Highlander Silver and Bear Creek Mining Combine to Create Leading Growth Company in the Silver Sector

The most recent news (December 19, 2025) announces a definitive agreement for Highlander Silver (HSLV) to acquire Bear Creek Mining (BCM) via a plan of arrangement. Highlander will issue 0.1175 shares for each Bear Creek share, resulting in HSLV shareholders owning 82% and BCM shareholders 18% of the combined entity. This transaction adds the world-class Corani silver-lead-zinc project and the producing Mercedes gold-silver mine to HSLV’s portfolio. Concurrent with the merger, Highlander announced an $18 million non-brokered private placement and a complex debt settlement with Royal Gold and Equinox Gold to clean up Bear Creek’s balance sheet.

This is a game-changing transaction that evolves Highlander from a high-grade explorer into a production-tier silver company. - Asset Diversification: The acquisition shifts the company from a single-asset focus (San Luis) to a diversified portfolio including production (Mercedes), a world-class development asset (Corani), and high-grade exploration (San Luis). - Balance Sheet Restructuring: The deal includes a critical settlement of Bear Creek’s debt and streaming obligations. Royal Gold and Equinox Gold are converting debt into cash and new royalties (NSRs) on Corani and Mercedes, removing immediate liquidity pressures. - Valuation Discrepancy Risk: A significant red flag appears in the concurrent financing terms. The news reports 50 million shares being issued at $0.36 CAD per share. Given the recent market price of $3.80 and previous financing at $3.75, this represents a massive 90% discount. If this is not a clerical error in the release, it indicates extreme dilution or a highly preferential deal for select participants that severely devalues existing equity. - Strategic Scale: By acquiring Corani, HSLV controls one of the largest primary silver deposits globally, aligning with management's stated goal of capturing a silver bull market.

Highlander Silver is a mineral explorer and now a developer/producer focused on Peru and Mexico. - San Luis Project (Ancash, Peru): Formerly the sole flagship, acquired from SSR Mining. It is a high-grade gold-silver epithermal system. Recent drilling at the "Bonita" and "Kusy" zones returned exceptional results, including 23.9m at 20.82 g/t Au. - Corani Project (Puno, Peru): The new flagship post-merger. One of the world's largest undeveloped silver-lead-zinc deposits with a completed feasibility study. - Mercedes Mine (Sonora, Mexico): A producing gold-silver mine providing immediate operational exposure.