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On my path through the commodities, I wanted to cover Silver because I believe there is great value in this undervalued commodity, and that the best is yet to come! Gold will naturally boost the price of silver and base metals as people start to shift back into commodities, but there is a point where anticipation kicks in and when all the chatter about silver breaking out actually happens… Do you want to be on the outside looking in?
Silver is at a bargain price if you subscribe to the fact we are setting up for a break out in the precious metals sector. But ultimately that’s for you to decide… Many analysts have been forecasting gains in both the precious and base metals for months, and today we are seeing the forecasts become reality. So if you weren’t listening then… maybe you should be now!
“I think people are starting to catch on to the fact that this market is overall in a bullish trend, which I do believe it is, that silver is extremely undervalued relative to gold, and that now we’re starting to see some retail demand coming into the silver market,”
Peter Hug, Global Trading Director on Kitco News
People are naturally gravitated to Gold, leaving silver as an afterthought but I don’t think people really understand how many uses there are for Silver… So before I start breaking down investment opportunities I want to go over some information about its applications and its value.
Silver
Silver is a noble metal with a high resistance to corrosion and oxidation and has the best thermal and electrical conductivity of all metals. Originally used for jewellery, mirrors, cutlery and bullion due to it’s high luster, reflective properties, malleability and ductility it has naturally expanded into the industrial sector in a big way! It also has antimicrobial and non-toxic properties which make it useful in medicine as well as other consumer products. Because of its unique properties the uses for silver are seemingly limitless and therefore should have greater value in my opinion. However, silver is far more abundant than gold which ultimately makes gold more valuable and silver more utilized in industrial applications.
According to the silver institute
“Global silver mine production fell 2 percent in 2018, experiencing its third consecutive annual decline to 855.7 Moz, following supply disruptions in Canada, Guatemala and the United States. For the second year, the biggest year-on-year variation was posted by primary silver mines, which decreased by 7 percent in 2018 to contribute 26 percent of total mine supply.”
Annual silver production by the mining industry was 855,700 Moz, while recycling accounted for 151,300 Moz for a total of 1,007,000 Moz while demands in 2018 were 1,033,500,000 ounces. This left a deficit of 29,200 Moz not factoring in Net hedging supply, ETP inventory build or Exchange inventory build, which would see the deficit reach 80,100 Moz in 2018.
According to JM Bullion
“Today’s total transparent silver investment funds and exchange depositories now hold just over 920,000 million ounces of silver. Close to 1 billion ounces of silver may sound like a lot but compare that to a world with over $260 trillion in verifiable assets. About $20 billion in silver value, or 1 part per 13,000 is next to nothing. Silver is a very small market indeed.”
So what does all this mean? Well to answer that I think it’s important to understand who owns silver and why… JP Morgan is one of the top investors in silver and has been stockpiling bullion in anticipation of a bull market since silver was sitting at its last peak of 50 dollars back in 2011. You see, while gold is more attractive due to its strength and safety, the fact is that silver could net higher gains than gold on a percentage basis if it starts to break out. Therefore, I have compiled a list of Silver mining juniors that could offer some exposure to precious metals at an affordable rate.
Silver One Resources TSX.V-SVE
Silver One Resources is a Canadian junior mining company, their focus is to become a leading silver exploration and development company by building a strong portfolio of silver-rich projects for future growth. They started out with three key silver assets located in Mexico acquired from First Mining Gold Corp. and now consider the past-producing Candelaria Silver Mine project located in Nevada within the Candelaria Mining District their flagship project. This area is historically the richest silver mining area in Nevada and has prompted SSR Mining Inc. and First Mining Gold Corp. to become their largest strategic partners.
Candelaria
The project lies within the Candelaria Mining District, historically the richest silver mining district in Nevada. Estimated production from the late 1880’s to 1954 was 22 million ounces of silver. From 1874 to 1883, the Northern Belle Deposit alone produced high grade lodes averaging 1,700 – 2,000 g/t (50 – 60 oz/t) silver. Open pit mining between 1980 and 1999 resulted in the production of 47 million ounces of silver, with Kinross Gold producing approximately 13 million ounces of that between 1994 and 1999.
New results show that up to 75% of the total silver contained in composite samples from the old leach-pads can potentially be recovered by reprocessing the heaps using very fine grinding in combination with microbubble technology. This testing was done at First Majestic Silver Corp.’s La Parrilla Mine laboratory in Durango, Mexico. Metallurgical work continues with ongoing efforts being focused on evaluating the economics of recovering gold and silver by either high-pressure grinding roll (“HPGR”) or by very fine milling combined with microbubble technology.
“The results of the metallurgical testing done to date at Candelaria have been encouraging. Improved and proven technologies such as HPGR grinding and microbubble techniques have made vast improvements in the recoveries and costs of silver production. Our metallurgical studies continue with the aim of working towards a comparative cost analysis in Q3 or Q4 of 2019.”
Greg Crowe, President and CEO,
They have several other projects on the go in both the U.S and in Mexico. However, most of which are early stage exploration but they seem to be honing in on some very interesting properties… One that caught my eye in the company presentation would be Cherokee!
The Cherokee Project
The Cherokee project hosts multiple epithermal Ag-Cu-Au veins including Cherokee, Mojoto and Johnny, that occur within a structural corridor traced for over 11 km along strike. Mineralization at Cherokee is geologically similar to the past-producing mineralized systems at the nearby historical Pioche Ag-Au-Zn-Pb mining district. Silver One plans further exploration to evaluate large areas of the property that remain untested and prioritize drill targets going forward to potentially extend known mineralization from exposed veins.
Silver One is still in the early development stage on most of their projects but they should do well moving forward especially if silver continues to rise in value.
Upcoming Catalysts
-Further exploration and metallurgy ongoing on their properties
-Silver continues to rise
For more information visit…
Bear Creek Mining TSX.V-BCM
Bear Creek Mining Corporation is a leading Peru-focused silver exploration and development company with significant leverage to silver prices. Their flagship Corani property is an advanced-stage project that hosts one of the largest undeveloped silver deposits in the world, the project contains in excess of 250 million ounces of silver, 2.7 billion pounds of lead and 1.8 billion pounds of zinc, and is expected to produce over 8 million ounces of silver and 150 million pounds of combined lead and zinc over an 18-year mine life. In addition to its size and estimated life-span, the Corani deposit is located in a mining-friendly jurisdiction and enjoys overwhelming community support. Bear Creek Mining is currently continuing to advance and de-risk the Corani project in a meaningful but patient manner and will consider a production decision when market conditions and project financing terms are compelling.
Those conditions are rapidly coming together for Bear Creek and I see no reason why this large resource will not go into production. Since it’s initial investment, the Company achieved numerous significant exploration milestones related to the Corani Property, including the completion of over 93,000 meters of drilling, a NI 43-101 resource estimate and preliminary economic assessment in 2008, a pre-feasibility study in 2009, an initial feasibility study in 2011, and an updated and optimized feasibility study in 2015 (the “2015 Corani Feasibility Study”). The Company also completed and filed an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (“ESIA”) with the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines (the “MEM”) in 2012, which was approved in September 2013.
The Company entered into a Life of Mine agreement (the “Corani LOM Agreement”) with the District of Carabaya, five communities near the Corani Property and ancillary organizations in April 2013. This agreement addresses the Company’s commitments to invest in community projects over a period of roughly 23 years (representing the anticipated pre-production and production mine life of the Corani operation). Details regarding the Corani LOM Agreement, including payments made and payable in the future, are provided below under “Environmental and Social Governance”.
In October 2017 the Company filed a NI 43-101 Technical Report and also undertook to build an electrical substation (the Antapata substation) near the town of Macusani, the nearest sizeable town to the Corani project, located on the Interoceanic Highway approximately 30 kilometers directly east of Corani (approximately 64 kilometers by road). Antapata construction activities commenced in September 2018 and the Company placed a purchase order for the transformer in October 2018, the delivery of which is expected in August 2019. This substation will be used to direct electricity to a future power line that will supply the Corani project and to provide a consistent power supply to the residents of Macusani, who experience regular power brownouts.
In June 2018 the MEM issued the Process Plant Construction Permit for the Corani project, which authorizes construction of the Corani processing plant, waste and tailings co-disposal facilities, water storage system and auxiliary buildings including a laboratory, internal energy system and other complementary structures. Together with the approved Corani ESIA, the Accreditation of Water Availability and the full Construction Permit allow for the future development of the Corani project.
During 2018, the Company commenced Phase 2 Detailed Engineering work in collaboration with Ausenco Peru S.A.C. (“Ausenco”) to prepare an Engineering, Procurement and Construction price for the process plant and related work. Additionally, the Company continued its extensive Corani area community programs and commenced building access roads and infrastructure that is simultaneously useful for local communities and necessary for development of the Corani property.
Upcoming Catalysts
-Price of Silver rapidly increases the timeline of their flagship operation going into production
-Arrival of electrical substation
-Continued advancement of the project
For more information visit
https://www.bearcreekmining.com/
Brixton Metals Corp. TSX.V-BBB
Brixton Metals Corporation (TSXV:BBB) is a precious metals exploration and development company focused on advancing its wholly-owned projects toward mine development. Brixton has a proven management team and excellent properties they can build on
The Atlin Goldfields Project is wholly owned property consists of 933 square kilometres and is located in NW British Columbia, Canada. It’s an early stage gold exploration play in search of Barkerville style mother-lode gold deposits. Drilling at the Yellowjacket zone returned up to 5.57m of 509.96 g/t gold. Yellowjacket Mine non-NI-43-101 compliant estimate of 453,500t at 10.26 g/t Au.(1)
The Thorn Gold-Copper-Silver Project is an early stage district-scale exploration opportunity located in the northern tip of the “Golden Triangle” of British Columbia, Canada.Drill results returned up to 95m of 1.71 g/t gold, 628 g/t silver plus base metals. Surface rocks samples of up to 265 g/t Au and 32.8% Cu from rock grab samples. Deposit types include sediment hosted Au-Ag, high-sulphidation Ag-Cu-Au veins/breccia and porphyry Cu-Au-Mo. An inferred resource of 21.5M AgEq was established in 2014 and remains open for expansion.
“In addition to expanding the mineralization to depth, the increase in mineralized porphyry fragments within the diatreme suggests that we could be near a mineralized porphyry. The geometry is still unknown, but we may be dealing with a tilted system which will require more drilling to determine this. The re-logging of hole 121, which is located about 1km west from hole 150, identified an increase in porphyry A-type veins towards the bottom of the shallow hole suggesting we may be closer to the porphyry centre. All of this work strongly suggests the presence of a large porphyry system at the Thorn Project.”
Vice President of Exploration of Brixton Metals, Sorin Posescu
The Hog Heaven Silver-Gold-Copper+-Lead-Zinc Project is an advanced stage exploration opportunity located in NW Montana, USA. The project has 722 historic drill holes for about 60,000m. Drill hole AFR79-5 returned 18.29m of 4.51 g/t Au, 4.46% Cu, 745.71 g/t Ag within a broader interval of 198.10m of 0.87 g/t Au, 0.58% Cu, 153.91 g/t Ag. A historic non-NI-43-101 compliant estimate of 47.3 Moz Ag and 0.23 Moz Au.(2)
The Langis-Hudson Bay Silver Cobalt Project is a brownfield exploration opportunity that is located in Ontario, Canada. Best drill results: 6.00m of 4,719.33 g/t silver and 0.33 percent cobalt.
Brixton has a tight share structure with only 90M shares outstanding and strong shareholders including Rob McEwen, Gold 2000, Hecla Mining, Pan American Silver, US Global and management. Withe the latest developments on the Thorn property i would say this is one to keep an eye on.
Upcoming Catalysts
-The Company is seeking JV partners in order to accelerate its projects.
– Continued success at the Thorn project
-Rise in price of precious and base metals
For more information visit
Defiance Resource Corp TSX.V-DEF
Defiance Silver Corp. is a silver explorer and developer advancing the San Acacio Deposit, located in the historic Zacatecas Silver District of central Mexico that has produced over 700 million ounces of silver. Our corporate mandate is to expand San Acacio to become one of Mexico’s premier high grade silver deposits.
Defiance is currently working two projects… One Silver project and one gold project and in true fashion i like mining operations with optionality and exposure. So for this reason they make the grade. lets have a look at their two projects…
San Acacio Silver Deposit
The San Acacio Silver Deposit is hosted within the historic San Acacio mine which is located within the Zacatecas Silver District. The project lies along trend of the Veta Grande vein structure. The historic workings are located along 1,200 meters of strike length with an additional 4.4 kilometers along strike to the southeast with no historic or current exploration. The property consists of 24 mineral concessions. The historic mine controls 65% of the entire Veta Grande vein system which has produced over 200 M oz of silver since its discovery in 1546. The Veta Grande vein system extends to a depth of at least 335 meters and extends approximately 5.6 km along the strike on the San Acacio property.
Defiance has updated its previous Indicated and Inferred Mineral Resource to ensure its consistency with the current mining environment and metals economics. The updated Resource increased the Silver Equivalent Cut-off Grade by 54% resulting in a new Silver Equivalent Grade of 192.89 g/t Ag. Total contained Silver Equivalent ounces increased to 17,917,000., and comprised of precious metals. This inferred resource is hosted within 1.2km of the vein system which is over 5.6km long and has vein widths up to 20m.
They recently announced a drill program targeting a large silver-copper geophysical anomaly located on an under-explored portion of the Veta Grande vein southeast of the San Acacio Silver Deposit in Zacatecas, Mexico.
“We are excited to commence our next round of drilling that will test both new veins and potential high-grade structures at the San Acacio project. The results from our exploratory ground geophysical surveys identified strong co-incident anomalies on trend with the San Acacio deposit. We believe that due to the size and robustness of these targets, both represent potential game-changers for the project.”
Peter J. Hawley, Interim President and CEO.
Highlights
Using a silver equivalent (“AgEq”)* cut-off grade of 100 grams tonne (“g/t”), highlights of the estimate include:
San Acacio Inferred Resource
| Vein | Tonnes > Cut-off (tonnes) | Grade>Cut-off | Contained Metal | ||||
| Ag(g/t) | Au (g/t) | AgEq (g/t) | Ag (ozs) | Au (ozs) | AgEq (ozs) | ||
| VETA G | 2,150,000 | 192.43 | 0.19 | 204.66 | 13,302,000 | 10,000 | 14,147,000 |
| VETA C | 739,000 | 153.28 | 0.08 | 158.66 | 3,642,000 | 1,900 | 3,770,000 |
| TOTAL | 2,889,000 | 182.42 | 0.16 | 192.89 | 16,944,000 | 11,900 | 17,917,000 |
The Zacatecas Silver District is one of the most prolific silver producing areas in the world, having produced in excess of 681 million ounces of Silver during the period 1546 to 1895.
The Tepal Project
The Tepal project is a 100% owned advanced stage exploration project with a current 4 Moz Gold equivalent Measured and Indicated resource (2013 PFS, 2017 PEA). The project is located in the state of Michoacán, Mexico, a short distance from the Jalisco State border, lying roughly equidistant between the two international commercial sea ports of Manzanillo, Colima and Lazaro Cardenas, Michoacán, and the international Airports of Manzanillo and Guadalajara, a city of 5 Million people.
The Tepal project is situated in a moderately hilly to mountainous terrain within the forests of the Tepalcatepec river basin; a 15 minute drive via paved highways and well maintained ranch roads from the commercial centre of Tepalcatepec (municipality population 45,000).The region has a history of established international scale agribusiness and has a long history of local independent mining operations, both indicative of a supportive community and social relationship. The region offers an excellent infrastructure and a work pool of highly trained technical talent and local labour.
Since acquisition in 2009, the project has demonstrated a growth potential by expanding existing resources and through new discovery. The delineation of the North, South and Tizate zones significantly increased the 2009 historic resources for the project. Drilling by the company also succeeded in placing a high percentage of mineral resources from all three zones into the Measured and Indicated categories.
Upcoming Catalysts
-Drill results from San Acasio drilling campaign
-Surging price in both silver and gold
For more information visit
https://www.defiancesilver.com/
Dolly Varden Silver Corp TSX.V-DV
Dolly Varden Silver Corporation is a mineral exploration company focused on the Dolly Varden silver properties located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada, 25km by road from deep tide water. The 8,800 hectare (88km2) properties host a robust high-grade mineral resource and are considered to be highly prospective for hosting further high-grade deposits, being on the same structural and strati-graphic belts that host numerous other, on-trend, high-grade deposits, such as Eskay Creek and Brucejack. Now if that doesn’t intrigue you i don’t know what will! Let’s have a closer look…
Dolly Varden Property
The current favorable price of silver has renewed investor interest in this most historic of the silver mines in the Northwestern BC region. The property is best considered an advanced exploration stage property with well understood targets. Mine restarts will require the discovery of additional silver mineral resources and the confirmation of historic mineral resources that were known at the cessation of mining in 1959.
Geological work commissioned in the period 1979 to 1990 established the common geological characteristics of the major silver deposits and occurrences in the upper Kitsault Valley. The rock formations and the style of the mineralization and alteration on the Dolly Varden property share strong similarities to the nearby Eskay Creek deposit, which is an exceptionally rich gold and silver deposit, located 100 km north of the Dolly Varden Property.
This underexplored plot of land offers alot of upside given the historical mining and the geological setting… lot’s of work to do but lots to look forward to as well. They also own an exploration property called the Big Bulk Project, located in northwestern British Columbia, Canada. Big Bulk consists of 2,640 hectares in 7 mineral claims covering a copper-gold porphyry and skarn prospect on the southern shores of Kinskuch Lake, approximately 5 km east of the Dolly Varden Project and 23 km northeast of the village of Kitsault.
Two neighbouring companies, Hecla Mining Limited and OK2 Minerals, hold mineral claims contiguous with Big Bulk on their respective Kinskuch projects. In 2017, OK2 Minerals conducted mapping and surface rock sampling on their mineral claims. Hecla conducted a short diamond drilling program on targets to the south in the Illiance River area. Also in 2017, a joint study by the University of British Columbia and the British Columbia Geological Survey (BCGS) consisting of structural geology mapping was conducted over the Big Bulk area, with logistical support from Dolly Varden Silver.
Preliminary metallurgical testing on the Dolly Varden property was completed and involved a variety of tests to confirm that conventional methods of processing could be successful in extracting the metals. Silver is the most important metal in the Dolly Varden Mining Camp, however, several zones also contain recoverable lead and zinc.
“These excellent metallurgical results further demonstrate the successful extraction of a high percentage of silver, as well as the extraction of base metals, which have not previously been considered in the updated mineral resource estimates for the project. We are looking forward to the 2019 drilling program as it advances targets to the north of the current mineral resource estimates,”
Gary Cope, President and CEO.
Upcoming Catalysts
-Results from approximately 10,000 metres of diamond drilling, lithogeochemical sampling, prospecting and geological mapping on their Torpid and Dolly Varden properties
-Surging base metal and silver prices
For more information visit
https://www.dollyvardensilver.com/
This article was meant to focus on junior mining companies with potentially large untapped resources in Canada that have potential future growth in an environment where Silver spot price is increasing. I hope you all found value in this piece and look forward to writting more similar articles to help you all get started in doing your dd and helping to identify new opportunities.
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Disclosure: This article was not sponsored or a paid service and are the views of the author. This article may contain forward looking statements and should not be considered investing advice as we are not financial advisors. We recommend seeking professional advice prior to making any investing decisions and always complete your own due diligence.
