History
MAG Silver spent years proving up and building its 44% share of the Juanicipio mine in Mexico, funded by repeated share sales, before Pan American Silver acquired it in September 2025.
2011-2014: Resources, a proxy fight and Juanicipio
MAG Silver's main asset was a 44% stake in Minera Juanicipio, a joint venture in Zacatecas, Mexico, in which Fresnillo plc held 56% and acted as operator. It also owned the Cinco de Mayo project in Chihuahua. In late 2011 and early 2012 the company filed technical reports on Juanicipio. The RPA report, covering a December 2011 update on a 100% basis, estimated Indicated resources of 6.2 million tonnes at 728 grams per tonne of silver and Inferred resources of 7.1 million tonnes at 373 grams per tonne. It stated that the property had no mineral reserves. An earlier report noted that Fresnillo's and MAG's own estimates had differed in silver grade and been the subject of a technical debate. In July 2012 an AMC Mining Consultants report laid out a preliminary mining concept and economics for the project.
In May 2012 drilling at Cinco de Mayo's Bridge Zone hit significant massive sulphides in 12 of 15 step-out holes. MAG lifted its 2012 budget there by $2 million to $5.5 million and went from one drill rig to four. To pay for this and for Juanicipio permitting and underground development, MAG announced a private placement in August 2012 at C$9.40 a share, first described as about C$25 million. It closed in September at C$33.1 million, with new shares diluting existing holders. At the same time MAG settled a proxy fight with a shareholder group holding about 9.76% of its shares. Two of the group's nominees joined the board slate, and founder director R. Michael Jones did not stand for re-election. In November 2012 MAG filed a technical report on the Upper Manto Deposit in Chihuahua.
The record then goes quiet. In 2014 MAG announced an updated Juanicipio resource estimate, backed by an RPA technical report in June, though the figures are not in the record. It followed with a C$75 million bought deal, in which underwriters buy the shares up front.
2016-2020: Construction and fresh funding
In March 2016 MAG closed a US$65 million bought deal, again funded by new shares. Nothing further appears until February 2020, when MAG and Fresnillo gave a Juanicipio update as construction got under way.
The pandemic year brought more fundraising. MAG announced a $60 million private placement on April 27, 2020 and closed it three days later. In June it set up a US$50 million at-the-market offering, which lets a company sell shares into the market over time, and the company later recorded it as completed in September. Shares on issue rose from about 86.5 million at the end of 2019 to about 94.8 million at the end of 2020.
In September 2020 MAG agreed to acquire 100% of the Deer Trail project in Utah, its first asset outside Mexico, with drilling to start in October.
2021-2023: New projects and first production
In November 2021 MAG signed a US$40 million revolving credit facility, the first debt facility seen in the record. In March 2022 it agreed to acquire Gatling Exploration, which is probably how it came to hold the Larder Project in Ontario, though the beats do not say so. Shares on issue were about 97.8 million at the end of 2021 and about 103.0 million at the end of 2022.
In January 2023 MAG sold shares twice. It sold 2,735,000 shares at US$14.65 in a bought deal worth about US$40 million, and 843,000 shares at C$23.75 in a flow-through placement for C$20 million, which was tied to Larder. Proceeds were for exploration at Juanicipio and Deer Trail, for Juanicipio capital needs not in the initial estimates, and for general purposes. The same month MAG reported a new zone, Carissa, at Deer Trail. In June 2023 Juanicipio achieved commercial production.
2024-2025: Dividends and sale to Pan American
In March 2024 MAG filed a new AMC technical report on Juanicipio, and in May it announced a normal course issuer bid, a program to buy back its own shares. Shares on issue were about 103.4 million at the end of 2024. In March 2025 it announced a dividend policy and its first dividend.
On May 12, 2025 Pan American Silver announced an agreement to acquire MAG, under an arrangement agreement dated May 11. Mexico's competition regulator, COFECE, approved the deal in August. Pan American completed the acquisition on September 4, 2025, ending MAG's life as an independent company. The price and mix of cash and shares are not in the record.
Written from the 26 story beats below (2011 to 4 Sept 2025), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.