Perth-based explorer Sun Silver (ASX: SS1) has returned high-grade assay results from its Maverick Springs project in Nevada that extend mineralisation beyond the company’s existing 539 million ounce silver equivalent resource, reinforcing the project’s status as one of the largest undeveloped primary silver deposits in the United States. Spot silver is trading near US$65 an ounce this week, and ASX-listed explorers advancing large, primary silver assets outside the usual Mexican and Chinese supply base are drawing renewed investor attention as a result.
Drilling Extends the High-Grade Zone
Hole MR25-235 intersected 98.3 metres at 120.3g/t silver equivalent from 173 metres depth, including a higher-grade core of 47.6 metres at 200.6g/t AgEq, with the mineralisation starting outside the boundary of the current JORC Inferred Resource. A second hole, MR26-226, returned 26.3 metres at 52.6g/t AgEq. Both intercepts also carried significant antimony, a critical mineral increasingly sought after for resilient supply chains, with individual assays up to 1.23 percent Sb recorded alongside the silver-gold mineralisation.
A Resource That Keeps Growing
Sun Silver has now upgraded the Maverick Springs mineral resource three times in under two years, most recently to 347.2 million ounces of contained silver and 2.25 million ounces of gold, equivalent to 539 million ounces of silver equivalent, an 85 percent increase on the prior estimate. Managing director Andrew Dornan said the latest results highlight the deposit’s potential for continued growth, with the mineralised system remaining open along strike and at depth.
What It Means for ASX Investors
Maverick Springs sits within Nevada’s Carlin Trend, alongside several major gold and silver operations, and its scale has drawn comparisons to other large ASX-linked silver plays such as Silver Mines’ Bowdens project in New South Wales and Investigator Silver’s Paris project in South Australia. The Silver Institute is forecasting a sixth consecutive annual global supply deficit, with industrial demand on track to exceed 720 million ounces in 2026, a backdrop that gives resource growth stories like Maverick Springs added relevance for investors tracking the broader silver sector alongside producers such as those chasing extensions at Rapid Critical Metals’ Webbs project. Sun Silver expects to release a scoping study for Maverick Springs in late 2026 or early 2027, which will offer the first detailed look at development economics.
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