This is the Investing News Network and I'm Georgia Williams. We're here at the Vancouver Resource Investing Conference and joining me today is Chris Ver, sorry, this is the Investing News Network and I'm Georgia Williams. We're here at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference and joining me today is Chris Vero, president, CEO, and director of Rio Silver, which trades on the TSXV at ticker symbol R YO and on the OTC at R Y. Thanks for joining me today, Chris. >> Hey, Georgia. Thank you for having me.


>> Um, how's the conference been so far? >> I've never seen one like it. I've been doing them for many years, and this is really uh something exceptional. >> Absolutely. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Um, can you give us a little bit of background on Rio Silver? Well, real silver's been around for quite a while and we've had some we had some phenomenal projects that are still in play. We had some probably one of the best disseminated silver projects in in Peru that's undeveloped. Um, nobody


cared about it a few years ago. Uh, and they were getting very expensive and we're not getting any younger. So, some young guys came along and they were going to give it. So, we made a very good deal with them and and we we've got we've got major milestone payments like 2 million US in milestone payments. We've got 5 million shares of their stock. We've got uh 2% royalty and guaranteed $100,000 a year uh guaranteed royal royalty payments adv advanced royalty payments. So we're big fans of


that project still. I mean it's it's phenomenal. But what we what we focused on which which is more akin to my background is is is is uh is mining. It's underground mining high-grade veins that you can just drive on these veins and just get going. And um the project we're doing now, the Maria Norte, is something I've been looking for for 25 years in Peru. And we've we've collectively spent a lot of money looking around and and and my partners who we've actually bought this project


from staked it 18 years ago anticipating the day. So um well, I could even elaborate on more. They actually sold um uh uh SilverX the majority or half of the property and now made a contiguous block at the Tangana unit which is probably SilverX's most fundamental main focus at the moment. We are immediately across the valley from them. The vein systems run right across the valley and up into our property about five major vein sets with spllays coming off all over the place. We've got to do a lot


more surface mapping. Very little mapping been done. But um there's there's a regional fault that comes across this valley. So everything on everything on our side of the valley tends to be base metals poor but precious metals rich. The precious metals didn't pay the didn't pay the the bills 20 years ago or beyond when they were working there. These are all base metals mines. Silver X was a base metals mine. They mined it for 40 or 50 years for for this the lead and zinc. Silver


was a minor issue was a component but not the major component. But of course times have changed now. The value of silver's increased. Base metals are sort of flat now. They've been flat for 10 years. the the lead and zinc. Anyways, and um so um they actually did an exploration at it was the Benvitas family, the probably the wealthiest mining family in Peru, perhaps southern South America. This is where they're they cut their teeth in this whole Wacoba basin. The old man Alfredo Benvitas, he started there. He started


there in the late 50s, early 60s. He built the recuperata mill, which is there still today, which is Silver's primary mill. Um he built mines all in around and around and he was actually working up at the Tangana sometime in the early 70s and they mined they mined there for for since the 70s until I mean the early 2000s. Um so somewhere in that time I'm not sure it was longer longer time the earlier part of that campaign they had come across the valley and they they put a drift through our Maria Norte vein or


Maria vein and you know they were looking for for bonanza based metals you know 30 40% combined lead zinc that's typically what these guys are looking for but they never found it I mean and as they they drove across everything went over the bank and the waste dump so there's a rumor we don't have any data but there's rumored to be a 400 meter drive and you can see by the size of the waste dump. It's all been reclaimed, but by the the volume material, it's just about correlates with what you what we


what the rumor stands up to the rumor. We took a we took a a sample and the guys probably took one of the better rocks. I mean, that's what prospectors do, but it was 12 ounces of silver and 2 and a half grams of gold in the dump. All that material went in the dump just so I I suppose at one time, although they're a bit touchy about it with a regulation, we have to do a complete engineering plan. That stuff's going to get carted off to the mill at some point, but we're not. Anyways, we're


just going to get back underneath that main drive where those guys were previously 40 years ago. We're going to come in underneath it with a main drive right down that vein set. These are prominent veins. They're, you know, 3/4 to a meter and a quarter, meter and a half wide. You can see them. They trace these mount these veins up and over the mountain. You know, we've got sort of 200 meters of vertical relief. And we've traced the vein over like a kilometer basically. We're focusing on 600 meters


of it right now. And um we we just drive on this vein. These are very very vertical vein structures. We just drive on the vein with a wider with a wider you know a 2 and a half meter 2 and a half meter by 2 and a half meter access tunnel and we're mining ore as we go all the time. We're always working in ore is paying the bills quite handsomely at these prices and but all the material above us becomes resource. So later on we back up and then we start dee development and all and everything above


us and that gives us more working faces. So even just the working phase of driving this this this add it right across we'll pay we we can our cash cost will be about $20 an ounce for silver because we're moving a lot more waste rock we're developing this this major access but you know but later on later on as we get going when we're strictly working on the stoopes our cost our cash cost will come down to you know 12 or $15 probably or or perhaps even 10 I mean that could it's entirely possible


so even even at the worst case scenario the It's a $20 a ton cash cost. We have $113 silver. >> Yeah, those are amazing economics. >> Yeah, I know. We can't believe it. I mean, if we had been talking about this three months ago, they all would have thought we're, you know, on glue or something. I mean, you know, seriously. So, anyway, it's all coming true. Um, obviously a fantastic conference. Um, all sorts of offers. I mean, we've we we priced we had a we had a quite a


reasonable low price financing. I've made a lot of people money. They're extremely happy and they all want to give us more. So, you know, I mean, >> good problems to have. >> These are all good problems to have. Georgia, thank you. Yeah. >> Um, you recently initiated the regulatory processes for the Maria Norte. >> Um, what are your expectations around timelines and next steps? >> Uh, it's all it's all going to come in lock step. You know, we our our group,


we're part of a a larger group in Peru, Provian Metals. We share back offices with Peruvian Metals. Our people I' we've been working together, this group working together, you know, um, for 20 25 years. um are the geologist that sold us, Jeff Reer. He's been down there 32 years. He sold Silver X, you know, the the the half of what's now the Tangana, but he'll tell everybody I didn't sell the best. We've got it. But um so anyways, that group of people um they've always got


their permits in a timely fact. We've never not gotten a community permit, not ever. Um this particular group, like I was explaining earlier, the the Benvitas family been working there all life. Alfredo Ben was he's actually a bene benevolent kind of a guy. they he looked after the people very well and um he wouldn't shut the mind down even when it became uneconomic because he didn't want to lay anybody off. He's just one of those kind of people and he was very generous with his money. Um and so we're


in a part of Peru that really appreciate mining. They they like the jobs. They've been treated very well and we don't intend to change that. So, >> right. >> Yeah. >> And you had mentioned all of this mine waste um well not even waste like actual asset. So, how much does that impact, you know, the economics of the the project looking forward? >> We're not considering it at all. >> Yeah. >> There's no um and the other part we're not considering is we can also


immediately go up on surface >> and we can mine those the veins up on surface, you know, um and then we reclaim everything. But, but that can be very lucrative as well. But, but all that stuff can offset our our main focus. So we'll consistently come out with with with good numbers, production numbers because we have all kinds of ways of backs stopping that and you know and adding on to that in in other ways. So there's a surface material, there's a waste dump material, there's there's a


number, you know, venues towards a cash flow. Yeah, >> absolutely. And I know 2026 just started, but what can investors look forward to this year from Rio Silver? >> Well, I I mean we're going to, like I explained, we're developing on ore, so we're always in ore. We're producing ore. We've been producing ore third and fourth quarter. I can't call it I can't call it ore. I can call it mineralized material because ore implies that there's been a feasibility study and there hasn't been.


This is just we're just doing what Peruvians do. We're just Peruians now. They just and they've done it for 400 years. They just drive on these high-grade veins exactly as I explained earlier and that's very much what we'll do. So, but what we'll do is once we're underground, we will set up some drill stations. they can quite efficiently drill underneath us and put those material all that stuff in in a resource category without having to drill from surface because these the Andes


mountains are just formidable and to know we'd have to drill a two to 300 meter hole to get a meter hit would be extremely expensive. We can do that from underground very cost effectively and we can you know scalp the other resource in really short order. I mean I'm I'm saying Q1 or Q2 of 20 of 27. So that will back up but but also but what can they can expect investors will see us um having concentrate sales in third fourth quarter they'll see some they'll see that I'll call the grades and and the


results of what we're doing but that I mean we'll be producing concentrates so we're in production and I'm like I explained we think our cash cost early will be $20 and they'll only they'll only get they'll only reduce they'll only get better as we start getting more efficient and getting getting opened up on the ground. Yeah. >> Yeah. Lots of milestones to look forward to. >> Yeah. Thank you Georgia. Yeah. Yeah. Well, thanks for joining me today. >> Well, thank you for having us. Yeah, it


was wonderful to be here. Yeah. Thank you. >> I'm Georgia Williams and this is Chris Verico of Real Silver.