All That Glitters is Not Gold: Where Does Silver Come From?

Many people wear it; many people love it. But, most people really do not have a very solid idea about the origins of silver. Silver is one of the precious metals. (There are eight precious metals: gold, silver, and the six individual metals that comprise the platinum group.)

At the present time, approximately 18,000 metric tons of silver is being mined annually. Silver is being mined in sixty countries around the world. Ten of those sixty nations account for a full 85 percent of the total amount of silver mined annually. Mexico leads the pack when it comes to silver mining, followed by Peru, Australia and then the United States.

The easy and understandable assumption is that all silver comes from silver ore. (Gold comes from gold ore, copper comes from copper ore and so forth.) However, when it comes to silver, it does not all come from silver ore. Indeed, only 25 percent of the silver that is mined in the world actually comes from silver ore. 15 percent of the silver mined around the globe today comes from gold ore, the remaining silver coming from a combination of copper, lead and zinc ore.

In the United States, silver actually is mined in twelve states. There are approximately 65 active mines in the United States from which silver is being taken. Nevada is the leading state in silver mining production in the U.S.A. A full 33 percent of all silver mined in the United States does come from Nevada.

Annually, the value of the silver that is mined in the United States is estimated at approximately $290 million.

Across the globe, an astonishing 27,000 tons of silver is fabricated into different items and products on an annual basis. Of this amount, approximately 33 percent is fashioned into jewelry and silverware. 25 percent of the 27,000 tons of silver fabricated worldwide each year is used in photographic materials. The percentages differ in the United States where a full 85 percent of silver that is fabricated is used in photography and other industrial applications.

13 countries in the world consume nearly 90 percent of all of the silver mined each year. The United States heads the pack in silver consumption and is followed by India, Japan and Italy. In the United States, there are 30 companies that dominate the silver fabrication business. These 30 enterprises fabricated more that 90 percent of the silver put to use in the U.S.A.

Silver is not, of course, a renewable resource. With that said, most industry analysts predict that there is enough silver available to meet mining demands through the end of the current decade. There is some uncertainty as to what volume of silver will be available for mining after 2010.

Demand for silver has been fairly static over the course of the past ten years. There has neither been a sharp increase nor a noticeable decrease in the demand for silver over the course of this period of time.