Where silver comes from?
News
|
Posted 16/10/2014
|
3936
A lot of people don't realise that, as opposed to gold, a large proportion of silver supply comes as a bi-product of base metals such as lead and zinc and indeed gold itself, rather than as primary output of silver mines. Therefore it is harder to collate the data to show where it has come from. The tables below (produced by analysts Metals Focus) show supply in the first half of this year compared to last, by company and country. A few things are worth noting:
- Anecdotally the modest 4% growth has been outstripped by demand
- Further growth is largely dictated by industrial demand for the base metals. Industrial output indices around the world have been softening.
- Cost of production has dropped considerably to just $14.09 but this is largely off volume and currencies weakening against the USD and considered a short lived hit before future cost effects due to same.
- Beyond 2014 they see production growth plateauing at about 850 million ounces annually and note the cutbacks by mining majors in both new project investment and development may result in a period of prolonged production decline.
Top 10 Silver Mining Companies H1 2014 (Million ounces)
|
Rank
|
Company
|
H1 13
|
H1 14
|
Y-o-Y %
|
|
1.
|
KGHM Polska Miedsz
|
19.3 Moz
|
19.3 Moz
|
0%
|
|
2.
|
Fresnillo
|
19.1 Moz
|
19.1 Moz
|
0%
|
|
3.
|
Goldcorp
|
12.8 Moz
|
18.6 Moz
|
+45%
|
|
4.
|
BHP Billiton
|
20.7 Moz
|
17.3 Moz
|
-17%
|
|
5.
|
Glencore Xstrata
|
19.8 Moz
|
16.6 Moz
|
- 16%
|
|
6.
|
Polymetal
|
14.0 Moz
|
15.5 Moz
|
+11%
|
|
7.
|
Pan American Silver
|
12.5 Moz
|
13.2 Moz
|
+6%
|
|
8.
|
Cia Minera Volcan
|
10.1 Moz
|
10.4 Moz
|
+3%
|
|
9.
|
Buenaventura
|
9.2 Moz
|
9.0 Moz
|
-2%
|
|
10.
|
Coeur Mining
|
8.4 Moz
|
8.5 Moz
|
+1%
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Global Mine Production
|
400.3 Moz
|
417.2 Moz
|
+4%
|
Source: Metals Focus
Top 10 silver producers by country H1 2014 (Million ounces)
|
Rank
|
Country
|
H1 13
|
H1 14
|
Y-o-Y %
|
|
1.
|
Mexico
|
72.8 Moz
|
82.8 Moz
|
+14%
|
|
2.
|
Peru
|
55.6 Moz
|
56.9 Moz
|
+2%
|
|
3.
|
China
|
62.3 Moz
|
54.7 Moz
|
-12%
|
|
4.
|
Australia
|
29.7 Moz
|
30.8 Moz
|
+4%
|
|
5.
|
Russian Federation
|
23.5 Moz
|
25.0 Moz
|
+7%
|
|
6.
|
Bolivia
|
19.9 Moz
|
22.3 Moz
|
+12%
|
|
7.
|
Chile
|
18.6 Moz
|
20.2 Moz
|
+9%
|
|
8.
|
Poland
|
19.4 Moz
|
19.4 Moz
|
0%
|
|
9.
|
USA
|
17.1 Moz
|
17.9 Moz
|
+5%
|
|
10.
|
Guatemala
|
3.4 Moz
|
13.3 Moz
|
+297%
|
|
|
Other
|
78.2 Moz
|
73.9 Moz
|
-5%
|
|
|
Global Production
|
400.3 Moz
|
417.2 Moz
|
+4%
|
Source: Metals Focus