Investigator Silver Drills 30,000m to Expand 57Moz Paris Silver Project Beyond DFS
Key Takeaways
- A fully funded ~30,000m drill program has commenced at Investigator Silver's 100%-owned Paris Silver Project in South Australia, running in parallel with permitting, detailed engineering, and financing activities.
- Recent assays delivered exceptional grades including 4m @ 5,448 g/t Ag and 1m @ 13,302 g/t Ag, confirming mineralisation extends materially beyond the current DFS mine plan.
- The Paris Mineral Resource stands at 57Moz silver total, against an Ore Reserve of 33Moz — the 24Moz gap is the primary target this drill campaign is designed to close.
- Approximately 6Moz of silver within the US$48/oz pit shell becomes margin-positive at US$60/oz silver, and successful Inferred-to-Indicated conversions would directly expand what lenders can include in project financing decisions.
- Assay results will be released progressively over coming months, with each result either adding resource ounces or upgrading confidence classification — both of which strengthen the project's development pathway.
Drilling begins as IVR targets resource growth beyond its DFS mine plan
Drilling has commenced at Investigator Silver’s 100%-owned Paris Silver Project in South Australia, with a fully funded approximately 30,000m program now underway. The campaign follows the completion of a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) in February 2026 and recent high-grade results that demonstrated meaningful expansion potential beyond the current mine plan, with permitting, detailed engineering, and financing activities advancing in parallel.
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What the drill program is targeting
Resource growth and confidence upgrades
The program has three core objectives: growing the overall silver resource, upgrading the confidence classification of existing mineralisation, and testing priority targets across the broader Paris Silver Corridor.
A key driver is the way the DFS pit was deliberately constrained smaller than the optimised shell, limiting the inclusion of Inferred material. Within the US$48/oz pit shell, there is approximately ~6Moz of silver that becomes margin-positive at US$60/oz. This program directly addresses that constraint by targeting resource upgrades outside the existing pit and near-mine growth within 15km, including at Paris East, Paris North, and regional targets such as Perseus, Nankivel, Manto, Theseus, and Hestia.
Recent assay results that triggered this campaign
Preliminary assays from recent drilling demonstrate the expansion potential the program is following up. Key intersections include:
- PPRC968: 4m @ 5,448 g/t Ag from 78m, including 1m @ 13,302 g/t Ag
- PPRC957: 2m @ 4,211 g/t Ag from 111m, including 1m @ 8,120 g/t Ag
- PPRC965: 2m @ 822 g/t Ag from 49m, including 1m @ 1,545 g/t Ag
- PPRC948: 9m @ 110 g/t Ag from 81m
These grades are exceptional for silver exploration. The numbers justify the scale of the program and signal that mineralisation extends materially beyond what the DFS mine plan already captures.
Lachlan Wallace, Managing Director, Investigator Silver
“The commencement of this 30,000 metre drilling program marks an exciting new phase for the Paris Silver Project. Recent drilling delivered some of the best silver results ever recorded at Paris and reinforced our belief that there remains substantial opportunity to grow the silver inventory beyond the current DFS mine plan. This program is specifically designed to improve our understanding of the broader mineralised system and unlock additional value around the existing resource…”
Understanding the Paris Silver Project resource base
To understand what this drilling program is chasing, it helps to know what a Mineral Resource and Ore Reserve actually mean and why the distinction matters to investors.
A Mineral Resource is an estimate of mineralisation in the ground that has reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction. Resources are classified by confidence level: Measured (highest), Indicated (moderate), and Inferred (lowest). Inferred material carries more geological uncertainty, which means banks and project financiers are generally reluctant to include it in mine planning or project funding decisions. Converting Inferred to Indicated through drilling is a direct value-creation step because it raises the confidence of the estimate to a level lenders and investors can rely on.
An Ore Reserve is a subset of the resource that has been assessed as economically mineable, factoring in mining costs, recoveries, and commodity price assumptions. The gap between the two figures tells you how much potential remains to be unlocked.
Paris Mineral Resource Estimate (25g/t Ag cut-off, 2023)
| Category | Mt | Ag g/t | Pb % | Ag Moz | Pb Kt |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Indicated | 17 | 75 | 0.5 | 41 | 85 |
| Inferred | 7.2 | 67 | 0.42 | 16 | 14 |
| Total | 24 | 73 | 0.41 | 57 | 99 |
Paris Ore Reserve Estimate (2026)
| Category | Mt | Ag g/t | Ag Moz |
|---|---|---|---|
| Proven | — | — | — |
| Probable | 12 | 88 | 33 |
| Total | 12 | 88 | 33 |
The gap between a 57Moz total resource and a 33Moz ore reserve represents the upside this drilling program is designed to pursue. The DFS pit was intentionally constrained to limit Inferred material — successful drilling that converts Inferred to Indicated would directly expand what can be counted in future mine plans and project financing discussions.
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What comes next for IVR investors
Investigator Silver has outlined a clear sequence of parallel workstreams running alongside the drill campaign. Investors should expect the following milestones as the program advances:
- Assay results to be received progressively over coming months
- Regular drilling updates to be released as results are received and interpreted
- Mining lease permitting currently underway
- Detailed engineering and financing activities advancing in parallel with drilling
The investment case here is straightforward to follow. Each assay result either adds to the resource or upgrades its confidence classification, both of which strengthen the project’s development pathway. If the resource grows, the case for project financing and eventual construction decisions becomes more compelling, putting the Paris Silver Project on an increasingly firm footing ahead of the decisions that will ultimately define its value.
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