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The Silver Series: Who Controls The World's Supply (Part 2)

Back to TopWithin the Earth’s crust, there is 1 gram of silver for every 12.5 tonnes of earth (27,600 lbs). This makes silver very difficult to find. To understand silver supply, we must first discover how economic silver deposits form.

Silver is typically mined as a byproduct in polymetallic deposits with a variety of metals. Other key metals found in these ores include lead, zinc, gold, and copper. Silver occurs in many different types of deposits, and in 2013 silver was mined as the primary metal 29% of the time.

The total amount of silver mined in global history is enough to create a 52m cube. The amount of silver available to the market each year depends chiefly on mine production and scrap metal recycling. In 2013, silver scrap reached its lowest levels since 2001 to 5,966 tonnes, or under 20% of supply.

Silver is most often mined from polymetallic deposits. There are different types spread out through the world, but silver supply is increasingly coming from North and South America and primary silver miners.

 

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The Silver Series: Who Controls The World's Supply (Part 2)