Almonty Industries Inc. press release
Blackrock Silver Announces Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment for Its Tonopah West Project in Nevada; +10 Year Mine Life Fortified by 90% Increase in Indicated Mineral Resources
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Blackrock Silver Announces Updated Preliminary Economic Assessment for Its Tonopah West Project in Nevada; +10 Year Mine Life Fortified by 90% Increase in Indicated Mineral Resources
Average production of 7.1 million ounces of AgEq per year at US$17.44/oz AgEq AISC underpins After-Tax IRR of 28% and US$437 million NPV on an initial capex of US$190 million at disciplined US$2,700/oz gold and US$31/oz silver operating case; economics scale to 79% IRR and US$1.55B NPV After-Tax at the 1-year analyst consensus forecast for gold and silver prices
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - March 31, 2026) - Blackrock Silver Corp. (TSXV: BRC) (OTCQX: BKRRF) (FSE: AHZ0) ("Blackrock" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment ("PEA") for its 100%-owned Tonopah West Project ("Tonopah West" or the "Project"), in one of the largest historic silver districts in North America, located on private land in Nye and Esmeralda counties, Nevada, United States, approximately 1 kilometer (km) west-northwest of Tonopah, Nevada. All dollar figures in this news release are in United States dollars unless otherwise noted.
The PEA was prepared by Minetech, LLC ("Minetech") in accordance with Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") Definition Standards - For Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves adopted May 19, 2014 (the "CIM Definition Standards") and in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101") with an effective date of January 4, 2026.
The PEA is based on an updated mineral resource estimate prepared by RESPEC Company, LLC ("RESPEC") in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101 (the "MRE"). The effective date of the MRE is January 4, 2026.
Highlights of the Tonopah West PEA
(Ounces are troy; all tonnes metric)
Disciplined Base Case Economics: Secured with a conservative long-term silver ("Ag") price of US$31 per ounce and a gold ("Au") price of US$2,700 per ounce, the Project shows robust, after-tax net present value, discounted at 5% ("NPV5%"), of $437-million, and an after-tax internal rate of return ("IRR") of 28% over an 11.2-year mine life ("LOM") -- ensuring operational resilience through a wide range of metal price cycles;
Low Initial Capital: Calculated initial capital cost of US$190-million (including US$25-million contingency) with a base case payback period of 3.5 years;
Increased Payable Metal: Enhanced mine plan delivers 89.6 million silver equivalent ("AgEq") ounces, which equates to 79.6 million payable AgEq ounces -- a 14% increase in payable silver and 17% increase in payable gold as compared to the previous preliminary economic assessment on Tonopah West dated effective September 4, 2024 (the "Original PEA"), with a US$778-million after-tax LOM cash flow.
High-Margin, Low-Cost Operation: Anticipated All-In-Sustaining-Costs ("AISC")1 of US$17.44 per silver equivalent ounce basis providing significant margin expansion potential;
Increased Indicated AgEq Ounces: Improved indicated category mineral resource estimate comprising 2.75 million tonnes grading 454 grams per tonne ("g/t") AgEq totaling 40.2 million ounces of AgEq (216.8 g/t Ag and 2.25 g/t Au for 19.2 million ounces of silver and 199,000 ounces of gold respectively) - a 90% increase over the previous mineral resource estimate on Tonopah West dated effective August 25, 2025 (the "Previous MRE");
Large Resource with Upside Potential: Increased inferred mineral resource with 5.54 million tonnes grading 466 g/t AgEq for 83 million ounces of silver equivalent (188.5 g/t Ag and 2.62 g/t Au totaling 33.6 million ounces of silver and 467,000 ounces of gold) in an inferred mineral resource category. The vein system is open to the east, northwest and at depth;
Low-cost Geometry: Used a minimum mining width of three metres (3m), and Long Hole Stoping (cheaper costs) accounts for 88% of the tonnes mined while Cut and Fill mining accounts for 12% of the tonnes;
Excellent Metallurgical Recoveries: Realized average recoveries of 91.6% for silver and 96.3% for gold from a 3-stage crushing circuit and processing plant;
Exceptional Leverage to upside metal prices: Assessed at the 1-year analyst consensus forecast for gold and silver prices (US$66.90/oz Ag and US$4,554/oz Au), the Project delivers US$1.55B after-tax NPV5%, a 79% IRR, and a 1.4-year payback; and
Unique location and infrastructure: Located on patented mineral claims (private land) adjacent to the town of Tonopah, Nevada, the Project benefits from its location, unprecedented infrastructure and profits from a stream-lined permitting process with only State and County agencies as stakeholders.
Andrew Pollard, Blackrock's President & CEO, commented, "This updated PEA marks a significant milestone in the systematic de-risking of the Tonopah West Project. When we published our inaugural preliminary economic assessment 18-months ago, every ounce in the mine plan was inferred. Today we are presenting a high confidence Project underpinned by a substantial indicated resource base of 40.2 million silver equivalent ounces, nearly double what we reported in our Previous MRE. The increased confidence and expanded scale is evident with mine life extended 42% to 11.2 years; payable silver up 14%; payable gold improved by 17%, and after-tax NPV increased by 34% to US$437 million as compared to the Original PEA, which represents a 2.5 times return on initial capital of US$190 million. We have deliberately anchored this mine plan to a base case operating silver and gold price of US$31 and US$2,700 per ounce respectively, ensuring that Tonopah West is built for high-margin resilience across all price cycles. When framed against the current precious metal price environment, the economics of Tonopah West are standout. At the one-year analyst consensus forecast for silver price of US$66.90 per ounce and gold price of US$4,554 per ounce, the after-tax NPV shows US$1.55 billion, IRR climbs to 79%, and initial capital is returned in just 1.4 years. With permitting initiatives advancing in parallel, and an underground development decision targeted for H2-2027, management believes Tonopah West is one of the most compelling undeveloped silver assets in the Americas."
A technical report prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 on the Project which includes the PEA and the MRE will be filed with the applicable Canadian securities regulators within 45 days of this news release. The technical report will be available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca) and on the Company's website (www.blackrocksilver.com). The results of the PEA are preliminary in nature and include inferred mineral resources that are considered too speculative geologically to have economic considerations applied to them to be classified as mineral reserves. There is no certainty that the results of the PEA will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Table 1: Key Economic Parameters of the PEA
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Capital Costs
The estimated capital costs to bring Tonopah West into operation are based on utilizing local and regional personnel and contractors. An underground development contractor will be employed to establish the portal, decline, underground drill platforms and pending successful results, initial mine development. As the mine develops, the Company will transition to owner mining. A geotechnical drill program was completed in 2025 along the decline corridor. The updated ground support, including shotcrete recommendations were incorporated in the capital expenditures. Contractors will construct all surface facilities including the process plant. After an initial ramp up period, mineralized material will be processed at a rate of 657,000 tonnes per year in a conventional three-stage crushing and milling plant including a refinery which will produce saleable gold and silver doré bars.
The initial capital expenditure is estimated at US$190.4 million for the construction period which includes US$24.5 million in contingency costs. An additional US$280 million is estimated for sustaining capital, principally associated with underground mining development, additional underground mobile equipment and infrastructure, delineation drilling and accrued reclamation expense over the LOM. The Company has included US$6.3 million for delineation access and drilling.
Capital cost estimates are based on industry standards and incorporate updated 4th quarter 2025 quotes and estimates from vendors.
A processing plant with a design capacity to treat 1,800 metric tonnes per day is planned with potential to easily expand to 2,000 tonnes per day. Extraction of gold and silver will be carried out by agitated cyanide leaching to produce a pregnant leach solution. The precious metal pregnant leach solution is separated from the solid material in counter-current decantation thickeners. Process tailings will be dewatered by pressure filtration. Solid tailings waste material from pressure filtration will be transported by dump truck to a lined dry-stack tailings storage area. For this evaluation, 20% of the tails were assumed to be used for backfill in the underground mine. Precious metal values will be recovered from the pregnant solution by Merrill-Crowe zinc precipitation, followed by precipitate smelting. Precipitate smelting will produce gold and silver doré bars.
Life-of-mine metal recovery averages 91.6% for silver and 96.3% for gold. All metallurgical testing and data analysis was completed at Kappes, Cassiday and Associates in Reno, Nevada.
Table 2: Capital Costs
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Operating Costs
The minable resource is accessed via a newly developed ramp system incorporating existing vertical shafts (rehabilitated) for ventilation and secondary escapeways. The minable resource will be extracted utilizing two mining methods, Sublevel Long Hole Stoping ("LH") and Cut and Fill ("CF") mining techniques. Cemented Rock Fill ("CRF") and Hydraulic Fill are intended to be utilized as backfill. CRF media is sourced from the development waste rock, whereas Hydraulic Fill will be obtained from select tailings material. The minable resource will be transferred to surface via underground haul trucks. Mine operating, supplies and material costs were updated with vendor information 4th quarter of 2025.
The minimum mining width used in this PEA is three metres (3m), and the LH mining method accounts for 88% and CF mining accounts for 12%.
Process and general and administrative (G&A) costs have also been updated to reflect the increase in production rate and current material and supply costs.
Table 3: Operating Costs
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Table 4: LOM Operating and Financial Data
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Table 5: Sensitivity Opex and Capex Variations
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Figure 1: Sensitivity to Metal Prices - NPV, IRR and payback period
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Original PEA Metal Prices: US$1,900/t-ounce Gold, US$23.00/t-ounce Silver
Base Cash 2026 PEA Prices: US$2,700/t-ounce Gold, US$31.00/t-ounce Silver
Long-Term Metal Prices: US$3,515/t-ounce Gold, US$45.26/t-ounce Silver
1-Year Metal Prices: US$4,554/t-ounce Gold, US$66.90/t-ounce Silver
Long-Term Metal Prices are average analyst consensus commodity price forecast as of March 3, 2026
1-Year Metal Prices are average analyst consensus commodity price forecast for 2027 as of March 3, 2026
Mineral Resource Estimate
The MRE was prepared by RESPEC in accordance with the CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101. The effective date of the MRE is January 4, 2026.
Table 6: Tonopah West Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource - Effective date January 4, 2026
Cut-off
Grade (AgEq g/t) (1)Tonnes (kt)GradeContained MetalClassification(4)
Au (g/t)Ag (g/t)AgEq (g/t)(2)Au (koz)Ag (koz)AgEq (koz)(3)
1402,7502.25216.8454.319919,16740,159Indicated
1405,5382.62188.5465.846733,56082,944Inferred
1 AgEq cutoff grade is based on total mining, processing and G&A costs of US$128.6/tonne and a silver price of US$34/ounce.
2 For non-Victor areas, the AgEq grade ratio used is 108:1 based on silver and gold prices of US$35/ounce and US$3,500/ounce, respectively, and recoveries for silver and gold of 88% and 95%, respectively. For the Victor area, the Silver Equivalent grade ratio used is 102:1 based on silver and gold prices of US$35/ounce and US$3,500/ounce, respectively, and recoveries for silver and gold of 96% and 98%, respectively. AgEq Factor= (Ag Price / Au Price) x (Ag Rec / Au Rec); g AgEq/t = g Ag/t + (g Au/t / AgEq Factor).
3 Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent discrepancies between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.
4 Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources estimated will be converted into mineral reserves. The quantity and grade of reported inferred mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these inferred mineral resources as indicated mineral resources. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the Indicated mineral resources category.
The MRE encompasses the spatial areas known as Victor, DPB North, DPB South, Northwest Step Out, and the East Extension areas. The Victor area is approximately 700-metres by 350-metres while the DPB area is 700-metres by 1,100-metres. NW Step Out represents a new extension of the vein zones to west-northwest. The East Extension is an area between the DPB South area and the eastern edge of the property. The spatial areas are not considered to be significantly different geologically but have been separated for logistical purposes in future mining scenarios. Table 7 presents the mineral resources subdivided by spatial area.
Table 7: Tonopah West Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resources by Area
AreaAgEq
cutoff
g/t (1)TonnesSilver
g/tGold
g/tAgEq
g/t (2)Ounces
of SilverOunces
of GoldOunces of
Silver
Equivalent(3)Classification(4)
Victor140882,000255.22.65525.27,241,00075,00014,899,000Indicated
1401,854,000221.72.82509.213,217,000168,00030,354,000Inferred
DPB North140263,000146.11.79339.41,233,00015,0002,865,000Indicated
1401,686,000193.92.68482.910,514,000145,00026,180,000Inferred
DPB South1401,281,000213.32.12442.08,787,00087,00018,209,000Indicated
140485,00087.52.02305.51,365,00031,0004,763,000Inferred
NW Step Out140323,000183.42.03402.81,907,00021,0004,186,000Indicated
140622,000146.71.67327.02,933,00033,0006,538,000Inferred
East
Extension140
Indicated
140891,000193.03.10527.35,531,00089,00015,109,000Inferred
TOTAL2,750,000216.82.25454.319,167,000199,00040,159,000Indicated
5,538,000188.52.62465.833,560,000467,00082,944,000Inferred
1 AgEq cutoff grade is based on total mining, processing and G&A costs of US$128.6/tonne and a silver price of US$34/ounce.
2 For non-Victor areas a Silver Equivalent grade ratio used is 108:1 based on silver and gold prices of US$35/ounce and US$3,500/ounce, respectively, and recoveries for silver and gold of 88% and 95%, respectively. For the Victor area, Silver Equivalent grade ratio used is 102:1 based on silver and gold prices of US$35/ounce and US$3,500/ounce, respectively, and recoveries for silver and gold of 96% and 98%, respectively. AgEq Factor= (Ag Price / Au Price) x (Ag Rec / Au Rec); g AgEq/t = g Ag/t + (g Au/t / AgEq Factor).
3Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent discrepancies between tonnes, grade, and contained metal content.
4 Mineral resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that all or any part of the mineral resources estimated will be converted into mineral reserves. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred mineral resources in this estimation are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to define these Inferred mineral resources as Indicated mineral resources. It is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to the Indicated mineral resources category.
The NW Step Out area contains resources of 4.17 million AgEq ounces of Indicated and 6.54 million AgEq ounces in Inferred categories which are excluded from the PEA. There is significant exploration potential to expand this zone such that it could become big enough to be included in future mining studies.
To generate the MRE, RESPEC was supplied with geologic sections and levels by Blackrock. These geologic sections and levels were used to create a geological model which served as geological controls to construct three-dimensional grade domains to constrain the estimate. Silver and gold mineral resources were modelled and estimated as follows:
evaluate the drill data statistically;
create tightly constrained low-, medium- and high-grade mineral-domains using structural disks in Leapfrog software for both silver and gold on sets of cross sections spaced at 25-metre intervals;
use the mineral-domain structural disks as a basis to create three-dimensional wireframes in Leapfrog software;
code a block model to the silver and gold domains using the mineral-domain wireframes;
analyze the modelled mineralization geostatistically to aid in the establishment of estimation and classification parametres; and
interpolate grades into models comprised of 1.0(east-west) x 1.0(north-south) x 1.0(vertical)-meter blocks using the silver and gold mineral domains to explicitly constrain the grade estimations.
Drillhole assay samples were composited within the mineralized domains into 1.5-meter length composites. High-grade capping was completed on composite data and established using a statistical analysis for silver and gold. Silver was capped at 3,000 g/t, and gold was capped at 30 g/t. Specific gravity test work was completed for 374 core samples. Results indicate density can be subdivided by rock formation and mineral domain. Table 8 summarizes density values used in the block model.
Table 8: Tonopah West Density Summary
Density GroupDensity g/cm3
non-mineralized group 1 (post-mineral volcanics)2.11
non-mineralized group 22.41
non-mineralized group 32.47
mineralized 1002.46
mineralized 200 and 300 domains2.53
RESPEC utilized Inverse Distance Cubed (ID) interpolation for the estimation to obtain a localizing effect in the mid- and high-grade domains, and an Inverse Distance Squared (ID) in the low-grade domains where mineralization is more diffuse. All estimates are based on a block dimension of 1.0-meter by 1.0-meter by 1.0-meter blocks.
The original deposit has been depleted by historical mining in the Victor area. Approximately 200,000 tonnes of material were removed from the Victor resource estimate. In the DPB area, no historical mining records were documented.
A cut off for the reported mineral resource of 140 g/t AgEq was selected based an assumed mining costs for underground methods along with processing and G&A costs. At a 140 g/t AgEq cut off, the average grade of the indicated resource is 454.3 g/t AgEq and the average grade of the inferred resource is 465.8 g/t AgEq.
The MRE was prepared under the supervision of Mr. Jeffrey Bickel, CPG, an employee of RESPEC, and he has reviewed and approved the technical contents relating to the MRE in this news release.
Mr. Bickel has reviewed the sampling, assaying, and security procedures used at Tonopah West and it is his opinion that they follow industry standard procedures and are adequate for the estimation of the current MRE.