La Cigarra is 20 km of a 40 km long trend that produced half billion ounces in the southern 20 km

Kootenay Silver Inc. (KTN.TSX.V) is a Canadian and Mexican based silver exploration company actively engaged in the development of two major silver projects in Mexico, including the La Cigarra Silver project in Chihuahua, and the Promontorio and La Negra silver discovery in Sonora, Mexico. The company has a leading growth profile highlighted by one of the largest junior owned silver asset bases in Mexico and a carried interest to commercial production with a world-leading mining partner.

Natasha Frakes: Hi. I’m Natasha Frakes, and you’re watching Market One Minute. I’m here with Jim McDonald, who is the President, CEO and Director of Kootenay Silver. Jim, thanks so much for being here.

Jim McDonald: Thank you Natasha.

Natasha Frakes: Tell us about Kootenay Silver.

Jim McDonald: Well, Kootenay Silver is a junior exploration company focused on silver discoveries, focused on finding silver and developing silver assets with our primary focus in Mexico. And we’re a public company obviously, on the TSX Venture Exchange. We have 140 million ounces of silver equivalent in resources established already on two primary projects. We’ve made over the years four different discoveries. One we sold early on, and two of them we have the resource established on, and there’s a third one with resource yet to be done.

Natasha Frakes: So what sets Kootenay Silver apart from others like it?

Jim McDonald: Well I think we’d have to look at Kootenay Silver’s ability through this last down market in the industry to be able to continue financing, working, doing exploration and making discoveries, right through that tough market. And the reason for that is our people and the assets that we’ve been able to either discover or acquire during that time. We’ve got a really good exploration team on the ground. They’ve made these discoveries. We’ve got a really well-rounded management team and board who have experience right from grass roots discoveries through to development, building, and operating of mines.

Natasha Frakes: So why are you focused in Mexico?

Jim McDonald: Well, Mexico because we’re focused on silver exploration and discovery and the development of silver deposits. And Mexico is the premier, number one, silver producing district/country, in the world. So, if you’re looking for silver, you should be in Mexico. In addition to that, Mexico has got a long history — over 500 years of mining history. So, they have really great infrastructure in terms of ability to mine, people who know how to mine, human infrastructure, as well as the physical infrastructure, roads, railroads, power lines, etc. And an established mining law, established ownership laws, so very clear how to operate in Mexico. And the discovery rate there is fantastic — especially over the last 10 to 15 years — and I expect that to continue into the next decade.

Natasha Frakes: What excites you most about Kootenay’s projects right now?

Jim McDonald: Well, I think the prospect of adding ounces and making new discoveries is really good on our projects. We’ve got our La Cigarra project in Parral, which is Chihuahua state. We own 100 per cent of that project. We’re very excited about it. It’s in one of the premier silver producing mining districts of all of Mexico. They’ve produced over 800 million ounces in this district, and in fact, just 20 kilometres to the South of us, the Santa Barbara, San Francisco del Oro areas produced over half a billion ounces of silver there, and it’s right on trend with our project. We have about 20 kilometres of 40-kilometre-long trend, where the Southern 20K has had half a billion ounces produced on it. We’re sitting now with a relatively new discovery with 51 million ounces of measured indicated silver resource, plus another 11 and a half million ounces in the inferred category. Deposit’s wide open, we’ve identified a number of other structures, some of which have never even been drilled, and we’ve been able to follow these structures Southward towards that old district right into the valley cover, gravel cover, and when you go across the valley and re-emerge on that trend, you’re into that old district. So, we can see, the potential here is quite fantastic. We’re very excited about it and we’ve got a great program of drilling lined up this year to start to show some of that potential.

Natasha Frakes: So, what are some of the other key value drivers for 2018?

Jim McDonald: Well, there’s the work that we’re doing on La Cigarra, obviously. That’s going to be the big one for us. We’ve got 100 per cent of that project. We’re driving that forward pretty aggressively. Other value drivers are going to be the work our partners are doing. Our other major project is the Promontorio La Negra property in Sonora state, next door. And we’ve got an agreement there that carries us all the way production if it goes to fruition, with silver leading producer Pan American Silver — they’re taking care of that project. And then we’ve got a number of other option deals on our properties with partners who are spending money. So, any one of those with new discoveries can really drive our value in addition to what we’re doing at La Cigarra.

Natasha Frakes: Sounds like the prospects are good. Jim, thank you so much for being here.

Jim McDonald: Thank you Natasha.

This story was provided by Market One Media Group for commercial purposes.