This article is a sponsored feature from Mining.com.au partner Polymetals Resources. It is not financial advice. Talk to a registered financial expert before making investment decisions.
Precious and base metal producer Polymetals Resources (ASX:POL) has exited the “valley of death” developer stage and entered the “growth phase of stability”.
Speaking on the one-year anniversary since it resurrected the Endeavor Mine in central New South Wales, General Manager of Corporate Development Linden Sproule says, “we’ve only just started”.
“We’ve gone through that valley of death developer stage which happens as you develop these projects. We are moving out of that and into a consistent and reliable producer of silver, lead, and zinc,” he says.
“The valley of death is when you are building the project and you are drawing down on your capital before you’ve got cash flow, you raise all this money, you spend it all, you are hoping when you get out of the end of that you start making more money than you are spending.
“We are now at that stage where we are generating free cash to pay back our capital and debt on a consistent basis.”
And what a start it has been.
Endeavor Mine history
At the end of March 2023, Polymetals Resources announced its intention to acquire the mine, breathing new life into one of the state’s oldest and most lucrative mining operations which was discovered in 1974 and first developed in 1982.
The flagship project, 40km north of Cobar, was acquired in August 2024 and restarted in June 2025 with the first cargoes of silver-lead and zinc concentrates shipped in late 2025.
Boasting an historic ore production of 32 million tonnes (Mt) between 1983 and 2020, in August 2024 it had posted mineral resources of 16.3Mt including zinc (1,300,000 tonnes); lead (750,000 tonnes); and silver (41.4 million ounces).
From the hard yards to ROI
Sproule describes the past three years, in which the company has kept a relatively low profile, as “huge”.
“We’ve just been so busy transitioning from an explorer. Building a business is not easy — it doesn’t matter what industry you are in. Building a mine from a staff of five to 220 in 12 months is not easy either,” he says.
“To date, with operating and development expenses, we’ve spent probably around $140 million and now we are in a position of free cash flow, but that’s not always guaranteed.
“In this business there are things that are out of your control which is metal prices … we’ve been lucky we’ve got some tail winds on that front.
“We’ve only been producing cash flow for 12 months.
“It will show the stability of the business. We’ve got a 10-year mine plan but we’re just really landing on our feet now and starting to get some traction to run.”
Cobar community injection
Sproule says Cobar itself has benefitted from the mine’s resurrection with 60% of the workforce sourced from the local community.
“The town is thriving now. Property prices are up 30–40% in the past two years. When we first started doing due diligence on this project in 2023–24 the town was dead. Now it’s buzzing. You can’t get accommodation anywhere — a lot is happening,” he says.
“The community is happy. Cobar is a mining town — it wouldn’t exist without mining. And we are now in the good times, there’s lots of activity.
“For us, it’s how do we make the most of this opportunity that we’ve unlocked for the future? We are now at the stage where we’re really getting our skates on in terms of unlocking all of the value that this project offers.”
Silver versus gold
In February this year, respected global financial services firm JP Morgan predicted silver could gain pace with the worldwide demand for gold.
According to its research, silver prices rose by more than 130% during 2025, but JP Morgan warned cost increases could erode long-term demand, sparking greater price volatility.
Sproule believes silver has plenty of sparkle left to run on the domestic and global stage.
“Silver has been in a supply deficit for the past six years and this deficit has grown from 15% to almost 30% of the market,” he says.
“The large contributor to that has been its use in industrial applications such as solar panels, electronics, batteries … all sorts of stuff.
“It’s transitioned largely from a precious metal to its use in industrial applications. It’s the best electrical conductor out of all the metals.
“It is volatile. No one has a crystal ball. What’s good for us is we modelled this project on a US$28 [$40] silver price. Today it’s trading at nearly US$60. It reached US$120 earlier in the year, but we are not unhappy with the price.
“Its demand is largely driven by its consumption in industrial applications so it will continue to track. Gold is a precious metal store of value but also has a real use. Silver is not just a precious metal — it has dislocated from gold in some sense.”
Global demand and supply
The biggest demand for silver is coming from China and India with South America one of the biggest producers of the metal, according to Sproule.
“Silver at the moment makes up about 60% of our revenue, zinc about 30%, and then lead is about 10%. At the prices we modelled this project on, it was the opposite, so zinc was our largest revenue driver,” he says.
“We are one of the very few silver mines in the country. We are not competing with anyone — we are just competing with ourselves.
“We can produce as much silver, lead, and zinc as we want and there will still be a market for it. It’s not a niche commodity at all — it’s consumed daily globally in very large volumes, and we are just a speck in the global market.
“We are one of the topmost leveraged companies to silver in Australia.”
Under an initial 10-year life at Endeavor Mine, 5 million ounces of silver are expected to be mined over the next two years with a commitment of at least $7.5 million in annual exploration investment.
According to the company’s website, Endeavor Mine has the potential to be a long-life 20-year-plus asset in one of Australia’s “most prolific mining districts”.
Write to Christine Retschlag at Mining.com.au
Images: Polymetals Resources
