History
Born from Apex Silver's 2009 bankruptcy, Golden Minerals raised repeatedly at falling prices, sold off its Mexican and Argentine assets, was delisted in 2024, and survives on small outside funding.
2006-2009: Apex Silver and the San Cristobal collapse
The company began as Apex Silver Mines, which owned 65% of the San Cristobal silver-zinc-lead project in Bolivia after selling 35% to Sumitomo Corporation in September 2006 for $224 million cash plus production-linked payments. Trouble followed. In March 2007 Apex said it had used the wrong method to value its metals derivative contracts (agreements tied to the mine's future output), forcing a restatement. In August 2008 it disclosed a second valuation error, this time for ignoring its own credit risk.
San Cristobal needed more cash, and Sumitomo supplied it. A $50 million convertible loan in August 2008 was raised by $25 million in November and increased again in December, each step threatening to shrink Apex's ownership. On 18 December 2008 Apex proposed selling its whole stake to Sumitomo for $22.5 million, tied to restructuring its $290 million of convertible notes in Chapter 11. NYSE Alternext warned of delisting, and Apex filed for bankruptcy on 13 January 2009, with Sumitomo providing up to $35 million of financing during the case.
The court confirmed the plan on 4 March 2009. The San Cristobal sale price rose to $27.5 million cash plus $2.5 million of reimbursements and assumed liabilities. Old shareholders received nothing. Assets moved to a new Delaware company, Golden Minerals Company, which gave about 3 million new shares to the noteholders, who also shared about $45 million in cash. It emerged on 30 March 2009 and began trading over the counter in April.
2010-2011: Rebuilding on silver
The new company set about building a silver business. In January 2010 Sentient Global Resources Fund took a 19.9% stake in a private placement, and Golden Minerals bought Hochschild Mining's 35% of the El Quevar silver project in Salta, Argentina, for 400,000 shares plus warrants, taking it to full ownership. The New York Stock Exchange cleared its shares for listing in March.
Funding came from selling shares. In March 2010 it raised about $31 million at $8.50, and in October about $75 million at $18.50 as silver prices rallied. Sentient bought a further 1,190,031 shares at $18.50 for about $22 million. Year-end shares rose from 15.1 million in 2010 to 35.7 million in 2011.
In June 2011 it agreed to acquire ECU Silver Mining, adding mines and projects in the Velardeña district of Durango, Mexico. ECU holders were to receive 0.05 Golden shares plus a tiny cash amount per share, and authorized shares were to double from 50 million to 100 million. The deal closed on 9 September 2011, and in October Sentient bought 4,118,150 shares at $7.44 for about $30.6 million.
2012-2018: Falling prices and a leased plant
A 2012 resource update showed Velardeña grades about 50% higher than earlier estimates. Even so, the share price kept sliding. In September 2012 the company raised about $31.6 million at $5.75 a unit, and in September 2014 only about $3.2 million at $0.86.
In July 2015 it leased the Velardeña oxide processing plant to Hecla Mining's Mexican subsidiary. In October it borrowed $5 million from Sentient through a convertible note. In February 2016 Sentient converted about $4.0 million of it into 23,355,000 shares at roughly $0.17, and in May the company raised $4.0 million at $0.50. Shares on issue climbed from 53.3 million at the end of 2015 to 89.0 million at the end of 2016. In August 2017 Hecla paid $1.0 million upfront, plus a further $1.0 million purchase, for an option to extend its lease through 2020. The record for 2018 is quiet.
2019-2020: Failed sale and a cash squeeze
In June 2019 Golden Minerals agreed to sell the Velardeña properties, including the Rodeo and Santa Maria concessions, to Compañía Minera Autlán for $22 million. In July it raised $2.25 million at $0.26 a share and repriced earlier warrants. In August NYSE American warned that stockholders' equity was below the listing minimum. In September the Autlán sale ended after due diligence. Autlán's $1.5 million deposit then had to be repaid by instalments, with interest at 12% on the unpaid balance.
In March 2020 Magellan Gold's option on Santa Maria expired, leaving the company with about $2.2 million cash and cutting exploration. Sentient, then about 38% owner, lent $1 million in April. Barrick Gold gained an option to earn 70% of El Quevar by spending $10 million over eight years. The company raised $3.0 million at $0.20 in April and about $7.5 million at $0.42 in July. Hecla ended its lease early in July. A Santa Maria deal with Fabled was agreed in July and December. Shares on issue rose to 157.5 million by the end of 2020.
2021-2023: A brief restart
The record is quiet for 2021 and 2022, though the share count fell from 162.8 million to 6.8 million at the end of 2022; the beats do not explain this. In June 2023 NYSE American again flagged low equity, while the board approved restarting mining at Velardeña with about $0.5 million of funding. In November it sold stock and warrants at $0.70 a share. In December it sold Santa Maria to TSM for $1.5 million cash plus VAT, keeping a capped 1.5% royalty.
2024-2026: Selling up
In March 2024 Barrick abandoned its El Quevar option after spending over $6 million and drilling five holes. Mining at Velardeña had stopped, and in May the company agreed to sell the remaining mines, plants and equipment for $5.5 million. In July NYSE American found it failed all three equity tests, with equity at $0.6 million. Still owed $2.8 million from the Velardeña sale and short of cash, it agreed in September to sell Silex Argentina, holder of El Quevar, to Butte Energy for $3.5 million. That closed on 30 October, leaving two minor exploration properties and about $3.6 million cash, with a warning that it might need to sell itself or its assets, or cease operations.
On 11 December 2024 NYSE American moved to delist the stock, which was to trade on the OTC Pink Market. On 20 May 2026 the company agreed to sell 3,740,000 shares to Streamline Metals Capital for about $856,000 at $0.229 a share, subject to Toronto Stock Exchange approval.
Written from the 58 story beats below (2006 to 20 May 2026), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.