Silver’s surge sparks windfall gains by new WA-linked ASX listing BMC Minerals

Record silver prices have generated a quick paper windfall for the backers of a sweetly-timed float that hit the Australian Securities Exchange just last month.

BMC Minerals added as much as 10 per cent to a record $3.47 in early trading on Thursday before closing 4.4 per cent up at $3.29 The company’s chess depositary interests have added 65 per cent since the silver hopeful’s share market debut on December 12.

The run has sent BMC’s market value soaring by $354m to $903m.

The Vancouver-based company is advancing plans to develop what could be Canada’s biggest silver and zinc mine over the Kudz Ze Kayah (KZK) silver-heavy polymetallic deposit in the country’s remote Yukon, with the prospect of entering production in 2029.

The ASX listing has coincided with a surge in the price of silver, the metal racing from $US49 an ounce at the launch of BMC’s $100m initial public offer in mid-November to a record $US91.55/oz on Wednesday.

Backed by Melbourne’s Victor Smorgon Group family office, BMC is majority owned by a UK company controlled by Scott Donaldson, Gary Comb and Neil Martin - the executive team behind former ASX-listed miner Jabiru Metals - and a Barclays resources fund managed by private equity investor Global Natural Resources Investments.

Over an initial nine-year mine life, BCM reckons KZK would turn out 32 million ounces of silver equivalent a year at a cost of $US12/oz.

BMC acquired KZK from Teck Resources in 2015 and has invested more than $US150m in the project, de-risking it and increasing the estimated mineral resource from 12.8 million tonnes to 27.9Mt.

Precious metals are in the midst of a blistering rally, building in 2026 on last year’s dramatic gains on ongoing geopolitical tensions and the prospect of a criminal indictment against Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell reviving worries about the US central bank’s independence.

Silver outperformed gold last year, surging 15 per cent on a short squeeze in October, persistent supply tightness and speculative buying.