New Pacific Metals outlines 2025 plans for operations in Bolivia

New Pacific Metals Corp. [TSX: NUAG; NYSE: NEWP] outlines its 2025 plans for its operations in Bolivia.

Andrew Williams, President and CEO, stated: “Having successfully established the significant mining potential of our flagship projects, Silver Sand and Carangas, our focus for 2025 will be on strengthening stakeholder relationships to support their sustainable advancement. At both assets, our primary objective is to advance permitting.

“We are committed to securing the permits necessary to move our projects towards construction before we undertake any new significant engineering or exploration work. This disciplined approach, which we also applied in 2024, has allowed us to maintain a strong financial position, with approximately $18 million of cash on our balance sheet and a modest burn rate. We achieved significant milestones in 2024, including updated technical studies for both projects, and remain confident that we are on the right track to unlocking our Bolivian projects and delivering two large, open-pit silver mines.”

“Our company remains committed to Bolivia, driven by patience and persistence, knowing that we are aiming to build something special in the end. With two of the world’s largest undeveloped open-pit silver projects, we have the potential to produce nearly 19 million ounces of silver annually. We believe that this production scale will be essential to the anticipated increase in global demand for silver.”

At the company’s Silver Sand project, New Pacific remains focused on securing surface rights through long-term land lease agreements with the local community in 2025. As previously disclosed, progress towards these agreements has been disrupted by a minority group of illegal artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMs) operating within our mineral rights.

In 2024, the company took legal action to protect its rights and obtained an execution order from the Mining Jurisdictional Administrative Authority (the AJAM) to restore its rights. The company continues to work with the judiciary and senior law enforcement at the departmental and national levels to enforce its mineral rights. We appreciate the ongoing collaboration with local communities as we work towards a resolution.

At the Carangas project, the company intends to migrate its existing Exploration License (EL) into an Administrative Mining Contract (AMC) under Bolivia’s 2014 Mining Code in 2025.

It is anticipated that the Carangas Project will be the first large-scale project to pursue this transition. A significant milestone was reached on July 25, 2024, with the passage of a Ministerial Resolution outlining the AMC conversion process—an achievement made possible through strong engagement by the company at the local, departmental, and federal levels. The next step in the AMC process is to complete a successful Consulta Previa, demonstrating formal community consent of the proposed development plan at the Carangas Project, followed by the AMC application.

Throughout 2025, the company intends to advance environmental, socioeconomic, and hydrological studies in collaboration with local communities and in alignment with permitting progress. Priority will go to obtaining low-cost, long-lead information required by international standards for responsible mining, such as water flow and quality measurements and meteorological data.

Higher-cost activities, including a 20,000-meter drill program (resource infill, geotechnical, hydrological, and regional exploration) and a feasibility study, will be deferred until permitting progress is more advanced.

The company remains committed to a disciplined approach to project development. With $18 million in cash as of December 31, 2024, and a baseline 2025 budget of $8 million, we are well-positioned to advance our plans with financial strength and flexibility.

New Pacific has three precious metal projects in Bolivia. The company’s flagship Silver Sand project has the potential to be developed into one of the world’s largest silver mines. The company is also advancing its high-margin silver-lead-zinc Carangas project. Additionally, a discovery drill program was completed at Silverstrike in 2022.