Mani Alkhafaji, president of First Majestic Silver, walks through the company's Q1 2026 financial results just released, highlighting over $1B in treasury, margins of ~$52/oz on silver, and a quadrupling of dividend payouts. He frames the silver market as entering year six of a structural supply deficit (~150M oz annual gap) with no new material supply and growing demand from AI data centers, solid-state batteries, and solar. The restart of the Jerritt Canyon gold asset in Nevada is underway, and the company is running a 300km drilling program to extend mine life across its portfolio. The core message: miners are flush with cash, equities still lag the metals, and generalist investors haven't yet priced in the earnings leverage.
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Mani Alkhafaji, president of First Majestic Silver, joins host Dunigan O'Keeffe on Liberty and Finance the same morning the company released its Q1 2026 financial results — a deliberate timing choice after the operating results a month prior. Alkhafaji frames the quarter around one headline number: over a billion dollars in cash on the balance sheet, calling it "a huge milestone" for a company Keith Neumeyer founded 23 years ago to position a portfolio for exactly this kind of metal-price environment. The margin math is the centerpiece of the bull case. Alkhafaji notes that in Q1 2025, First Majestic's margin above all-in sustaining costs (AISC) was about $13/oz of silver. In Q1 2026, that margin exploded to roughly $52/oz — a fourfold expansion — because metal prices ran far ahead of the modest cost increase. …
Near-term: silver miners are showing cash generation in an elevated metal-price environment, and First Majestic's record quarter could draw attention, but silver's Q1 whipsaw ($67–$120) introduces realized-price uncertainty — the company held back inventory opportunistically, betting on better prices ahead.
Mid-term: Alkhafaji's thesis hinges on another 2–3 quarters of consistent miner profitability to trigger generalist rotation out of tech and into miners. The structural deficit narrative persists, but the catalyst is behavioral — investors need repeated proof, not a single quarter, before re-rating mining equities.
Long-term: the structural silver deficit of ~150M oz/year, now in year six, implies a durable supply/demand imbalance that higher prices alone may not quickly solve given the decade-plus lead time to build new primary silver mines. If emerging demand from AI infrastructure and solid-state batteries materializes at scale, the deficit widens further, supporting a higher secular price floor.
There is no material new silver supply hitting the market, and the supply deficit for silver has persisted for six years, with nothing to bridge that gap.
The speaker states they know supply and demand, asserts no new material supply is coming, and notes the deficit has run for 6 years with no solution in sight.
First Majestic's all-in sustaining cost margins on silver have expanded from ~$13/oz in Q1 2025 to ~$52/oz in Q1 2026.
The speaker compares margins year-over-year, attributing the expansion to higher silver prices while costs remained controlled.
AI data centers will consume astonishing amounts of silver, putting further upward pressure on silver prices.
The speaker references the conversation around AI and data centers and says the metal consumption numbers are astonishing, though no hard data is cited.
Can you start leading us through what you consider to be the biggest headline items of your operating results and the financial results that followed from that?
First Majestic now has over a billion dollars in the bank, a huge milestone. They are taking advantage of metal prices to build cash, generate significant cash flow, pay dividends, and increase dividends. Production was a pleasant surprise and the financials followed suit.
Can you explain the restart of the Jarrett mine after its shutdown?
Jerritt Canyon is a strategic asset with one of only three roasting facilities in Nevada. When they shut it down gold was at $16,700; now it's around $47-$48,000. The restart plan calls for owner-mining and a new mine plan. They shifted focus to Jerritt after the Gatos transaction completed, and put out an updated resource of 7.8 million ounces at all-time high gold prices.
What are the fundamental drivers that you believe will sustain silver demand and pricing at a new regime rather than just a spike?
Fundamentals have not changed. There's no material new supply hitting the market — this has been the supply-demand issue for 5 years, now entering year six. The last deficit was 150 million ounces, equivalent to 10 First Majestics. New industries like AI/data centers will consume astonishing amounts of metal. EV manufacturers like Samsung and Toyota are investing in solid-state batteries that will consume much more silver. There are fewer companies in the space, putting more pressure on supply and ultimately price.
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