Two weeks ago, managed money futures traders (CTAs, Hedge Funds, etc.) moved to a US$1,000,000,000 net notional short position in silver. This is a relatively rare occurrence that has often closely coincided with important lows in the silver price:

The last couple times that CTAs and hedge funds moved to a net notional short position (March 2023 and October 2023) in silver we saw strong moves higher in silver over the subsequent weeks.

This time, silver bounced off double-bottom support at ~$22 but has yet to achieve escape velocity:

Silver (Daily)

A weekly close above $23.50 with an appreciable uptick in trading volume would offer strong evidence that the double-bottom at $22 is for real, and that a new uptrend has begun. 

Meanwhile, if we turn to silver producers such as First Majestic (NYSE:AG) and Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS) we can see that stock market investors are about as pessimistic as they’ve ever been on silver’s prospects. Historically, when share prices of the major miners are deeply depressed, and nobody cares about silver, it’s usually a much better time to be speculating in the precious metals sector.

First Majestic Silver (Daily)

There is one junior silver miner that is on the verge of commencing an important drill program at its flagship property in Bolivia, and very few are paying attention to the potential that exists in this company.

Cartier Silver (CSE:CFE) is focused on an area of southern Bolivia, approximately 20 kilometers south of Eloro Resources’ Iska Iska silver-polymetallic discovery. Tom Larsen is the CEO and co-founder of both Eloro and Cartier. He is also a large shareholder in both companies, regularly participating in private placement financing and making open market share purchases.

At today’s C$.25 share price on the CSE, Cartier has a tight share structure and a modest C$10 million market cap. However, the company stands to punch above its weight due to the strategic location of its project areas at the southern end of the Bolivian Tin Belt:

Cartier’s flagship Chorrillos Silver Project consists of 2 separate optioned properties (Gonalbert and Felicidad) and three large staked properties (CSB-1, CSB-2, CSB-13):

In particular, Gonalbert is Cartier’s primary focus today. The C$2 million the company is currently raising will be used for a 3,000 to 5,000 diamond drill campaign set to commence during April/May.

Cartier has no shortage of high priority drill targets, a unique combination of factors makes Gonalbert an exceptional drill-ready project in the hands of a tiny junior explorer:

  • There is a strong geochemical trend present at Gonalbert with silver-lead-zinc mineralization associated with north-northwest trending structures.
  • The presence of a small artisanal mine recovering high grade silver from a galena vein. Production reported to be 20 tonnes/day at ~200 g/t silver with concentrate grade of 1,300 g/t Silver-eq - with the 2nd option payment made to the landholder the artisanal mining operation has been shuttered.
  • 2023 discovery hole drilled by Cartier that included a 5.6 meter interval grading 137.42 g Ag/t, 7.91% Zn and 5.6% Pb (540.26 g Ag eq/t).
  • A strong IP chargeability anomaly along major NW structure from Mina Central extends 1,100 meters along strike, is ~100 meters wide and extends to a depth of at least 400 meters, the depth limit of the survey. 

Furthermore, it’s notable that the Gonalbert Property is lit up with high-grade silver channel samples in underground workings. From the Mina Central Adit, channel sampling grades include 343.2 g/t silver and 15% lead over 40 meters strike length, and 172.88 g/t silver, 9.80% lead and 12.25% zinc over 33 meters strike length.

Gonalbert has all the hallmarks of a pregnant intermediate to high-sulphidation epithermal silver-lead-zinc system. With the 2nd anniversary payment to the landholder complete, Cartier now has full access to mineralized workings at Mina Centrale and can drill from this more favored location from surface.

A tight share structure, strong insider ownership, a depressed share price (much like the rest of its silver explorer peers), and the commencement of an important phase 2 drill program at Gonalbert all combine to make Cartier an attractive opportunity today:

Cartier Silver (Daily)

Disclosure: Author owns shares of Cartier Silver Corporation at the time of publishing and may choose to buy or sell at any time without notice. Author has been compensated for marketing services by Cartier Silver Corporation


DISCLAIMER: The contents of this article have been reviewed and approved by Cartier Silver Corporation. The article is for informational purposes only and is neither a solicitation for the purchase of securities nor an offer of securities. Readers of the article are expressly cautioned to seek the advice of a registered investment advisor and other professional advisors, as applicable, regarding the appropriateness of investing in any securities or any investment strategies, including those discussed above. The companies mentioned in this article are high-risk venture stocks and not suitable for most investors. Consult company’s SEDAR profiles for important risk disclosures.

The author of this article is not a registered investment advisor and advice you to do your own due diligence with a licensed investment advisor prior to making any investment decisions. This article contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation (collectively “forward-looking statements”). Certain information contained herein constitutes “forward-looking information” under Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “expects”, “believes”, “aims to”, “plans to” or “intends to” or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results “will” occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, standard transaction risks; impact of the transaction on the parties; and risks relating to financings; regulatory approvals; foreign country operations and volatile share prices. Although management of the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements. Always thoroughly do your own due diligence and talk to a licensed investment adviser prior to making any investment decisions. Junior resource companies can easily lose 100% of their value so read company profiles on www.SEDAR.com for important risk disclosures. It’s your money and your responsibility.