Silvercorp Acquires 70% Interest in the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash Gold Projects, Kyrgyzstan
Rhea-AI Summary
Silvercorp (TSX: SVM) agreed to acquire a 70% interest in Chaarat ZAAV for US$162 million, gaining control of the fully permitted Tulkubash/Kyzyltash gold projects and adjacent exploration licences in Kyrgyzstan. A Shareholders Agreement will convert ZAAV into a JVC with Kyrgyzaltyn holding 30% free-carried and Silvercorp as operator. The Cooperation Agreement requires staged payments of $70 million to the NIA. Development envisages Phase 1 (2026–2028, US$150M) producing ~110,000 oz/yr and Phase 2 (2028–2031, ~US$400M) targeting 190–230k oz/yr from 2031 for ~18 years.
Positive
- Acquisition secures a 70% stake in a fully permitted project for US$162 million
- JVC structure leaves Kyrgyzaltyn with a 30% free-carried interest
- Phase 1 commit of US$150M targets ~110,000 oz/year production by 2027–2028
- Silvercorp's internal MRE: Kyzyltash M+I ~3.94 Moz Au, Tulkubash M+I ~462 koz Au
Negative
- Immediate cash outflow of US$162M plus staged US$70M payments to NIA affects liquidity
- Phase 2 requires ~US$400M capital and production not expected until ~2031
- Many historical resource estimates vary; Mineral Resources "are not Mineral Reserves"
- Some payments and milestones (US$10M to NIA, other conditions) remain contingent
News Market Reaction – SVM
On the day this news was published, SVM gained 8.22%, reflecting a notable positive market reaction. Argus tracked a peak move of +3.5% during that session. Our momentum scanner triggered 9 alerts that day, indicating moderate trading interest and price volatility. This price movement added approximately $208M to the company's valuation, bringing the market cap to $2.74B at that time.
Data tracked by StockTitan Argus on the day of publication.
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
SVM gained 10.88% with peers AG and EXK also in momentum, up about 5.7% and 5.1%, supporting a broader sector upswing alongside this company-specific acquisition.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 15 | Operational update | Positive | +1.3% | Strong Q3 operational metrics with ~51% revenue growth and higher throughput. |
| Dec 22 | Project economics | Positive | -3.1% | Condor PEA showed substantial NPV and IRR but shares fell on the release. |
| Nov 12 | Management change | Neutral | +4.9% | CFO retirement with interim replacement and new corporate controller appointment. |
| Nov 7 | Dividend declaration | Positive | +1.9% | Announcement of semi-annual US$0.0125 per share dividend to shareholders. |
| Nov 6 | Earnings release | Positive | +0.7% | Q2 results with higher revenue and strong cash flow despite non-cash loss. |
Recent news generally saw positive or modestly positive price reactions, with one notable divergence on a robust project PEA.
Over the last few months, Silvercorp has reported strong financial and operating results, including Q2 Fiscal 2026 revenue of $83.3M and adjusted net income of $22.6M. A robust PEA for the Condor gold project in Ecuador outlined a base case after-tax NPV(5%) of $522M. Corporate actions included a semi-annual dividend of US$0.0125 per share and a CFO transition. Against this backdrop, today’s Kyrgyzstan gold acquisition further extends its growth and diversification strategy.
Market Pulse Summary
The stock moved +8.2% in the session following this news. A strong positive reaction aligns with the scale and strategic nature of this acquisition, which adds large gold resources and a third jurisdiction. The move followed prior upbeat operational and project updates, where most news also saw constructive price responses. Investors could reassess execution and jurisdictional risks over time, especially given planned Phase 1 and Phase 2 capex of US$150M and US$400M, respectively.
Key Terms
heap leach technical
bankable feasibility study technical
pre-feasibility study technical
jorc code technical
ni 43-101 regulatory
p. geo. technical
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
VANCOUVER, BC, Jan. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ - Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX: SVM) ("Silvercorp" or the "Company") is pleased to report that it has signed a Share Purchase Agreement with Chaarat Gold Holdings Limited ("Chaarat") and a Cooperation Agreement with the National Investment Agency under the President of the
Additionally, the Company, through its wholly-owned subsidiaries, entered into a Share Purchase and Shareholders Agreement ("Shareholders Agreement") with Kyrgyzaltyn (a wholly-owned subsidiary of the
As part of the Cooperation Agreement, NIA will receive
The JVC envisages a two-phase development plan for the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash gold projects per the Cooperation Agreement and the Shareholders Agreement:
Phase 1 Development of Tulkubash1 (2026-2028): Silvercorp will commit to invest
Phase 2 Development of Kyzyltash1 (2028-2031): approximately
Dr. Rui Feng, Silvercorp Chair and CEO said: "We are pleased to develop these Projects, the largest undeveloped gold deposits in the West Tien Shan gold belt. All interests are aligned for us to bring the Projects into production. With our 20 years of mining expertise and financial strength, we are confident Silvercorp and Chaarat's well-established local team can work with our Kyrgyz partner to advance ahead on the Projects and unlock value for all stakeholders and shareholders."
The addition of the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash gold projects to our growing portfolio aligns with our strategic objectives of diversifying and growing our asset base by adding a third jurisdiction, and will position us to benefit from gold's strong fundamentals.
Silvercorp will use its cash and short-term investments currently on hand to make the payment for the acquisition and the remaining cash on hand after the acquisition, as well as cash flow from our current operations and financing capacity, will be sufficient to advance the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash projects through the Phase 1 Development.
The Tulkubash/Kyzyltash Gold Projects
The Tulkubash/Kyzyltash Gold Projects are located approximately 490 km by road southwest of
Antimony-gold mineralization was identified by Soviet era geologists in the early 1970s. The exploration license was acquired by Apex Asia, which then formed a Joint venture with Newmont in 1997. Newmont completed an IP survey and drilled 7 holes and made a discovery. Newmont left
Since 2002, Chaarat has spent
A total of 188,000 metres ("m") of drilling has been performed on the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash Gold Projects, including 80,500 m on the Kyzyltash sulfide zone up to 2013, and 107,500 m on Tulkubash up to 2023. Since 2014, all the exploration drilling work and most engineering study work by outside consultants has been focused on defining mineral reserves/resources and creating a development plan for the oxidized gold ore from Tulkubash.
At Karator, 14 drill holes drilled in 2021 and 2023 discovered extensive oxidized gold material near surface and in 2025, approximately 9,000 m of in-fill and step out diamond drilling was completed, which could form a resource base to convert the exploration license to a mining license. Assay results for 2025 drill holes are pending.
Historical Mineral Resource Estimates1
A series of resource and reserve estimates were completed at different times for Tulkubash, Kyzyltash and Karator:
1) SRK Consulting (
2) Wardell Armstrong International (
3) GeoSystem International (
- Tulkubash: measured and indicated resource of 0.856 million oz gold at 1.36 g/t, and an inferred resource of 0.1 million oz gold at 1.37 g/t, at a 0.5 g/t cut-off grade.
- Kyzyltash: measured and indicated resource of 6.016 million oz gold at 2.57 g/t and 18.7 million oz silver at 8 g/t, and an inferred resource of 1.185 million oz gold at 2.47 g/t for and 3.22 million oz silver at 6.7 g/t, using a 1 g/t cut-off grade.
- Combining Tulkubash and Kyzyltash, total measured and indicated resource of 6.0 million oz gold at 2.56 g/t and 18.7 million oz silver at 6.3 g/t, and an inferred resource of 1.264 million oz gold at 2.49 g/t and 4.1 million oz silver at 5.9 g/tr, using a 1 g/t cut-off gold grade.
4) Tetra Tech (
5) LogiProc (
6) Dimitar Dimitrov estimated in 2024 (JORC Code standard) that Karator contains measured and indicated resource of 0.077 million oz gold at 0.96 g/t, plus inferred resource of 0.130 million oz at 0.97 g/t of oxidized materials at 0.21 g/t cut-off grade
Mineral Resource Estimates by Silvercorp
The Company has also prepared an internal mineral resource estimate in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 – Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects (''NI 43-101'') for both Tulkubash and Kyzyltash as shown in the following tables, the result for Tulkubash, the Company's estimate is comparable to above historical estimates. For Kyzyltash, Silvercorp's result is similar to the estimates by GeoSystem in grades but less in resources:
Tulkubash Pit Constrained Mineral Resource Estimate
Category | Tonnes | Au Grade | Ag Grade | Contained Au | Contained Ag |
Measured | 7.35 | 1.61 | 1.38 | 380.5 | 327.0 |
Indicated | 1.28 | 1.99 | 1.45 | 81.7 | 59.6 |
Total M+I | 8.63 | 1.67 | 1.39 | 462.2 | 386.6 |
Notes:
- The effective date of the resource is October 2025.
- The qualified person (as defined in NI 43-101) for the purposes of the MRE is Lei Xue, P. Geo., Resource Geologist for the Company
- Grade estimation completed via Inverse Distance Weight method, within block model with a parent block size of 10 m x 10m x 10 m and minimal sub-blocking of 1m.
- Mineral Resources are constrained by Resource shell defined as per
/oz gold price, applied variable recovery estimations and a cut-off grade 0.21 g/t Au.$1,800 - Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not demonstrate economic viability.
- Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
Kyzyltash Mineral Resource Estimate
Category | Tonnes (Mt) | Au Grade (g/t) | Ag Grade (g/t) | Contained Au | Contained Ag |
Measured | 3.27 | 2.58 | 7.94 | 271.2 | 836.0 |
Indicated | 47.04 | 2.43 | 8.96 | 3,670.7 | 13,548.8 |
Total M+I | 50.31 | 2.44 | 8.89 | 3,941.9 | 14,384.8 |
Inferred | 21.36 | 2.30 | 8.66 | 1,576.8 | 5,947.9 |
Notes:
- The effective date of the reported Resource is October 2025.
- The qualified person (as defined in NI 43-101) for the purposes of the MRE is Lei Xue, P. Geo., Resource Geologist for the Company
- Grade estimation completed via Inverse Distance Weight method, within block model with a parent block size of 10 m x 10 m x 10 m and minimal sub-blocking of 1m.
- Applied cutoff grade of 1.0 g/t Au.
- Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and do not demonstrate economic viability.
- Numbers may not sum due to rounding.
Metallurgical Studies1
Extensive metallurgical studies were also completed on the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash Gold Projects.
Tulkubash Oxide Material Recovery Tests
The metallurgical studies, done on Tulkubash oxide material are systemized in four metallurgical reports, including: 1) RDI Metallurgical Report, October 2014, 2) Wardell Armstrong Metallurgical Report, 2017, which tested 23 composite samples, 3) McClelland Laboratories Report, July 2018, bottle roll tests on 44 oxide and transitional composite samples, and 4) ALS Report, 2019, tested cyanide leachability of 22 composite and fully characterized the Tulkubash material as amendable to heap leach and CIL options.
The Heap Leaching process flow sheet is well tested and confirmed as a viable processing option for Tulkubash oxide material, with gold recovery of 74 to
Kyzyltash Sulfide Material Recovery Test1
Several metallurgical studies addressing Kyzyltash refractory gold mineralization were conducted, including 1) Resource Development Inc (RDI), 2004 & 2005, 2) Mintek (
Based on these studies, the most economically-effective and highest recovery flowsheet would be flotation of sulfide, then processing the sulfide concentrate using BIOX, and followed by CIL to produce gold doré with a total gold recovery rate of 82 to
Pre-Feasibilty and Feasibility Studies
2016 NERIN study1:
China NERIN Co. Ltd issued two reports for the development of Tulkubash and Kyzyltash, the "Nerin Chinese FS Report October 2015" and the "Nerin Chinese FS Report Exec Summary and Optimisation May 2016", which are the equivalent of Preliminary Economic Assessment plus level studies. The NERIN reports contemplated constructing Tulkubash and Kyzyltash simultaneously as standalone projects at an estimated capital cost of over
The Tulkubash oxidized ore would be mined via an open pit, with gold being recovered using a heap leaching operation with a gold recovery rate of
The Kyzyltash sulphide deposit would be mined by the open pit and underground mining methods, with gold being recovered through flotation, BIOX and CIL leaching plants with a total gold recovery rate of
Tulkubash Open Pit/Heap Leach Operation
Since 2014, all the exploration drilling work and most engineering study work by outside consultants have been focused on defining mineral reserves/resources and development of a plan for the oxidized gold ore from the Tulkubash field.
Bankable Feasibility Study by Tetra Tech (
The 2018 Bankable Feasibility study by Tetra Tech (
Bankable Feasibility Study by LogiProc in 20211.
The 2021 Bankable Feasibility study for Tulkubash by LogiProc (
Local Adaptation and Expertization by Qualified Person in
Local adaptation and legalisation is required in
So far, the detailed designs for the heap leach, open pit mine and waste dump, and related environmental work related to the 2018 Tetra Tech Bankable Feasibility study have completed "Local Adaptation" and "Expertization". However, the detailed designs for the 2021 LogiProc study, such as the heap leach design by Ausenco, have not completed a "Local Adaptation" and Expertization".
Plan for Next Steps
Upon completion of the acquisition, the Company will 1) engage the independent engineering firm to update the 2021 feasibility study report in accordance with NI 43-101 on the Tulkubash Open Pit/Heap Leach Operation, 2) pursue Local Adaptation and Expertization of the 2021 LogiProc Bankable Feasibility Study to Kyrgyz National Standards and obtain other necessary permits for construction based on the most recent designs, 3) local team building, and 4) engage experienced mining and construction contractors for the development of the Tulkubash Open Pit/Heap Leach Operation. Meanwhile, Silvercorp will engage independent engineering firms to work on a preliminary economic assessment study for Kyzyltash and to carry out more definitive drilling in preparation for a feasibility study.
Qualified Person:
This news release has been reviewed and approved by Guoliang Ma, P. Geo., Manager of Exploration and Resource of the Company who is the designated qualified person for the Company.
About Silvercorp
Silvercorp is a Canadian mining company producing silver, gold, lead, and zinc with a long history of profitability and growth potential. The Company's strategy is to create shareholder value by 1) focusing on generating free cash flow from long life mines; 2) organic growth through extensive drilling for discovery; 3) ongoing merger and acquisition efforts to unlock value; and 4) long term commitment to responsible mining and ESG. For more information, please visit our website at www.silvercorpmetals.com.
For further information
Silvercorp Metals Inc.
Lon Shaver
President
Phone: (604) 669-9397
Toll Free 1(888) 224-1881
Email: investor@silvercorp.ca
Website: www.silvercorpmetals.com
Notes
- As at the date of this news release, a qualified person has not completed sufficient work to classify this historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves in accordance with NI 43-101 and Silvercorp is not treating the historical estimates as current mineral resources or mineral reserves. In order to verify the historical estimates, the Company needs to engage a qualified person to review the historical data, review any work completed on the Projects since the date of the estimate and complete a new technical report. Silvercorp views this historical data as an indicator of the potential size and grade of the mineralized deposits, and this data is relevant to Company's future plans with respect to the Projects.
CAUTIONARY DISCLAIMER - FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release does not constitute, and is not, an offer or solicitation of an offer of securities.
This news release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws relating to, among other things, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated benefits of the Transaction, the strategic rationale for the Transaction, the timing of payments in connection with the Transaction, anticipated receipt of approvals, extension of mining licenses and milestones, the ability of the parties to satisfy the other conditions to the closing of the Transaction and the anticipated timing for closing of the Transaction, the development plan for the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash gold projects, the Company's plan for next steps, and any anticipated benefits to shareholder value or financial or operational performance that may be derived therefrom. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information may in some cases be identified by words such as "will", "anticipates", "expects", "intends" and similar expressions suggesting future events or future performance.
We caution that all forward-looking information is inherently subject to change and uncertainty and that actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. A number of risks, uncertainties and other factors, including fluctuating commodity prices; completion and timing of the transactions described above; satisfaction of the conditions to the transactions; extension of mining licenses and milestones recent market events and condition; estimation of mineral resources, mineral reserves and mineralization and metal recovery; interpretations and assumptions of mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates; exploration and development programs; climate change; economic factors affecting the Company; timing, estimated amount, capital and operating expenditures and economic returns of future production; integration of future acquisitions into existing operations; permits and licences for mining and exploration in
CAUTIONARY NOTE TO US INVESTORS
This news release has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the securities laws in effect in
Australian standards and Canadian standards each differ significantly from the disclosure requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission, and mineral reserve and resource information included in this news release may not be comparable to similar information disclosed by
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SOURCE Silvercorp Metals Inc.
FAQ
What did Silvercorp (SVM) pay to acquire the 70% interest in the Tulkubash/Kyzyltash projects?
What ownership and governance will Silvercorp (SVM) have after closing the Kyrgyzstan acquisition?
When will the Tulkubash first phase produce gold and how much does Phase 1 target for Silvercorp (SVM)?
How large are the Silvercorp (SVM) mineral resource estimates for Kyzyltash and Tulkubash?
What are the capital requirements and timeline for Phase 2 at the Kyzyltash deposit under Silvercorp (SVM)?
How will Silvercorp (SVM) fund the acquisition and initial development costs for the Kyrgyz projects?
Are any payments to the Kyrgyz side conditional after the Silvercorp (SVM) transaction?