Aya Gold & Silver Inc. (TSX: AYA) opened 2026 with the strongest quarter in its history, riding a sharply higher silver price into record revenue, earnings, and operating cash flow.
The company reported Q1 2026 revenue of $117.3 million, up 247% year over year and 56% from $75.3 million in the fourth quarter. The jump was driven by an average net realized silver equivalent price of $82.22 per ounce, up 158% year over year and 41% sequentially, alongside 1.4 million silver equivalent ounces sold.
Net income came in at $48.5 million, or $0.34 per basic share and $0.33 diluted. That compares to $18.3 million in Q4 2025 and just $6.9 million in the same quarter last year. Operating cash flow rose 107% sequentially to $70.2 million.
Cash and equivalents climbed to $171.7 million from $136.3 million at year end, while total debt fell to $98 million from $112 million following the first principal repayment on Aya’s European Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan tied to Zgounder.
Consolidated production reached 1.49 million ounces of silver equivalent, up 40% year over year but down 3% from the fourth quarter. The figure included 1.3 million ounces of silver from the Zgounder silver mine and 227,802 ounces silver equivalent from the Boumadine pyrite reclaim operation. Cash costs averaged $18.40 per silver equivalent ounce sold, an 8% improvement from the prior quarter.
An all in sustaining cost figure was not provided.
Zgounder’s output slipped 8% sequentially as severe winter weather slowed crushing operations, though mill availability held at 99% and silver recovery averaged 89.4%. A temporary crushing contractor has since been brought in, and management said production has normalized. Mining rates hit a record 4,575 tonnes per day, with cash costs at the mine of $18.64 per silver equivalent ounce sold.
The Boumadine reclaim, still in ramp up, produced 32% more ounces quarter over quarter despite heavy rainfall disrupting port logistics in northern Morocco. Steady state operations of roughly 10,000 tonnes per month are now expected in the second half.
Aya reaffirmed its 2026 guidance of 6.2 to 6.8 million ounces silver equivalent, with feasibility work at Boumadine progressing toward an updated PEA targeted for midyear.
Aya Gold last traded at $29.32 on the TSX.
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