(Kitco News) AbraSilver Resource Corp. (TSX: ABRA; OTCQX: ABBRF) is moving its Diablillos silver-gold project in Argentina toward a final investment decision in 2026, as Chief Executive Officer John Miniotis was named Kitco Mining’s Exploration CEO of the Year during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada convention in Toronto in March 2026.
Speaking with Kitco Mining at PDAC 2026, Miniotis outlined how Diablillos has grown to approximately 350 million ounces of silver equivalent resources, with measured and indicated resources up 170% since 2020. Shares are up roughly 460% year over year, giving the company a market capitalization of about $2.8 billion, reflecting investor response to resource growth and advancing development work.
The company is targeting production of more than 13 million ounces of silver equivalent annually, including over 7 million ounces of silver and about 75,000 ounces of gold, at all-in sustaining costs under $13 per ounce of silver. “This will be not only one of the largest primary silver producers in the world,” Miniotis said. “It'll also be one of the lowest-cost primary silver mines globally.”
A definitive feasibility study is targeted for the second quarter of 2026, with environmental impact approvals expected in the coming weeks from provincial authorities in Salta and Catamarca, according to Miniotis. At the same time, AbraSilver is conducting a 15,000-meter Phase 6 drilling program in 2026 to incorporate additional resource growth into the study.
Argentina’s Large Investment Incentive Regime, known as RIGI, is central to the project’s financing outlook. Miniotis described the framework as “really an absolute game changer,” citing 30-year fiscal stability, a reduced 25% tax rate, removal of export duties, and relief from foreign exchange restrictions for qualifying projects.
In the company’s prior pre-feasibility study, completed before the latest resource update, lower taxes and export changes were estimated to add more than $400 million in value at conservative commodity price assumptions. At current spot prices, Miniotis said those benefits could rise to well over $1 billion.
AbraSilver continues to model its resource base using silver price assumptions below $25 per ounce. “For every 10% move in the gold and silver price, the economics of the project improved by over 30%,” Miniotis said, underscoring sensitivity to higher prices as the company advances toward a potential construction decision later this year.
