Silver found momentum in the first half of 2024, breaking through US$30 per ounce for the first time since 2012.
The white metal’s strong price gains came as high industrial demand met with precious metals investors entering the market amid global uncertainty and speculation of a rate cut from the US Federal Reserve.
Gold has also performed strongly during the year, setting several new all-time highs.
Although silver has declined from its year-to-date high of US$32.27 on May 20, it has stayed relatively close to the US$30 mark, and higher prices have provided strong fundamental support for silver miners.
Below is an overview of the five largest silver-mining stocks by market cap as of August 29, 2024, as per data gathered using TradingView’s stock screener. Read on to learn more about their activities and operations.
1. Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS)
Market cap: C$9.95 billion; share price: C$27.58
Pan American Silver is among the world’s largest primary silver producers, with silver assets located throughout the Americas and operations in Peru, Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile.
According to its Q2 report, released on August 7, overall, the company produced 4.57 million ounces of silver during the period. Its largest silver-producing asset is the La Colorada mine in Mexico, which produced 835,000 ounces of silver during the quarter. Production at the mine saw a 310,000 ounce decline year-over-year due to ventilation issues, but the company said it had completed upgrades and expects a return to normal production in the second half of 2024.
The rest of its production came from the El Peñon gold-silver mine in Chile, which produced 850,000 ounces of silver, Huaron in Peru at 829,000 ounces, San Vicente in Bolivia at 774,000 ounces, Cerro Moro in Argentina at 570,000 ounces and Dolores in Mexico at 440,000 ounces.
In the report, the company noted lower production through H1 2024. Still, it said it was on track to meet the lower end of guidance of 21 million to 23 million ounces of silver in 2024 with production to be more heavily weighted to the fourth quarter than it originally indicated at the start of the year.
2. First Majestic Silver (TSX:FR)
Market cap: C$2.25 billion; share price: C$7.59
First Majestic has a portfolio of three silver-producing mines in Mexico: San Dimas in Durango, Santa Elena in Sonora and La Encantada in Coahuila. The first two also produce gold.
In addition to its producing assets, the company announced on March 23 that it had commenced bullion sales from its own minting facility in Nevada, US, named First Mint.
According to the company’s Q2 2024 report, the company produced 2.1 million ounces of silver during the quarter. San Dimas was its largest producer, delivering more than 1.14 million ounces of silver, while La Encantada contributed 585,329 ounces and Santa Elena produced 376,947 ounces.
As for H1, First Majestic has produced 4.1 million ounces of silver, a 21 percent decline in production versus the same period in 2023. First Majestic attributed this to a decline in grades at San Dimas as well as labor inefficiencies at the mine due to ongoing negotiations.
In the report, the company indicates production guidance for 2024 to be 8.9 million to 9.5 million ounces of silver, a slight change from the 8.6 million to 9.6 million ounces at the start of the year.
3. MAG Silver (TSX:MAG)
Market cap: C$1.82 billion; share price: C$17.91
MAG Silver is a silver production company that has a 44 percent stake in the Juanicipio mine in Zacatecas, Mexico. The remaining 56 percent of the operation is owned by Fresnillo (LSE:FRES,OTC Pink:FNLPF).
In addition to Juanicipio, the company also has two exploration projects, Deer Trail and Larder. Deer Trail is a silver, gold, lead, zinc and copper property in Utah, US, that hosts a historic mine, and Larder is a gold project located in Ontario, Canada. The company carried out drilling at both during the second quarter.
In the company’s Q2 2024 management discussion on August 1, MAG Silver reported mining operations at Juanicipio had produced 9.4 million ounces of silver during the first half of the year, with 5 million ounces being produced during the second quarter.
The company also announced Fresnillo had increased full-year guidance for the mine, and it is now expected to produce between 16.3 million and 17.3 million ounces of silver in 2024. The increase is due to improved expected grades of 420 to 460 grams per metric ton (g/t) up from 380 to 420 g/t.
4. SilverCrest Metals (TSX:SIL)
Market cap: C$1.66 billion; share price: C$11.38
SilverCrest Metals is a silver producer that owns the Las Chispas mine located in Sonora, Mexico.
Through the first half of the year, SilverCrest reported in its Q2 2024 financial results that the mine produced 2.87 million ounces of silver, up from the 2.82 million ounces produced during the first six months of 2023. In Q2, silver production totalled 1.46 million ounces.
In total, the company said it had mined 100,019 metric tons of ore from the underground mine in Q2 compared to 74,400 MT in Q2 2023, and that mining and development were above the expected rates from its 2023 technical report. It attributed these higher levels to focusing on ramp-up efforts and deploying two mining contractors to work simultaneously.
SilverCrest sold 5.26 million silver equivalent ounces in H1. The company indicated that due to the strong results in the first half of the year, it had upgraded its guidance to 10 million to 10.3 million silver equivalent ounces sold from 9.8 million to 10.2 million.
5. Gatos Silver (TSX:GATO)
Market cap: C$1.14 billion; share price: C$16.60
Gatos Silver is a silver-focused production and exploration company. Its flagship asset is the Cerro Los Gatos mine and district, located south of Chihuahua City, Mexico. Gatos owns 70 percent of the asset, which is a joint venture with Dowa Metals and Mining. The site consists of 14 predominantly silver, lead and zinc mineralization zones.
In the company’s Q2 2024 financial results released on August 6, it reported that it had produced 4.67 million ounces of silver through the first half of the year representing an increase over the 4.43 million ounces produced through the first six months of 2023. In Q2, its production totaled 2.3 million ounces of silver and 3.88 million silver equivalent ounces.
The company indicated that it remains on track to achieve its 2024 guidance of 8.4 million to 9.2 million ounces of silver with all-in sustaining costs expected to be in the lower half of its original range of US$9.50 to US$11.50 per ounce of payable silver.
FAQs for silver investing
Is silver a good investment?
Silver comes with many of the same advantages as its sister metal gold. Both are considered safe-haven assets, as they can offer a hedge against market downturns, a weakening US dollar and inflation.
Additionally, many investors like being able to physically own an asset, and with its lower price point, buying silver coins and bars is an accessible option for building a precious metals portfolio. Of course, physical silver isn’t the only way to invest in the metal — there are also silver stocks and various silver exchange-traded funds.
It’s up to investors to do their due diligence and decide whether silver is the right match for their portfolio.
Does silver go up when the stock market goes down?
Historically, silver has shown some correlation with stock market moves, although it’s not consistent. When the stock market has seen its worst crashes, silver has moved down, but by a less significant amount than the stock market has, showing that it can act as a safety net to lessen losses in tough circumstances.
However, silver is also known for its volatility. What’s more, because it has industrial applications as well as a currency side, silver is less tied to the stock market than gold is.
Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
