The top primary silver miners in the world saw their production yield fall to the lowest level ever in 2018. Since 2005, the average yield from the top silver miners has fallen nearly in half. And along with rising oil prices, has pushed up the total cost to produce silver by an additional $10 an ounce. So, for those who still believe in the fantasy that it cost $5 an ounce to produce silver, that data shows otherwise.

It has been a few years since I updated the data for the top primary silver miners, but I was quite surprised by how much the average yield declined in the past year. While part of the reason for the decrease was due to the shutting down of the Tahoe Resources (taken over by Pan American Silver) Escobal Silver Mine in Guatemala, several other large primary mining companies also suffered reductions in their average yield.

For example, Fresnillo PLC experienced a significant decline in the average yield at its two largest silver mines, Fresnillo and Sauc ... Read more »