Silver Mining: Stocks, Producers and Costs

Where mined silver comes from

Silver mining is led by the Americas. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates world mine production at about 26,000 tonnes in 2025, up slightly from 25,300 tonnes in 2024, and Mexico supplies almost a quarter of it on its own. Peru and China follow, then a group of mid-sized producers in South America, Europe and Australia.

Silver content, metric tons (one tonne is about 32,150 troy ounces). Source: USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026, Silver (February 2026).

In the United States, about 1,100 tonnes were mined in 2025. Alaska is the leading silver state, followed by Nevada. Only four U.S. mines were primarily silver mines; the rest came as a by-product or co-product of 31 base-metal and precious-metal operations. Silver was also added to the U.S. list of critical minerals in November 2025. For the company names behind these numbers, start with our ranking of the largest silver producers.

Mines aren’t the only source. The USGS estimates world silver consumption at about 35,700 tonnes in 2025, well above what mines produced, with recycled scrap and above-ground stocks covering the gap. It also points to a continued supply deficit as one reason silver prices rose through 2025. Industrial uses such as electronics and solar panels take a large share of demand, alongside coins, bars and jewelry.

Primary silver producers and by-product silver

The detail that surprises most people new to silver mining is how little of it comes from silver mines. The Silver Institute’s World Silver Survey 2025 puts 2024 mine supply at 819.7 million ounces, and well under a third of that came from primary silver mines. The rest was recovered from lead-zinc, copper and gold mines, where silver is a valuable extra rather than the reason the mine exists.

That’s why the list of the biggest silver producers includes companies most people think of as copper or gold miners. KGHM recovers its silver from copper ore in Poland, and Newmont’s Peñasquito in Mexico is a gold, silver, lead and zinc mine. A primary silver producer is a company that earns most of its revenue from silver, such as Fresnillo, Pan American Silver, First Majestic or Hecla.

What an ounce of silver costs to mine

Silver miners usually report two cost figures per ounce. Total cash cost covers mining, processing and site overheads. All-in sustaining cost (AISC) adds sustaining capital, exploration at existing mines and corporate overhead, so it’s the better guide to what it takes to keep a mine running. Both are normally reported on a by-product basis: revenue from the gold, lead or zinc in the ore is subtracted from the cost, which can make a polymetallic mine look very cheap per silver ounce.

The Silver Institute reports that industry average cash costs and AISC both fell in 2024, by 13 and 15 percent, with by-product credits doing most of the work. When you compare two companies, check whether the costs are on a by-product or co-product basis, and how much of each company’s revenue actually comes from silver. Our guide to the cost of mining one ounce of silver walks through the cost items.

How analysts read silver mining stocks

We don’t give investment advice, and nothing here is a recommendation. What we can do is explain how people who follow silver mining stocks usually sort them. Producers have operating mines and cash flow. Developers have a defined resource and are working toward permits and financing. Explorers, the juniors, are still drilling to find out whether they have a deposit at all. Many silver companies are listed in Toronto on the TSX or the TSX Venture Exchange, even when their mines are in Mexico or Peru.

The questions analysts ask are fairly consistent: how many ounces sit in reserves and resources, at what grade, how long the mine life is, what the AISC is and on what basis, how much of revenue is silver, and how stable the country’s mining rules are. Escobal in Guatemala, which has spent years on hold pending a consultation with Indigenous communities, shows how much the last point can weigh. Our explainer on screening junior silver stocks and the overview of Canadian silver producers and juniors go into each of these.

Silver deposits and exploration

Silver-rich deposits come in a few familiar forms: epithermal veins like those along Mexico’s Sierra Madre, carbonate replacement bodies, sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver deposits, and volcanogenic massive sulfides. Epithermal systems in particular leave clay and silica alteration and iron oxides at the surface, which shortwave-infrared satellite bands can map over a whole license before any sampling.

Silver is one of the 23 minerals clients have paid us to analyze. Our satellite mineral detection reports rank Exploration Targets for follow-up sampling and drilling, ahead of a JORC or NI 43-101 resource estimate. The polymetallic case study shows one scan covering gold, silver and uranium targets.