Silver Co. Expands Drilling Campaign at Golden Triangle Project

Dolly Varden Silver Corp. (DV:TSX.V; DOLLF:OTCQX) released initial drill results and announced it is expanding its campaign at its flagship Kitsault Valley gold-silver project in British Columbia by about 10,000 meters to 55,000 meters of drilling.

Efficiencies have allowed the additional drilling within the same budget, the company said. More than 70 holes have been drilled so far this season.

"Three of the 11 reported holes have extended the high-grade Kitsol vein closer to surface, while a fourth extended the separate Torbrit Main deposit along strike to the south," wrote Research Capital Corp. analyst Stuart McDougall in an Aug. 8 research note. "On the back of this update, a fifth rig has been added to complete an additional 10,000m earmarked for new exploration targets."

McDougall kept his Speculative Buy rating on the stock with a US$1.35 per share target price.

Highlights released Tuesday from the Kitsol Vein in the Torbrit Deposit area include:

• Hole DV23-334 with 297 grams per tonne silver (g/t Ag) over 8.32 meters, including 1,090 g/t Ag over 0.90 meters at Kitsol
• Hole DV23-336 with 342 g/t Ag over 18 meters, including 2,270 g/t Ag over 0.5 meters and 995 g/t Ag with 3.6% lead (Pb) over 0.60 meters at Kitsol
• Hole DV23-337 with 496 g/t Ag over 9.57 meters, including 1,100 g/t Ag over 0.73 meters at Kitsol
• Hole DV23-348 with 334 g/t Ag over 3.5 meters, including 672 g/t Ag over 1.34 meters at Torbrit Main, south extension

The Kitsault Valley project, which includes the company's namesake silver property and a gold-silver property previously owned by Homestake Ridge, hosts an indicated resource of 34.7 million ounces silver (Moz Ag) and 166,000 ounces gold (Au), and inferred resources of 29.3 Moz Ag and 817,000 ounces Au within multiple outcropping deposits.

The Catalyst: Another Eskay Creek?

Results released earlier this year revealed the highest-grade silver assay yet received from the Dolly Varden property.

Hole DV22-329 in the Wolf Vein northeast returned 1,499 g/t Ag, 1.8% lead (Pb), and 0.46% zinc (Zn) over 15.94 meters (8.77 meters estimated true width), including 23,997 g/t Ag, 1.24% Pb, and 0.34% Zn over 0.35 meters (0.19 meters estimated true width).

"These resources are contained within multiple outcropping deposits, which makes Kitsault Valley one of the largest high-grade, undeveloped precious metal assets in all of western Canada," Newsletter writer Rick Mills wrote on May 16.

Research Capital Corp. analyst Stuart McDougall kept his Speculative Buy rating on the stock with a US$1.35 per share target price.

Bob Moriarty of 321 Gold has called Dolly Varden's assay results "absolutely staggering" and said the Golden Triangle is "one of the most important districts in the world."

"Dolly Varden has done an incredible job," Moriarty said. "Anyone interested in investing should go to their website and go through the news because the numbers are absolutely mind-bending."

Moriarty said he believed Dolly Varden could be another Eskay Creek, which has historically produced 160 Moz Ag and 3.3 Moz Au.

Most people aren't aware that 70% of the silver produced in the world is a byproduct of copper mining, he said.

Bob Moriarty of 321gold.com said he believed Dolly Varden could be another Eskay Creek, which has historically produced 160 Moz Ag and 3.3 Moz Au.

"Dolly Varden is pure silver," he said. "The number of pure silver mines in the world is small — only 30% total."

The company's stock was also upgraded to Good from Above Average by SADIF Investment Analytics, the research firm reported in a July 12 research note.

There are more deposits that Dolly Varden will go after at the project, President and Chief Executive Officer Shawn Khunkhun said.

"We've just got so much work to do," Khunkhun said in an interview on Junior Resource Investing. "And now we have the team, and through supportive shareholders like Eric Sprott, like Fidelity, like Hecla Mining, and other institutions, … we've got the money and the targets and the team to unlock the value in this project."

More Mines Needed

Silver is the most conductive element and is used to coat electrical contacts and in solar technologies. Almost all computers, cars, and appliances, and most probably the device you're reading this on, contain it.

The industry saw a 237.7-million-ounce (Moz) deficit in 2022, "most likely also an all-time record," the Silver Institute wrote in its World Silver Survey 2023.

"The combined 2021 and 2022 deficits more than offset the cumulative surpluses of the previous 11 years," the institute wrote. "We believe that 2023 will see much of a repeat of last year."

The newsletter author Mills wrote, "To satisfy future demands, it's clear that more silver mines must be developed to reverse this trend. The focus has to be on promising silver explorers and mine developers that could contribute to the future supply chain."

Ownership and Share Structure

Dolly Varden reports a number of institutional investors. Fury Gold Mines Ltd. (FURY-T) owns 23.37% of the company with 59.5 million shares, Hecla Mining Co. (HL:NYSE) owns 10.62% with 27.04 million shares, 2176423 Ontario Ltd. owns 10.07% with 25.63 million shares, Fidelity Management & Research Company LLC owns 6.68% with 17.00 million shares, and ETF Managers Group LLC owns 2.83% with 7.20 million shares.

Sprott Asset Management LP owns 2.13% with 5.44 million shares, U.S. Global Investors Inc. owns 1.28% with 3.25 million shares, Mirae Asset Global Investments owns 1.16% with 2.96 million shares, DWS Investment GmbH owns 0.29% with 0.75 million shares, and Charteris Treasury Portfolio Management owns 0.2% with 0.5 million shares.

It has 255 million shares outstanding with a market cap of CA$183.11 million. It trades in a 52-week range of CA$0.355 and CA$1.24.

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1. Dolly Varden Silver Corp. is a billboard sponsor of Streetwise Reports and pays SWR a monthly sponsorship fee between US$4,000 and US$5,000.
2. As of the date of this article, officers and/or employees of Streetwise Reports LLC (including members of their household) own securities of Dolly Varden Silver Corp.
3. Steve Sobek wrote this article for Streetwise Reports LLC and provides services to Streetwise Reports as an employee.
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