Kootenay Releases First Results from Current Drilling at Columba

On November 19, 2025, Kootenay Silver released the first assay results from its ongoing 50,000-metre diamond drilling program at the Columba Silver Project in Mexico. The release covers results from 17 completed holes, with assays for another 10 holes pending.

The main highlight of the release is the discovery of a new "porphyry style gold mineralization" along the I Vein. Key intercepts reported are low-grade gold over broad widths, including 101 metres of 0.18 g/t gold in hole CDH-25-217 and 16 metres of 0.32 g/t gold in hole CDH-25-218. The company states this may indicate a different deposit type and plans more drilling to assess this new target.

The company also announced it has extended its agreement with Sideways Frequency LLC for marketing services for an additional three months at a cost of US$250,000.

This news release is concerning and represents a negative deviation from the company's established investment thesis. While presented as a "pleasant surprise," the discovery of low-grade gold is a narrative shift away from the project's core value proposition: high-grade silver.

• Chronological Context: Kootenay's story has been built methodically. After successful drill campaigns in late 2024 and early 2025 which consistently hit high-grade silver (e.g., 7,630 g/t Ag in May 2025), the company delivered a strong maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) in June 2025 of 54.1 million ounces of silver at a robust grade of 284 g/t. Immediately following this, they successfully raised over $20 million at $1.05 per unit to fund a 50,000-metre drill program with the explicit goal of expanding the high-grade silver resource, targeting over 100 million ounces.

• Deviation from Stated Goal: The stated objective of the current 50,000-metre program, which began in August 2025, was to "expand the size of existing resource bodies" of high-grade silver. The first results from this major program fail to report any significant silver intercepts. The data provided in the news release's assay table conspicuously omits silver grades, focusing solely on gold. The reported gold grades (e.g., 101m of 0.18 g/t) are very low and are not economically significant at this stage.

• Negative Implications: The absence of silver results in a release from a silver company whose goal is to expand a silver resource is a major red flag. It strongly suggests that the silver assays from these 17 holes were poor, and the company is attempting to spin the narrative by focusing on a new, low-grade gold anomaly. This is a classic tactic to deflect from disappointing results on the primary target. This is not in line with previous expectations and represents a miss on the program's initial objectives.

• Increased Promotional Spending: The renewal of a US$250,000 marketing contract, bringing the total recent spend to US$500,000, is another warning sign. Well-funded companies with genuinely good results often let the drill bit do the talking. Aggressive promotional spending can indicate a need to support the stock price in the face of underwhelming fundamental developments.

While the discovery of a new mineralizing system has long-term potential, the immediate impact is negative. The market has valued Kootenay as a high-grade silver story. This release undermines that story and introduces uncertainty about the potential to expand the existing silver resource, which is the primary value driver.

Kootenay Silver Inc. is a mineral exploration company focused on discovering and developing silver deposits in Mexico. Its flagship asset is the 100%-owned Columba High-Grade Silver Project located in Chihuahua State, Mexico. The project hosts a classic epithermal vein system. In June 2025, the company announced a maiden Inferred Mineral Resource Estimate of 5.92 million tonnes grading 284 g/t silver, containing 54.1 million ounces of silver. The company is currently engaged in a large-scale drill program aimed at expanding this resource.