Supply & Demand

Silver Production

Global silver mine production rose by 4 percent in 2007, with particularly solid gains from Chile, China and Mexico. Total silver mine production reached 670.6 Moz last year. Peru was the world’s biggest silver mining country in 2007, followed in the rankings by Mexico, China, Chile and Australia. Last year, silver generated at primary mines drove global totals higher, increasing by 11 percent to account for 30 percent of all silver mined. Cash costs at primary silver mines rose to a weighted average of US$1.52 per ounce, driven by a combination of labor, consumables and energy cost rises.

Top 20 Silver Producing Countries in 2007 (millions of ounces)
1.	Peru	112.3
2.	Mexico	99.2
3.	China	82.4
4.	Chile	62.0
5.	Australia	60.4
6.	Poland	39.5
7.	Russia	38.0
8.	United States	37.3
9.	Canada	28.5
10.	Kazakhstan	22.7
11.	Bolivia	16.9
12.	Sweden	9.4
13.	Argentina	8.5
14.	Indonesia	8.2
15.	Turkey	7.5
16.	Morocco	7.1
17.	Iran	3.1
18.	India	2.9
19.	Guatemala	2.8
20.	Uzbekistan	2.8

Top 20 Silver Producing Companies in 2007 (millions of ounces)
Company		Country	Output
1.	BHP Billiton	Australia	45.7
2.	Industrias Peñoles	Mexico	44.5
3.	KGHM Polska Miedz	Poland	39.1
4.	Cia. Minera Volcan¹	Peru	21.1
5.	Kazakhmys	Kazakhstan	19.0
6.	Pan American Silver²	Canada	17.1
7.	Goldcorp	Canada	17.0
8.	Cia. de Minas Buenaventura¹	Peru	16.0
9.	Polymetal²	Russia	15.9
10.	Southern Copper Corp.	USA	15.2
11.	Hochschild Mining	Peru	13.6
12.	Rio Tinto	UK	13.0
13.	Teck Cominco	Canada	12.1
14.	Codelco³	Chile	11.7
15.	Coeur d'Alene Mines²	USA	11.5
16.	Yamana Gold⁴	Canada	8.6
17.	Barrick Gold⁵	Canada	8.1
18.	Boliden AB	Sweden	7.7
19.	Xstrata Zinc⁶	Switzerland	7.5
20.	Zinifex	Australia	7.0
¹ Includes attributable production from minority subsidiaries.
² Primary silver producer.
³ Includes contained silver in anode slimes.
⁴ Pro-forma, subsequent to Meridian acquistions.
⁵ Estimate.
⁶ Reported sales.

World's Leading Primary Silver Mines in 2007 (millions of ounces)
Rank	Mine/Country	Operating Company	Prod.
1.	Cannington*, Australia	BHP Billiton	37.47
2.	Fresnillo (Proaño), Mexico	Industrias Peñoles SA de CV	33.52
3.	Dukat, Russia	OJSC Polymetal	10.80
4.	Uchucchacua, Peru	Compañia de Minas Buenaventura SA	9.87
5.	Greens Creek**, U.S.	Hecla Mining Co	8.65
6.	Arcata, Peru	Hochschild Mining	6.55
7.	Imiter, Morocco	Société Métallurgique d'Imiter	5.41
8.	Rochester, U.S.	Coeur d'Alene Mines	4.61
9.	Tayahua***, Mexico	Grupo Carso	4.00
10.	La Colorada, Mexico	Pan American Silver Corp	3.96
11.	Huaron, Peru	Pan American Silver Corp	3.83
12.	Alamo Dorado, Mexico	Pan American Silver Corp	3.81
13.	Selene, Peru	Hochschild Mining	3.41
14.	Lunnoye, Russia	OJSC Polymetal	3.30
15.	Lucky Friday, U.S.	Hecla Mining Co	3.07
reported payable metal in concentrate; historically a silver mine, Greens Creek's primary revenue stream switched to zinc in 2006. GFMS regard this as a short term anomaly and as such have maintained its classification as a primary silver mine; **estimated.

Material and statistics in this section were adapted in part from the Silver Institute's World Silver Survey 2008 publication.