Pan American Silver (TSX, NYSE: PAAS) has approved the first phase of a major expansion of its operations in Ontario, Canada, committing approximately $146 million to deepen the Bell Creek mine and unlock new gold resources at the Vogel and Samson deposits.
The project includes a 625-metre extension of the Bell Creek shaft, an 814-metre drift to access the Vogel deposit and a 1.3-km exploration drift toward the Samson deposit. The company said the initial spending is included in its 2026 guidance, which calls for $40 million to $43 million in project capital expenditures at Timmins.
Pan American’s complex in the region consists of the Timmins West and Bell Creek underground gold mines, located about 34 km apart, both of which feed the Bell Creek processing plant. The mill has a design capacity of about 5,600 tonnes per day and is currently processing roughly 4,400 tonnes daily.
“The Timmins Camp continues to demonstrate significant exploration potential and long-term growth opportunities,” the company said, highlighting recent drilling success and the potential to extend mine life through additional resource conversion and development.
Growth potential
The Bell Creek shaft extension will deepen the existing shaft from 1,080 metres to 1,705 metres below surface, with construction expected to begin in July and commissioning targeted for the first half of 2029. Exploration drilling has identified gold mineralization extending as deep as 2,600 metres below surface, supporting the case for further underground development.
The company also reported encouraging results from the Vogel deposit, which contains an estimated 61,000 oz. of indicated gold resources and 135,000 oz. inferred, while the Samson deposit hosts an estimated 118,000 oz. inferred. Pan American’s nearby Gold River deposit contains approximately 117,000 oz. indicated and 1.03 million oz. inferred gold resources.
The investment reflects a broader effort by major gold producers to extend the lives of existing operations through near-mine exploration rather than pursuing riskier greenfield developments. Pan American plans to drill about 118,000 metres across the Timmins camp in 2026, focused on resource conversion and mine-life extensions. An updated mineral reserves and resources estimate for Timmins, Vogel and Gold River is expected in the third quarter of 2026.
Pan American Silver ranks among the leading silver and gold producers in the Americas, with operations in Canada, Mexico, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina.
