Apollo’s Calico Fits Long-Term Strategic US Economic & Defense Policy

On January 14th, the United States government followed up on its November 2025 announcement adding silver to the U.S. List of Critical Minerals with an official Proclamation by President Trump which has the potential to significantly impact market supply – demand dynamics for silver, barite, and zinc for the next decade and beyond.  Before I outline the specific implications of the Proclamation for Calico (Apollo Silver’s flagship US-based project) we need to understand just what is in the Proclamation and why it can have much more impact than traditional trade measures. I am not in the habit of quoting from US government documents, but the impact of this Proclamation promises to be unique – so please bear with me for a moment. The Proclamation, made under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, notes the criticality of processed critical minerals and their derivative products (PCMDPs) for America’s “economic welfare and national security” and states the following: “the United States is too reliant on foreign sources of PCMDPs” and “lacks access to a sufficiently secure and reliable supply chain to PCMDPs” The US “is experiencing unsustainable price volatility with respect to critical mineral markets and is suffering from weakened domestic manufacturing and production capacity of PCMDPs.” “… the limited capacity of the domestic critical minerals industry, combined with foreign dominance, has exposed the Department of War (DoW) to significant supply chain risks… underscoring the urgent need to diversify sources and build resilient domestic capabilities” “…these circumstances are a significant national security vulnerability that could be exploited by foreign actors” The Proclamation goes on to direct that the US will “negotiate agreements with foreign nations to ensure the United States has adequate critical mineral supplies and to mitigate the supply chain vulnerabilities as quickly as possible.”  Beyond this policy edict, the impact of the Proclamation, working in concert with the November 2025 re-classification of silver as a critical mineral, is expected to propel the US to reduce reliance on foreign-processed materials by prioritizing domestic production (as in the Calico project) and not just of silver but also of barite and zinc. The Calico Project hosts one of the largest undeveloped primary silver resources in the United States. The current Mineral Resource Estimate comprises 125 million ounces of silver in 55 million tonnes at an average grade of 71 g/t silver in the Measured and Indicated categories, and 58 million ounces of silver in 25 million tonnes at an average grade of 71 g/t silver in the Inferred category. In addition, the Project contains significant barite and zinc mineralization, with an Indicated Resource of 2.7 million tonnes of barite and 354 million pounds of zinc in 36 million tonnes at average grades of 7.4% barite and 0.45% zinc, and an Inferred Resource of 0.65 million tonnes of barite and 258 million pounds of zinc in 17 million tonnes at average grades of 3.9% barite and 0.71% zinc.[1] The Trump administration has, in effect, pulled the emergency alarm and Calico is one of a number of domestic PCMDP projects which has the potential to act as an irreplaceable first responder for what has now been designated as a national economic and security crisis.  But the implications for Calico go far beyond its obvious potential role as a first responder.  Calico has the potential to become a long-term strategic asset to the economic and military security of the United States, rather than simply a short-term trade story.  This is the case primarily due to these drivers: Calico not only being one of the largest undeveloped primary silver projects in the US but also being a significant potential source of barite and zinc, as per the recent Mineral Resource Estimate “MRE” noted in our September 4, 2025 news release. Calico’s location in a stable jurisdiction (San Bernardino County, California) with a deep history of historic mining as well as ~90 current mining operations in the county. The structural supply-demand deficit in the silver market (detailed at length in previous blog posts and news releases) and the fact that silver is typically a bi-product of the extraction of other critical minerals, rather than a primary mining objective. The intensifying global political fragmentation and its evolving impact on supply chains. Explain what the fragmentation is and why important. The global political fragmentation we are witnessing is in large part driven by increasing nationalism and is characterized by increasing trade tensions, the rise of protectionism, and the creation of new competing economic blocs which put additional stress on supply chains. A recent example of fragmentation creating a new economic bloc is the proposed EU – Latin America free trade zone linking the EU with the Mercosur bloc (comprising Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay), bypassing the United States. The enormous scale of the US’s current needs for silver, barite and zinc (see the table below). The long-term economic and strategic defense nature of those needs. Drivers #5 and #6 bear somewhat closer examination. US domestic consumption is being driven not only by the defense and energy transition needs (the two sectors which are typically highest profile in the news and in analyst output) but by a myriad of industrial needs.  The table below highlights a few key industry sector consumption drivers for silver, barite, and zinc. Silver Barite Zinc ·         Electronics ·         Defense Systems ·         Solar ·         Data Infrastructure ·         Water Purification Systems ·         3-D Printing ·         EVs ·         Oil & Gas Drilling ·         Energy Security ·         Infrastructure Development ·         Rubber & Plastics ·         Healthcare (contrast agent for x-ray and CT scans) ·         Corrosion Protection ·         Construction ·         Industrial Manufacturing ·         Energy Storage The long-term strategic nature of the industry sectors above becomes clear when one notes their a) sheer size (e.g. oil & gas, manufacturing, electronics), b) their importance to the US military, and c) their future-gazing posture (e.g. EVs, solar, energy storage, data infrastructure).  Shorter-term, several of these industry sectors (e.g. oil & gas, manufacturing, defense) are benefitting from increased focus under the Trump administration.  Finally, a number of the supply chains supporting these industry sectors are particularly vulnerable to supply chain disruptions as they practice the “just in time” supply chain approach where the resulting downtime is costly in the extreme. Unlike most past administrations, the current US administration has a strong track record for supporting Canadian-based mining companies with US assets[2] which it has publicly identified as vital to national security. In 2024, for the first time in the 74-year history of the U.S. Defense Production Act, which created new powers for the president to fund or buy certain products as a national-security materials, the US government made direct investments into Canadian mining companies.[3]  It is clear the administration is taking important actions, including but not limited to faster permitting[4], to bolster domestic production of critical minerals, which include silver, barite, and zinc.  These actions will not only be designed to increase domestic production but also to act as a leverage point in trade negotiations, thus allowing the US to put additional pressure on negotiating partners. With the complexity of these negotiations – which will be conducted against the backdrop of growing geopolitical fragmentation – it is more likely than not the negotiations will be “hit and miss” for the foreseeable future and domestic production will emerge as the preferred (and more politically advantageous) option.  The course of these negotiations and US federal government procurement preferences will send strong signals to the market and, as such, are the two key things to watch to anticipate market movement for the next decade and beyond. The January 14th Proclamation is the most recent and a highly impactful one in a series of Trump administration actions amongst geopolitical events that we have been tracking as to their impact on value generation at Calico and for Apollo Silver as a whole.  Silver, barite, and zinc being henceforth viewed by the US government through the lens of national security, Calico is now fully aligned with the US’ critical minerals policy and its supply chain priorities.  The positive impact of this alignment can only be magnified by Apollo Silver’s recent acceptance into the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (“DIBC”).  DIBC is a U.S. Department of Defense-funded initiative aimed at fostering and facilitating collaboration across industry, academia, and government to advance solutions pertinent to U.S. defense and broader national security priorities.  Specific DIBC goals include strengthening domestic supply chains, reducing reliance on foreign sources, and advancing the integration of critical minerals into defense-related manufacturing and industrial applications. We will provide updates as events warrant (since the cadence of events is accelerating, we anticipate providing our next update sooner, rather than later).  In the meantime, please contact our investor relations head, Richard Matthews with any questions or for further detail on how events are impacting value creation at Apollo Silver at info@apollosilver.com or by calling +1604-428-6128. [1] For more information, please see the news release dated September 4 and October 16, 2025, and the N.I. 43-101 Technical Report titled “NI 43-101 Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate for the Calico Silver Project, San Bernardino County, California, USA,” dated October 16, 2025 (with an effective date of June 30, 2025). The Technical Report was prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 (“NI 43-101”) Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects by Stantec Consulting Ltd. (“Stantec”) of Denver, Colorado. Mineral Resources are not mineral reserves and do not have demonstrated economic viability. There is no certainty that any mineral resource will be converted into a mineral reserve. [2] Eg. Department of War took a 10% stake in Trilogy Metals (TSX, NYSE American: TMQ) and helped fund South32 (ASX, LSE, JSE: S32), joint partners of the Arctic copper-zinc project in Alaska. That followed a 5% US government stake announced Q4 2025, in Lithium Americas (TSX, NYSE: LAC), which is developing the $3 billion Thacker Pass project in Nevada. [3] https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/May 26, 2024 [4] Equinox Gold’s Castle Mountain Accepted into FAST-41 Permitting Program