Sun Silver (ASX: SS1) has added 59 million ounces silver equivalent (AgEq) to the mineral resource estimate at its Maverick Springs silver-gold project in the US.
The new estimate sits at 539Moz AgEq at 71 grams per tonne AgEq (347.2Moz silver at 45.5g/t and 2.25Moz gold at 0.30g/t), driven by drilling results and extensive historical re-assaying.
The company submitted more than 65 historical drill holes and 5,000 pulps held in storage and previously analysed for only silver and gold to American Assay Laboratories for comprehensive multi-element re-assaying, returning a 20% uplift in silver grades.
Best assays were 70 metres at 160g/t AgEq (144.5g/t silver and 0.179g/t gold), including 22.4m at 460g/t AgEq (440.5g/t silver and 0.226g/t gold); and 54.1m at 137g/t AgEq (116.7g/t silver and 0.23g/t gold), including 6.3m at 506g/t AgEq (484.8g/t silver and 0.25g/t gold).
Supply Chain Relevance
Maverick Springs’ scale, location, and rapid growth trajectory positions it at the centre of an increasingly important North American supply chain story.
The inclusion of silver on the 2025 US critical minerals list elevated its strategic relevance, drawing heightened interest from Australian federal agencies and US government stakeholders.
The designation underscores the essential role domestic silver supply will play in supporting clean energy technologies, electronics, defence applications and economic security.
The Maverick Springs system remains open in all directions, with extensional drilling delivering some of the widest intercepts along the mineral resource boundary and paving the way for further growth.
Significant Silver Asset
Managing director Andrew Dornan said the increased estimate reinforced Maverick Springs’ emergence as a strategically significant US silver asset.
“This is our third upgrade at Maverick Springs—reflecting an 85% increase to the size of the mineral resource since our ++public listing++, and highlighting it as an important undeveloped silver asset,” he said.
“This project is exceptionally positioned to support domestic US supply as we continue to expand and increase confidence in a system that remains open to the north and south.”
At the same time, China’s export controls on silver have marked a strategic pivot away from open commodity trade toward resource sovereignty and supply chain leveraging.
As global markets adjust to this shift, Mr Dornan said Maverick Springs stands out as a large-scale, US growth project “capable of contributing meaningfully to Western supply chain resilience”.
