Silver Dollar La Joya Silver Project

La Joya Silver (Cu-Au) Project

Our fully funded 2026 drilling campaign is underway, and we have developed several priority targets to test for deeper, high-grade San Martin-type mineralization outside and beneath the areas of previous drilling," said Gregory Lytle, President of Silver Dollar. "Underpinning the potential at La Joya is the large historical (2013) open-pit mineral resource estimate that was based on USD $24/oz silver, $1,200/oz gold, and $ 3/lb copper."

Silver Dollar owns a 100% interest in the La Joya silver-copper-gold property (the "Property"). Optioned from First Majestic Silver in August 2020, Silver Dollar completed the acquisition ahead of schedule in 2023 (See news release of May 25, 2023). First Majestic initially acquired the Property in 2015 as part of its acquisition of SilverCrest Mines; however, no work was carried out on the Property between 2015 and 2020.

La Joya location and area mines Figure 1: Location of the La Joya Project along with past-producing and operating mines in the area.

The Property lies approximately 75 kilometres (km) southeast of the state capital city of Durango in the southeastern portion of the Mexican Silver Belt with past-producing and operating mines, including Silver Storm's La Parrilla Mine, Industrias Penoles' Sabinas Mine, Grupo Mexico's San Martin Mine, First Majestic's Del Toro Mine, and Pan American Silver's La Colorada Mine. Access routes and regional infrastructure near the Property are well developed (Figure 1).

LJ Mineralized ComplexFigure 2: Plan view of the La Joya Mineralized Complex.

An advanced exploration-stage project, the 2 x 3-kilometre La Joya mineralized complex (Figure 2) comprises 15 mineral concessions totalling 4,646 hectares and hosts the Main Mineralized Trend (MMT), Santo Niño, and Coloradito deposits (Figure 3).

Planview of the MMT, Santo Nino and Coloradito deposits, and Brazo and Central Dyke zonesFigure 3: Plan view of the MMT, Santo Niño and Coloradito deposits.

Modern exploration activities began on the Property in 1977, with extensive drilling by previous operators: Luisman from 1977 to 1997, Boliden from 1998 to 2001, and Solid Resources in 2006. SilverCrest acquired the Property in June 2010 and initiated geological mapping and sampling, which was followed by two phases of drilling between 2010 and 2012. 

La Joya Mineral Resource Update 121612

SilverCrest then completed an updated mineral resource estimate (MRE), incorporating data from 56,849.33 metres of drilling across 173 drill holes. The MRE had an effective date of December 162012 (table above) and was based on a dataset comprising 149 SilverCrest holes (47,188.50 metres) and 24 validated or resampled Luismin holes (9,660.83 metres), including two unverified RC holes used for interpolation. SilverCrest also completed a Phase III infill drilling program of 2,698 metres across 17 holes in 2014, which is not included in the MRE below.

Historical Resource Model

Figure 4: Model of historical MRE for the MMT and Santo Niño deposits.

In December 2013, SilverCrest released a NI 43-101 Preliminary Economic Assessment Technical Report for the La Joya Property that focused on the Base Case economic estimates for a Starter Pit as the first stage of development at La Joya. The preceding mineral resource estimate conformed to the CIM Definition Standards in effect at the time; however, a Qualified Person of Silver Dollar’s has not yet completed sufficient work to reclassify this historical resource, and the Company is not treating it as a current mineral resource. Independent data verification and an assessment of the mineral resource estimation methods are required to verify the historical mineral resource estimate.

Examining La Joya drill core at the core shackFigure 5: Plan view showing the historical mines and workings outside the area of the historical MRE.

Silver Dollar has focused exploration on the underexplored Coloradito-Noria area of the Property, which included the discovery of the Brazo Zone approximately 1 km west of the Main Mineralized Trend (MMT). Two phases of core drilling have been completed (Figure 6), with the Phase I program consisting of 2,424 metres of drilling across 11 holes (See news releases of March 24, 2022, and May 4, 2022, for assay results) and the Phase II program consisting of 3,428 metres across 17 holes (See news releases of June 13, 2022August 17, 2022, and October 25, 2022 for assay results).

LaJoya DDH Plan Map 110122 LR Figure 6: Silver Dollar's Phase 1 and 2 drill hole collar locations along with historical holes.

In November 2025, Silver Dollar announced underground sample assay results and preliminary geologic modelling of existing high-grade drill results to support a shift in exploration and mining strategy from open-pit to underground development. The Company is continuing to reinterpret historical data, targeting higher-grade underground mineralization within the 2 x 3 km La Joya mineralized complex.

Priority has been given to enhanced modelling of known high-grade mineralization, detailed underground and surface mapping and sampling, and the re-logging and sampling of select historical drill core. Through these efforts, Silver Dollar is gaining a better understanding of the mineralization and its controls, which are guiding the current drilling campaign. 

New Exploration ConceptFigure 7: Preliminary model of AgEq mineralization trended to the apparent E-W structural network.

The current areas of focus are outside the historic resource areas, proximal to the sides of the intrusive bodies, and share similarities with the style of mineralization found at the nearby San Martin mine, located approximately 25 km southeast of La Joya (Figure 1).

The discovery of San Martin-type mineralization at La Joya, specifically at the Coloradito Intrusive ("El Brazo"), provides evidence supporting the concept of deeper mineralization around the main intrusions at La Joya (Figure 8).

Cross Sections ElBrazo SanMartinFigure 8: Cross-Sections of Silver Dollar's El Brazo Discovery and San Martin Mine.

Both La Joya and San Martin are situated within the Cuesta del Cura Limestone and the overlying Indidura Formation, along the broadly defined San Luis-Tepehuanes fault system, commonly referred to as the Mexican Silver Belt. These intrusions are of the same age, similar in size and composition, and in both cases, mineralization is concentrated along the contact near the outer limit of skarn alteration surrounding the intrusion. Historically, the San Martin mine reportedly contained more than 300 million ounces of silver, with mineralization extending vertically for more than 850 meters. Drilling has indicated that mineralization remains open for an additional 400 meters below known intercepts, suggesting depths well beyond 1,200 meters (approximately 4,000 feet). This makes San Martin an ideal exploration model for targeting deeper mineralization at La Joya.

LJ Sat Plan View New TargetsFigure 9: La Joya plan view showing historical mineral resource areas and 2026 exploration targets.

Drilling is in progress at La Joya, and the 3,500-metre drilling program will test several targets (Figure 9) developed to drill-test for deep San Martin-type mineralization below known mineralization or magnetic anomalies near the margins of the intrusive bodies.

Drill targets include:

Central Dyke: Delineated over a strike length of 770 m with 134 of 170 samples (156 channel and 14 rock grab samples) returning assays >100 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq); including sample #161, taken in altered carbonate sediments proximal to the intrusive, that returned 3,823 g/t AgEq.

El Brazo: Situated approximately 1 km west of La Joya's Main Mineralized Trend (MMT), is a carbonate-hosted mineralized system exhibiting characteristics consistent with the San Martin carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) model. Drill hole NOR-22-013 intersected 232 g/t AgEq over 19.35 m, including a higher-grade interval of 535 g/t AgEq (420 g/t Ag, 0.41 g/t Au, 0.05% Cu, 1.97% Pb, and 3.9 % Zn) over 5.0 m. Silver Dollar's El Brazo discovery not only confirms the presence of high-grade CRD mineralization but also highlights the potential to expand future mineral resource estimates at La Joya by including lead and zinc credits, which were notably absent from the historical calculations.

North Side: With historic hole LB96-04 intersecting results of 694 g/t AgEq over 8.6 m at a depth of 401 m, this deep high-grade mineralization identifies a "San Martin" type target, along strike and to the north of the MMT. This target is below and beyond the depth of previous drilling and remains open in all directions.

Road Zone: Located just to the northwest of the MMT, is a blind gold-rich target, originally intersected at 126 m in hole NOR-21-004 (that deviated while testing a deeper North Side target). This structure is identified by the presence of rhodonite with fine-grained pyrite-chalcopyrite that assayed 1,099 g/t AgEq over 3 m. Subsequent drilling intersected similar mineralization in holes NOR-22-010 (204 g/t AgEq over 2.09 m) and NOR-22-017 (700 g/t AgEq over 1.87 m) over a strike length of 190 m.

El Puerto Mag Anomaly: A ground magnetic anomaly that coincides with a topographic low between Coloradito and the MMT, and just west of the Road Zone. This is a blind target in a prospective structural corridor.

Silver Dollar is poised for a dynamic year at La Joya, fueled by robust funded and the strong market backdrop for gold, silver, and copper," said Greg Lytle, President of Silver Dollar. "Our exploration team is systematically advancing five priority areas that have been identified for deep San Martin-type mineralization, and we are looking forward to drill testing these targets over the coming months."

Trenching and sampling in the Central Dyke ZonePhoto 1: Anchoring the Versa drill rig on the first hole of the 2026 drilling campaign at La Joya.

Silver Dollar owns a 100% interest in the La Joya property, subject to a 2% net smelter returns royalty on all minerals produced from the Property.

Dale Moore, P.Geo., the "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument (NI) 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this news release. Dale Moore, P.Geo., is not independent of the Company in accordance with NI 43-101.

Contact

Investor Relations: 
Greg Lytle, President, CEO & Director
Direct line: 1+ (604) 839-6946

Email: 

Admin. Contact:     
Phone:  (250) 474-7999
Fax:  (250) 474-7997
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Mailing address:
179-2945 Jacklin Road, Suite 416
Victoria, BC Canada
V9B 6J9