Kootenay Silver (TSXV: KTN) is expanding drilling at its Columba silver project in Chihuahua, Mexico, where the company is running a 60,000-meter program aimed at growing the 54.1 Moz inferred silver resource announced in June 2025. Speaking with Kitco Mining at PDAC 2026 in Toronto, President and CEO Jim McDonald said the program is focused on systematic 100-meter step-outs along wide, open-ended veins to define the limits of the known mineralized zones. “Our expectation is to be able to get this to a hundred million or maybe some multiple of that,” McDonald said.

Recent drilling results reported March 2, 2026 returned intercepts including 10 meters grading 503 g/t silver plus lead and zinc, as well as 9.88 meters grading 319 g/t silver, highlighting the scale potential of the system. McDonald said Kootenay is also advancing its La Cigarra silver project, where a preliminary economic assessment expected in mid to late Q2 2026 could mark a shift in strategy. “Assuming that we get a positive result in that PEA, we want to now be transitioning ourselves into an explorer developer as opposed to an explorer only,” he said.

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00:24 - Columba 60,000m Drill Program
01:57 - Targeting 100Moz Silver at Columba
03:18 - Path Toward a Columba PEA
04:01 - La Cigarra PEA Timeline
05:54 - Silver Price Assumptions for PEA
07:16 - Treasury Position and Warrants
07:43 - Expanding Drill Programs and Spending
10:01 - Shareholder Marketing Strategy
11:59 - Mexico Security and Operating Risk
13:52 - Key Catalysts for 2026
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Kootenay Targets 100Moz Silver at Columba Project | Jim McDonald

Kitco MINING

Kootenay Targets 100Moz Silver at Columba Project | Jim McDonald