The top producer is Mexico. According to the 2018 World Silver Survey, the country mined 196 million of ounces in 2017, accounting for about 23 percent of total global production. The country is home to Fresnillo, one of the most productive silver companies in the world.
The second place belongs to Peru. The country produced 148 million of ounces in 2017, or more than 17 percent of global mining output. Peru also features the world’s largest-known silver reserves, with implies that country could advance in the rankings in the future. According to the Silver Institute, silver production in Peru between 1600 and 1800 averaged at over 3 million troy ounces per year.
China was the last on the podium, mining 113 million of ounces in 2017 (more than 13 percent of the world’s production). Interestingly, most of the Chinese silver production is a by-product of other mining projects.
Russia is the fourth largest producer. In 2017, the country produced 42 million of ounces (almost 5 percent of the global production). The country’s largest silver producer is Polymetal International, which operates a few top country mines, including Dukat, the world’s second largest mine primarily producing silver
Chile closes the top five. The country produced about 41 million of ounces in 2017, or about 4.8 of the global gold production. Chile’s silver production is down about 20 percent since 2014, partially due to some labor strikes. Between 1830 and 1850, there was a silver rush, which made silver mining into one of the country’s principal sources of wealth.
And what about other countries? Both Bolivia and Poland produced about 40 million of ounces, Australia – 35, United States – 34, and Argentina – 26. The top ten is presented in the table below, while the top 20 can be found here.
Table 1: Silver producing countries (top ten), according to the 2018 World Silver Survey
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Related terms:
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Silver as an Element
Chemically, silver is an element with the symbol Ag and atomic number 47. It belongs to noble metals. Silver is in gold’s shadow, although it is also a unique metal. It is much more abundant than gold, but silver is still one of the least naturally occurring metals. In the Earth’s crust, silver occurs 800 times less frequently than copper. In pure form it has a brilliant white metallic luster.
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Silver as an Investment
Silver served as money for thousands of year until the gold standard was introduced in the XIX century. Although not money, silver is used as an investment. Like gold, silver is a monetary asset, which may be used as a hedge or safe-haven against tail risks. However, silver is much more widely used in the industry; therefore it behaves more like commodity and is more business cycle-sensitive than gold.
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Silver Production Costs
How much does silver cost? Why are you asking about it? Just look at kitco.com and do not bother us! Yeah, sure, we know what the price of silver per ounce is. But how much does it cost to produce it?
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