BNamericas Mining Intelligence Series - Silver in Latin America: With a negative outlook for production, can the silver sector continue to deliver growth? Only by spending.
iCrowdNewswire -
Jul 13, 2016 11:30 AM ET
June 2016
Mining Intelligence Series
Silver in Latin America
With a negative outlook for production, can the silver sector continue to deliver growth? Only by spending.
Global silver mine output is expected to fall in 2016 after a spectacular climb, a natural result of the dramatic pullback in capital spending across mining industry. Sinking silver prices have resulted in extensive cost-cutting, changing mine plans and asset write-downs. Latin America remains the biggest silver-producing region and its share has grown faster than others in the last decade, driven mostly by strong growth in Mexico, Argentina and Guatemala. After a few years of weak growth, Peru delivered the best performance in 2015 and is the only Latin American country expected to turn out more silver in 2016. With major silver reserves across the region, the geological potential is very high. Silver prices appear to be staging a comeback in 2016, which has many miners hopeful, but price consolidation and greater confidence are needed for miners to return to exploration and development spending – the only hope for returning to growth.