Andean Precious Metals Provides Update on 2025 Exploration Results at Golden Queen and San Bartolome

The October 16, 2025 news release provides an exploration update for the company's two main assets, Golden Queen in California and San Bartolome in Bolivia.

At Golden Queen, the Phase 3 exploration program is advancing, with 3,903 metres drilled out of a planned 8,100 metres for 2025. The company released selected assay results from the Hilltop target, including 1.94 g/t gold over 4.4 metres and 5.11 g/t gold over 1.5 metres. The program aims to extend the mine's life, with an updated NI 43-101 technical report anticipated in the first half of 2026.

At San Bartolome, the company has secured the necessary environmental and social licenses to begin exploration at several targets. This exploration is supported by a long-term ore purchase agreement with the state mining company, COMIBOL. A 5,500-metre shallow drilling program is set to begin in Q4 2025, targeting approximately 800,000 tonnes of high-grade silver ore (150-250 g/t Ag) to extend the mine life and utilize existing mill capacity. The release also highlighted promising surface sampling results from various Bolivian projects, such as an average grade of 311 g/t silver at the Turqui project.

On its own, this news is a routine, positive update. It demonstrates that the company is executing its stated exploration strategy outlined on May 1, 2025. The drill results from Golden Queen are decent and support the potential for mine life extension, but they are not game-changing intercepts that would materially alter the project's economics. Similarly, securing permits and preparing for drilling in Bolivia is a positive step-forward in leveraging the critical long-term ore supply agreement with COMIBOL.

However, the context is crucial. This positive exploration update was released just one day after a negative operational update on October 15. The October 15 release disclosed a production shortfall at Golden Queen due to ore permeability issues on the leach pad. This operational problem forced the company to walk back expectations, stating it is now "operating closer to the lower range of annual production guidance," a significant downgrade from the "trending at the top end of our guidance" statement made in July.

Therefore, the exploration news appears timed to mitigate the negative sentiment from the operational miss. While it reinforces the long-term potential of the assets, it does not address the market's more immediate concerns regarding operational execution and cost control at Golden Queen. The stock price will be more sensitive to the upcoming Q3 financial results and management's commentary on resolving the leaching issues than to these incremental exploration results. The news confirms the existing strategy but does little to de-risk the near-term operational challenges.

Andean Precious Metals is a precious metals producer with operations in the Americas. The company has two key producing assets: 1. San Bartolome (Bolivia): A silver processing facility near Potosi, Bolivia. It processes stockpiled surface material (pallas) and, crucially, third-party ore. The strategy is to secure long-term ore feed from local partners like the state-owned COMIBOL to utilize its 5,000 tpd mill capacity. 2. Golden Queen (California, USA): An open-pit, heap leach gold and silver mine. The primary focus here is on extending the mine life through near-mine exploration and optimizing operations.

The company's strategy involves maximizing cash flow from these two assets while pursuing growth through exploration and M&A in top-tier jurisdictions.