Coeur Quits Tim: What Silver North's SNAG Shareholders Face

Silver North Resources (TSXV: SNAG, OTCQB: TARSF) just lost its most important exploration partner. Coeur Mining (TSX: CDE) will terminate the Tim property option agreement effective May 24, 2026, pulling the plug on a deal that required $3.5 million in spending over five years. The news arrived alongside the start of an airborne geophysical survey at the adjacent Veronica project – a reminder that the company still has assets but now must carry them alone.

The risk for SNAG shareholders is straightforward: the Tim project, once bankrolled by a major, now reverts to a junior explorer with an $11.6 million cash balance and a $25 million market cap. The same cash that funds Haldane drilling and the Veronica survey will also need to cover Tim if Silver North wants to advance it. The question is whether the remaining exploration programme can generate enough data to attract a new partner – or whether the company will need to dilute shareholders to keep the whole portfolio moving.

Coeur's Exit: SNAG's Tim Project Loses Partner Funding

The Tim property consists of 72 claims located 19 km northeast of Coeur's Silvertip mine in Yukon. Coeur had earned the right to an 80% stake by spending $3.5 million on exploration over five years, making $575,000 in cash payments, and completing a feasibility study within eight years. In 2024, it drilled six holes for 2,250 meters, testing the Wolf Fault and confirming a carbonate replacement deposit (CRD) system. Best intercept: 3.39 meters of 52.8 g/t silver, 0.28 g/t gold, 0.11% lead, 0.27% zinc.

Coeur's decision to terminate reflects a strategic refocus on its own Silvertip operations, not a failure of the geology. The company acknowledged that the CRD system exists and that permissive host rocks are present. Silver North CEO Jason Weber said the company retains