Precious metal silver is often compared to gold, and is important in jewellery and as a safe haven.
Unlike gold, silver also has many industrial uses, including in the production of electronics, automobiles, medicine and photography, and, of course, silverware. Energy transition applications are a growing demand sector for silver — the metal is valued for its conductive capacity, which makes it particularly useful in the production of photovoltaic panels.
Silver supply has tightened in recent years as industrial demand rises, and this was one of the factors that helped the silver price break through the US$30 per ounce mark in May for the first time since 2013.
Silver also set a new all-time high in Australian dollars on May 29, when it climbed to AU$48.46.
Read on to discover the largest primary silver companies listed on the ASX. These ASX silver stocks are sorted in descending order of market cap, and data was gathered using TradingView’s stock screener on June 10, 2024.
1. Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT)
Market cap: AU$1.27 billion; current share price: AU$3.92
Adriatic Metals is a precious and base metals miner in South-Central Europe that is now producing silver from the Rupice mine at its Vareš project, located near Vareš, a historic mining town in Bosnia and Herzegovina. In late February, Adriatic produced its first silver-lead concentrate and zinc concentrate at the Vareš processing plant.
Adriatic’s mining efforts at Vareš are focused on the Rupice deposit, for which it released an ore reserve estimate in December 2023. The estimate indicates an 18 year mine life and probable reserves of 83 million ounces of silver, 640,000 ounces of gold, 723,000 tonnes of zinc, 457,000 tonnes of lead, 64,000 tonnes of copper and 24,000 tonnes of antimony.
In an update on May 27, Adriatic announced that it had agreed to its first sale of concentrate from Vareš. The company also indicated that the processing plant was fully commissioned and operating, with initial recovery rates exceeding expectations. Adriatic said it will continue to ramp up production over the next few months and will reach its full processing capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum during the fourth quarter of this year.
2. Silver Mines (ASX:SVL)
Market cap: AU$278.99 million; current share price: AU$0.185
Silver Mines is an advanced-stage silver exploration and development company focused on its Bowdens silver project, which is located in Central New South Wales, 26 kilometres east of Mudgee.
Bowdens is made up of 2,115 square kilometres of titles, covers 80 kilometres of strike and represents the largest-known undeveloped silver resource in Australia. In its latest mineral resource estimate, released in March 2023, the company reported 169 million ounces of silver and 96,000 ounces of gold in the measured and indicated categories, with an additional inferred resource of 20 million ounces of silver and 96,000 ounces of gold.
The project was approved to proceed to the development and production stage in April 2023. Silver Mines is currently working on updating the mineral reserve estimate and subsequently the ore reserve for completion in the first half of 2024.
In an update on March 19, the company said that assay results from blast hole samples had produced results 43 percent higher than block model grades, and demonstrated potential for significant upside in Bowdens mining scenarios.
3. Investigator Resources (ASX:IVR)
Market cap: AU$91.87 million; current share price: AU$0.058
Investigator Resources is a polymetallic exploration and development company with assets throughout Australia and Tasmania. Its flagship property is the Paris silver project, located on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula. The company has referred to Paris as Australia’s highest-grade undeveloped silver project.
In a July 2023 update, Investigator increased Paris' indicated and inferred resources to 57 million ounces of silver and 99,000 tonnes of lead with average grades of 73 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 0.41 percent lead from 24 million tonnes.
A November 2021 prefeasibility study for the project shows it could operate as a high-grade, near-surface, open-pit mine with a life of five to seven years. Investigator is working to produce a definitive feasibility study for the project. That work includes a regional exploration program with 5,000 metres of drilling for which it released the first results in May.
Paris also hosts the Apollo silver deposit, which is 5 kilometres from the main zone. The company's drilling at Apollo has revealed high grades, including an interval grading 1,262 g/t silver over 8 metres in August 2022.
On April 30, the company made a strategic alliance with Golding Contractors to develop the mine design, schedule and cost inputs for Paris. Investigator said an initial 70 percent of the orebody is accessible without the need for drilling and blasting, and noted that partnering with Golding will help it de-risk the project as it transitions to conventional mining activities.
4. Unico Silver (ASX:USL)
Market cap: AU$43.36 million; current share price: AU$0.145
Formerly known as E2 Metals, Unico Metals changed its name in March 2023.
The company is focused on the development of assets in Southern Argentina, and its flagship project is Cerro Leon, which consists of two vein fields — the greenfields Conserrat project, in which Unico has an 80 percent stake, and the more advanced Pingüino project. In its latest mineral resource estimate for Cerro Leon, released in May of last year, the company reported indicated and inferred resources of 40.9 million ounces of silver and 344,200 ounces of gold, as well as over 150,500 tonnes of zinc and 58,500 tonnes of lead.
On May 20, Unico entered into a purchasing agreement to acquire a 100 percent interest in the Sierra Blanca silver-gold project from Austral Gold (ASX:AGD,OTCQB:AGLDF) and Capella Metals (TSXV:CMIL,OTCQB:CMILF). The acquisition will allow Unico to expand Cerro Leon and consolidate the Pingüino vein into a single entity.
5. Lode Resources (ASX:LDR)
Market cap: AU$10.68 million; current share price: AU$0.10
Lode Resources is an exploration company focused on the development of assets within the New England Fold Belt. Its flagship property is the Webbs Consol silver-base metals project, located 16 kilometres southwest of Emmaville, New South Wales. The resource was originally discovered in 1890 and was mined until the mid-1950s.
The company explored the property’s Tangoa West lode throughout 2023 and delivered a series of high-grade results. In February of last year, it reported 254 g/t silver over 116.1 metres, including 419 g/t silver over 41.4 metres; a few months later, in May, Lode Resources returned 389 g/t silver over 24.5 metres. The firm has continued to test the Tangoa West lode down to a depth of 450 metres. According to the company, the increasing depth has provided it with greater confidence in the size and high value of the target, as well as a better understanding of its scale.
In an exploration update on February 19, Lode Resources reported a new high-grade silver discovery that expands the mineralisation footprint of the Webbs Consol project. In the release, the company states that drill intercepts in this area indicate there could be multiple lodes or a larger mineralised body.
The possibility of larger mineralised bodies at Webbs Consol was further supported on April 10, when Lode Resources reported that analysis from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation had identified the potential for lateral extensions at the Tangoa West and Main Shaft prospects. The company said the analysis will assist in drill target planning and will allow it to expand the exploration area.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.