positive news, but sulfides don’t automatically indicate economic mineralization. Only the assays will be able to tell us what metals and what grades are at those intervals.

The Mogollon project located in New Mexico gives Silver47 a much more conventional high-grade silver-gold exploration story.

Mogollon currently contains 32.1 million ounces AgEq Inferred grading 367 g/t AgEq, consisting of approximately 12.1 Moz silver and 240,000 oz gold.

What’s really interesting about this project is that the cumulative strike length of the Mogollon’s vein system is 77 kilometres. Only about 2.4 kilometres has been systematically explored and drilled. There’s some potential exploration upside for ya. Especially since Mogollon was New Mexico’s largest historical silver-producing district before operations largely ceased during World War II.

Silver47 basically is offering investors multiple shots on goal in the United States. And at roughly C$140 million market cap, successful exploration could be a serious value add for Silver47 shareholders.

One thing to think about though.

On August 21, the company announced a proposed merger with Bunker Hill Mining in an effort to create a larger US-focused silver and critical minerals explorer. This means buying Silver47 today isn’t evaluating quite the same standalone company it was earlier this year. Sure, this merger would create a exploration powerhouse, but what does this proposed transaction mean for merger terms, dilution, capital structure, assets and strategy?

Do you due diligence!

Defiance Silver (DEF.V): High-grade silver, now put a ring on it

Defiance Silver is a lot more speculative than everyone we talked about this far. In fact, it’s almost pure speculation, but I think it’s worth a mention. Why?

The company’s flagship Zacatecas Project located in Mexico sits in one of the world’s great historical silver districts, and the company controls the majority of the historic Veta Grande vein system, including the San Acacio area. Now that’s some geographical pedigree, but something has to be done with that history. Defiance is doing just that.

The junior explorer has spent its latest drill campaign defining and extending mineralization so it can produce a new Mineral Resource Estimate, which is currently underway. This MRE could provide a substantial near-term catalyst.

San Acacio’s history is nothing to sneeze at, though.

A 2012 estimate of the San Acacio area contained 1.15 million tonnes Indicated grading 95.8 g/t silver and 0.20 g/t gold, containing 3.55 Moz silver, plus 2.89 million tonnes Inferred grading 134.1 g/t silver and 0.17 g/t gold, containing another 12.45 Moz silver. Combined, that’s roughly 16 Moz of historical contained silver.

However, Defiance no longer considers that historical estimate current. Years of subsequent drilling, mapping and sampling have changed the geological picture, and that work has yet to be incorporated into a new resource estimate.

So, instead of investors simply waiting for another batch of exploration holes, Defiance is trying to convert years of subsequent work into a modern resource that tells us what San Acacio actually looks like today.

The latest program completed 6,132 metres in 21 holes at the San Acacio resource area, designed to confirm mineralized structures laterally and vertically and validate the geological model for the upcoming MRE.

High-grade material has already been intersected.

July drilling returned grades as high as 1,470 g/t silver, while May results included 1.20 metres grading 356 g/t Ag and 2.15 g/t Au within a broader 11.02-metre interval grading 125.41 g/t Ag and 0.81 g/t Au.

So the question isn’t whether or not San Acacio has silver, its just how much Defiance can put into a current resource.

The Lucita area also adds some interesting exploration upside to Zacatecas’ overall story.

The other 4,064 metres of the latest program were allocated to targets at Lucita South, including the multi-kilometre Palenque vein system. Those assays were still pending when Defiance released its September 9 San Acacio results.

But previous drilling at Lucita has already returned some spectacular grades.

A 2021 hole returned 1.15 metres grading 1,603.9 g/t silver within 3.33 metres grading 709.04 g/t Ag. Another hole in 2022 encountered mineralization reaching 737 g/t silver. Importantly, those were the first recorded drill holes at Lucita South, making this much earlier-stage exploration than San Acacio. So potential for much more.

Defiance doesn’t need to convince investors its found silver in some geological backwater. The explorer is working in the storied Zacatecas silver district, along the Fresnillo Silver Trend. As I said, Defiance says it controls more than 65% of the Veta Grande vein, a system with centuries of historical mining with historical production of more than 150 Moz silver. Doesn’t mean the the company’s project is a given when it comes to resource, but it does set up some nice potential.

Defiance has to prove its efforts with the upcoming MRE. With a sub C$100 million market cap, if the junior is successful at establishing a robust current resource, it could have a significant impact for its shareholders.

There it is. Five silver stocks worth consideration with some crazy potential. However, I cannot stress this enough. DO YOUR DUE DILIGENCE before making any investment decisions and speak with an investment professional before changing your portfolio. Good luck to all!

 

 

–Gaalen Engen

*the author has no connection to or relationship with any of the companies named in this article.