When Will Silver Go Up

Is the Highest
When Will
Price of Silver
Silver Go Up
Still to Come?
A collection of articles from Silver Investing News looking
at the silver price forecast By Charlotte McLeod
When Will Silver Go Up Is the Highest Price of Silver Still to Come?
Table of Contents
What Was the Highest Price for Silver? ........................................................................................................ 2
When Will Silver Go Up? ............................................................................................................................... 5
Silver Demand 2015: A Growing Role for Solar ............................................................................................ 8
Which Country Has the Most Silver? .......................................................................................................... 10
6 Silver Stocks That Pay Dividends .............................................................................................................. 13
© 2015 Silver Investing News 1

What Was the Highest Price for Silver?

Like most metals, silver has taken a beating in
2015. As of mid-September, it was down about 7
percent since the start of the year, and was selling
for around $14.50 per ounce.
That’s fairly bleak, and many silver-focused

investors are understandably finding it difficult to
remain positive. However, a little perspective on the
market can go a long way, and those concerned
about the silver price today might do well to ask
themselves, “what was the highest price for silver?”
The answer to that question reveals exactly how much potential there is for the silver price to
rise and may provide some hope for those tired of the current low price environment.
How is silver traded?

Before answering the question “what was the highest price for silver?” it’s worth looking at how
silver is traded. Knowing how the mechanics behind how the metal changes hands can be
useful in understanding why and how its price changes.
Put simply, silver is traded in dollars and cents per ounce, with market activity taking place
worldwide at all hours of the day. Key commodities markets like New York, London and Hong
Kong are just a few locations where investors trade the metal. London is the center of physical
silver trade, while the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, or NYMEX, is
where most paper trading is done.
Physical silver is sold on the spot market, meaning that buyers pay a specific price for the metal
and then have it delivered immediately. Paper trading is done via the futures market, with
participants agreeing for the delivery of silver in the future at an agreed-upon price. In such
contracts, two positions can be taken: a long position to accept delivery of the metal, or a short
position to provide delivery of the metal.
Paper trading might sound like a strange route to take, but it can provide investors with flexibility
that they wouldn’t get from buying and selling physical silver. The most obvious advantage is
perhaps the fact that trading in the paper markets means market participants can benefit from
holding silver without needing to store it. Furthermore, futures trading can offer more financial
leverage in that it requires less capital than trading in the physical market.
Historical silver price action

In terms of historical price action, silver hit $48.70, its highest price ever, towards the end of the
1970s. However, it didn't exactly reach that level by honest means — as Investopedia explains,
the metal's rise was driven by the Hunt brothers, two wealthy traders who attempted to corner

the market by buying not only physical silver, but also silver futures; they then took delivery of
that silver instead of taking cash settlements. Their exploits ultimately in disaster: on March 27,
1980, they missed a margin call and the silver price plunged to $11.
Interestingly, despite that price action, silver’s highest average annual price didn't come until
2011, when it hit $35.12. The rise came on the back of very strong silver investment demand,
and was more than double the 2009 average silver price of $14.67. 2011 was also the year that
silver hit its highest price in recent years. The below chart from Kitco spans from the start of
January 2011 to the end of August 2015, and shows that the silver price reached $47.94 in April
2011.
Like other commodities, silver’s price is most heavily influenced by supply and demand
dynamics. However, as the stats above illustrate, the silver price can be very volatile. That
characteristic is partially due to the fact that the metal is subject to both investment and
industrial demand. In other words, it’s bought both by investors interested in using it as a store
of wealth and by manufacturers looking to use it for different applications. Those applications
are incredibly varied — silver has diverse technological applications and is used in devices like
batteries and catalysts, but it’s also used in medicine and in the automotive industry.
Looking at supply, in 2014, the world’s top three producers of the metal were Mexico, China and
Peru. Interestingly, even in those countries the white metal is usually produced as a by-product -
for instance, a mine producing primarily gold might also have silver output.
Beware silver price manipulation

As a final note, it’s important for investors to be aware that price manipulation is a major issue in
the silver space. JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) was long at the center of such claims, though
the case against it was dismissed last year. Most recently, 10 banks were hit in a US probe on
precious metals manipulation.
While that might sound disheartening, key industry figures like silver guru David Morgan have
emphasized that in reality the silver market is no more manipulated than any other market.

Furthermore, in 2014 the London Silver Market Fixing stopped administering the London silver
fix, which had been used for over a century to fix the price of silver. It was replaced by the
LBMA Silver Price, which is run by the LBMA, CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) and Thomson
Reuters (TSX:TRI,NYSE:TRI) in a bid to increase market transparency.
Investor takeaway
While there’s a concrete answer to the question “what was the highest price for silver,” it
remains to be seen where the silver price may go next — indeed, it’s entirely possible that it will
reach its earlier heights once again, though investors may have to wait awhile to see that
happen.
Read on to learn when the silver price may rise again and what catalysts experts believe could
drive it upward.
Additional information on Silver stock investing – FREE

When Will Silver Go Up?

As mentioned, the silver price hasn’t fared
well in 2015. As of mid-September, it was
down around 7 percent year-to-date, and it’s
down even further from its recent high point
of $47.94 per ounce in 2011 — about 70
percent, to be exact.
It’s thus no surprise that many investors are

asking themselves, “when will silver go up?”
Unfortunately, even seasoned analysts can’t tell
the future, meaning that it’s impossible to get a
definite answer to that question; it’s nearly as
difficult to find a broad consensus on the topic.
Nevertheless, it’s definitely possible to track down different opinions on the topic. Investors
interested in betting on the silver price might do well to keep them in mind as they try to answer
the question “when will silver go up?”
Silver in 2015
While 2015 has been a year of ups and down for the silver price, overall it has definitely trended
downward. The white metal rose as high as $18.29 back in January, but has not neared that
level since then. Indeed, the closest it came was $17.49 midway through May.
To understand silver’s price action, it’s helpful to look at gold price drivers. Silver is of course the
more volatile of the two metals, but nevertheless it often trades in tandem with the yellow metal.
As the above chart from Kitco shows, that has been the case so far in 2015.
For gold, and by extension, silver, a key price driver in 2015 has been uncertainty about US
interest rates. Investors have long been waiting for the US Federal Reserve to raise interest

rates, and initially the expectation was that a hike would like hurt precious metals prices.
However, as the rate rise has been pushed further out, the likelihood of it having a big impact on
prices for those metals has decreased.
Why? In short, many market watchers believe that the interest rate rise has essentially become
“baked into” precious metals prices. In other words, as Capital Economics’ Caroline Bain
recently told Reuters, “the gold market has now largely adjusted to the prospect that the Fed will
start to raise rates by end-year.”
That said, the anticipated rate increase remains front and center in many investors’ minds. Most
recently, the Fed decided on September 17 that it would not be raising interest rates, stating
that it only plans to do so “when it has seen some further improvement in the labor market and
is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent objective over the medium
term.”
The central bank also said that it “anticipates that, even after employment and inflation are near
mandate-consistent levels, economic conditions may, for some time, warrant keeping the target
federal funds rate below levels [it] views as normal in the longer run.”
The Fed’s next meeting is scheduled for October 27 to 28.
Silver in the future

Whether or not a Fed rate rise will impact the silver price remains to be seen. However, if it
ultimately has no impact, as many suspect, investors will be left wondering, “when will the silver
price go up?”
While market watchers have identified other factors that may influence the silver price moving
forward, firm calls on when such factors may come into play are hard to come by. For instance,
many involved in the silver market have speculated that ultimately the lower silver price will
force miners to cut output — thereby reducing supply and raising prices. But so far, despite the
fact that the white metal’s price continues to drop, miners have largely chosen to cut costs
rather than reduce their production.
On the demand side, some have commented on the possibility that solar demand may boost the
silver price. Earlier this year, Thomson Reuters GFMS reported that silver demand from the
solar sector came to 59.9 million ounces in 2014, up 7 percent from the previous year. That rate
of increase is expected to rise in the coming years, and the firm’s Andrew Leyland said at the
time, “silver’s quite well placed to benefit from any increase in underlying demand for solar
panels.”
Looking at the market more broadly, silver guru David Morgan recently identified trouble in the
paper markets as a catalyst that may move the silver price. Essentially, he told The Gold
Report, “the futures markets allow massive amounts of paper contracts that represent silver and
gold … to be manufactured at will for speculative purposes.”

The result is that demand can be satisfied “without changing the real supply” — that could
create problems, he said, in that event that many investors attempt to take delivery on those
contracts at once. “I think that the day of reckoning is closer because there is more of this going
on and the premiums are so high,” he said.
Even so, Morgan admitted that the problem has “come to the fore several times” without
ultimately having an impact on the market.
The upshot
As can be seen, the question “when will silver go up?” is a tough one to answer. In particular,
while potential price-moving catalysts do exist (the above are just a few examples), even
seasoned market watchers are not able to pinpoint exactly when such catalysts may come into
play.
For investors, a key point to remember is that the resource space operates cyclically — in other
words, while commodities like silver experience price rises and falls, ultimately what goes up
must come down, and vice versa. The advice to “buy low and sell high” is repeated often for a
reason, and though it’s nigh impossible to predict market bottoms, at today’s low prices, silver
may certainly be a good bet.

Silver Demand 2015: A Growing Role for

Solar
The silver price’s protracted fall over the last few
years has many investors wondering how long it
will take for producers to curb output.
However, as noted, so far miners have mostly opted to

aggressively reduce their costs rather than produce
less silver. As a result, some market participants are
hoping that a rise in demand for the metal will help
boost its price instead.
Earlier this year, Andrew Leyland of Thomson Reuters

GFMS was able to shed some light on where such a
rise in silver demand may come from. In a conversation with the Investing News Network, he
provided insight into silver price, supply and demand trends for 2014, but also said that in terms
of silver demand 2015, the solar industry could be key.
Here’s a look at what silver demand from the solar industry currently looks like, and why it may
increase moving forward.
Silver demand 2014: coins and bars key

Speaking about 2014 silver demand, Leyland said that it clocked in at 1,066.7 million ounces,
the fourth-highest level since 1990.
In terms of where exactly that demand came from, he said that coins and bars and silverware
are key sources of silver demand, though offtake from those sectors was weaker in 2014 than in
2013. Interestingly, silver demand from the jewelry sector saw a slight uptick in 2014, reaching a
record 215.2 million ounces. The rise there was largely driven by increased demand from India,
which offset “sizable falls in China and Thailand.”
Those sectors certainly require a lot of silver, but they’re dwarfed by industrial fabrication
demand, which accounted for 594.9 million ounces, or 56 percent, of all physical silver demand
in 2014. Leyland spoke briefly about a couple of fields in that sector to watch, with one being the
wearable tech market. “Certainly it’s a growing market, [and] we see continuing movement
towards wearable tech,” he said.
However, he’s of course also got an eye on the solar industry. It’s not a new source of demand
for silver, but according to Leyland, silver offtake from the solar industry rose in 2014. Indeed, it
came to 59.9 million ounces, up 7 percent from 2013. The rise is the first in two years, and he
attributed it to “a combination of less aggressive thrifting of silver content per solar cell and an
11% rise in solar panel installations.”

Leyland is encouraged by those factors, and concluded, “silver’s quite well placed to benefit
from any increase in underlying demand for solar panels.”
Silver demand 2015: solar to surge?

A Telegraph article on silver demand from the solar industry helps build a picture of exactly how
much demand from that sector could be set to increase.
It states that according to IHS, demand for solar power is set to rise to 57 gigawatts of electricity
in 2015, an increase of 30 percent. In terms of where that demand will come from, China will be
a key driver — the Asian nation is set to install around 17 gigawatts of solar capacity by the end
of the year. Furthermore, the news outlet notes that the 7-percent growth rate seen in 2014 “is
expected to increase over the next decade.”
One catalyst for an increase, states The Telegraph, could be the development of a binding
agreement on climate change amongst major nations. Key countries are set to meet this year in
Paris to discuss that issue, and if a deal is signed it could “result in already strong demand for
PV cells increasing further as major developing economies such as India and China increase
the contribution that solar makes to their overall power generation network.”
Whether or not that happens of course remains to be seen, but with the silver price still at a
fairly low level, it’s no doubt encouraging for investors to know that demand from at least one
sector may be set to rise. The potential Paris climate change agreement will definitely be a
catalyst to watch for silver demand 2015.

Which Country Has the Most Silver?

While it’s perhaps most important for silver-focused investors
to be aware of how the metal is traded and when its price may
rise again, those interested in the metal would also do well to
be aware of which country has the most silver.
Knowing which country has the most silver is important for a

number of reasons. Perhaps most crucially, having that knowledge
can help investors identify silver investing opportunities. For
example, if an investor is aware that a country is a major silver
producer, they might consider investing in silver companies working in that country.
A silver investor following that strategy would likely have at least a little luck. Case in point:
Mexico was the world’s largest silver producer in 2014, and because it’s a mining-friendly
environment, many silver companies are seeing exploration and mining success in the nation.
However, that strategy won’t work in every case. Some major metals producers are less
hospitable to public companies, preferring instead to extract the bulk of their resources via state-
owned companies. That is often the case in China, though interestingly Silvercorp Metals
(TSX:SVM,NYSE:SVM) bills itself as the country’s largest primary silver producer.
All in all, those factors make it worth investors’ while to look at which country has the most
silver. Here’s a brief overview of the 10 top silver-producing countries of 2014, based on stats
from the US Geological Survey (USGS).
1. Mexico
Mine production: 4,700 MT
Mexican silver production dipped by 160 MT in 2014, but the country remained the world’s
largest silver producer, mining 4,700 MT of the white metal.
The country is home to one of the most productive silver-mining companies in the world,
Fresnillo (LSE:FRES). Fresnillo mines silver and gold at six different projects throughout
Mexico, and has several other mines in various states of development; it’s aiming to increase its
silver production to more than 65 million ounces by 2018.
Goldcorp (TSX:G,NYSE:GG) is the country’s other large producer, and its Peñasquito mine
posted the second-highest silver production in 2013. Like many silver mines, Peñasquito is
primarily a gold project. Silver is often coincident with other resources, and is regularly mined as
a by-product.

2. China
As of 2002, the Silver Institute ranked China as the world’s fourth-largest silver producer. Over
the past 12 years, the country’s silver production has steadily increased, and it now produces
just 500 MT fewer than Mexico, the world’s leader. The Silver Institute attributes a large part of
this rise to China’s development in other mining operations — as of 2012, nearly 95 percent of
Chinese silver production was a by-product of other mining projects.
As stated, Silvercorp Metals describes itself as China’s largest primary silver producer. It has
multiple mines in China, and most recently started production at its GC project in the country
3. Peru
In addition to being the world’s third-biggest silver producer, Peru features the largest-known
silver reserves, according to the USGS. With 98,900 known MT of silver, the country has a
massive amount of untapped silver potential that could allow it to move up the rankings in the
future.
The majority of Peru’s silver comes from the Antamina mine in Northern Peru, according to
Kitco. The mine began as a joint venture between BHP Billiton
(ASX:BHP,NYSE:BHP,LSE:BLT), Glencore (LSE:GLEN), Teck Resources
(TSX:TCK.B,NYSE:TCK) and Mitsubishi (TSE:8058). While the mine produces more silver than
any other in the country, it is primarily a copper mine, and silver is produced as a by-product.
4. Australia
There’s a pronounced difference between the amount of silver produced by the top three global
producers and the countries that fill in the rest of the top 10. Australia sits in fourth place and
produced 1,900 MT of silver in 2014. Silver mining has a rich history in Australia, and BHP
Billiton began as a silver-mining operation in the 1920s.
Today, BHP Billiton is a multinational mining company with projects located around the world. It
remains the largest silver producer in Australia, and operates the Cannington mine in
Queensland, which produces more silver than any other project in the country.
5. Russia
Russian silver production held steady last year at 1,700 MT. The country’s silver reserves are
unknown, but it has remained on the top 10 list of silver producers for many years.
The country’s largest silver producer is Polymetal International (LSE:POLY). Polymetal

dominates silver mining in Russia and operates four of the top five silver mines in the country.

6. Bolivia
While Bolivian silver output remained relatively consistent between 2013 and 2014, the
country’s mining industry has room to continue expanding. It is home to several silver mines,
particularly in the Potosi region, and Mining-Technology.com reported that the San Cristobal
mine features the third-largest silver reserves of any mine.
7. Chile
Mines in Chile churned out 1,200 MT of silver last year, and the future could bring a rise in
production. The country’s Economic Development Agency recently announced a new program
aimed at increasing the country’s mining production by raising energy efficiency and cutting
costs. During the next three years, officials will discuss a plan that should increase the country’s
competitiveness through 2035.
8. Poland
Poland’s output matched Chile’s at 1,200 MT, showing no change from a year prior. Poland-
based KGHM Polska Miedsz (WSE:KGH) is consistently one of the world’s top silver-producing
companies, according to the Silver Institute, and the company could expand to become larger.
The USGS places Poland in a tie with Australia for the world’s second-largest silver reserves.
9. United States
Mine production 1,170 MT
The US features three dedicated silver mines and procures small amounts of silver from a
variety of other projects. Production rose by 130 MT during 2014, hitting 1,170 MT overall.
Alaska and Nevada produce more silver than the nation’s other states. Major US silver miners
include Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL). Both also produce significant
amounts of gold.
10. Canada
Mine production: 646 MT
While Canada is home to Silvercorp and several other silver miners, it does not produce an
enormous amount of silver annually. Canadian companies generally maintain projects in
countries with more robust silver production. There are significant silver deposits in British
Columbia, according to government reports, but the highest-quality metal comes from
polymetallic veins that do not necessarily target silver specifically.

6 Silver Stocks That Pay Dividends

In today’s tough markets, it can be difficult for
silver-focused investors to turn a profit. As of mid-
September 2015, the silver price was down about 7
percent year-to-date, and many miners continue to
struggle despite aggressive cost cutting.
That’s why some investors are looking to silver stocks

that pay dividends. A dividend is a sum of money that is
paid regularly by a company to a class of its
shareholders out of its earnings. Dividends are often
issued as cash payments, but can also be issued as
stock or other property.
Here’s a brief overview of a few silver stocks that pay dividends even in the current low price
environment. They may be worth some attention as market participants wait for the silver price
to rise again.
1. Silver Wheaton (TSX:SLW,NYSE:SLW)

Silver Wheaton is a well-known name in the silver space, largely because of its business model
— it’s the world’s largest precious metals streaming company, which means that it’s made
upfront payments to a variety of companies in order to gain the right to purchase, at a low, fixed
cost, all or a portion of the companies’ silver and gold production.
The company currently has streaming agreements in place for 21 operating mines and six
development-stage projects. It is interested in companies operating in politically stable
jurisdictions, and states that it has growth potential as well as “[l]everage to increases in the
price of silver and gold.” As a result, Silver Wheaton sees itself as offering investors multiple
benefits while reducing many of the downside risks that traditional mining companies face.
Silver Wheaton has a dividend reinvestment plan that is optional for its shareholders. The
process for enrolling in the plan is different for different types of shareholders, and the company
lays out all of them on its website.
The highest dividend paid by Silver Wheaton was US$0.14 per share on April 12, 2013. Most
recently, it paid a quarterly cash dividend of US$0.05 per share on September 4, 2015. The
dividend was equal to 20 percent of the average cash generated by operating activities over the
last four quarters, divided by the company’s outstanding shares at the time the dividend was
approved.

2. Pan American Silver (TSX:PAA,NASDAQ:PAAS)

Founded by Ross Beaty in 1994, Pan American Silver currently has seven mines in Mexico,
Peru, Bolivia and Argentina, plus various development projects. Its 2014 revenues came to
$751.9 million ounces, and it produced 26.1 million ounces for the year.
The highest dividend Pan American has ever paid is US$0.125 per share. While that’s lower
than Silver Wheaton’s highest dividend, Pan American paid a dividend of US$0.125 per share
nine times in a row, with the first time being March 18, 2013, and the last time being March 13,
2015.
Unfortunately, after making that last dividend payment of US$0.125 per share, Pan American’s
dividend took a steep drop. Most recently, it paid a quarterly cash dividend of just $0.05 per
share on June 2, 2015. According to a press release, the 60-percent reduction was “directly
related to the concurrent decision to invest $112.4 million in the Dolores mine expansion project,
as well as in recognition of the current challenging silver price environment.”
3. Fresnillo (LSE:FRES)
Fresnillo bills itself as the world’s leading silver producer, and currently holds six mines, two
development projects and an “extensive portfolio of high-quality exploration projects and
prospects.” Its Mexico-based Fresnillo mine was the third largest in the world in 2014, putting
out 20.1 million ounces.
On September 10, 2015, Fresnillo paid an interim dividend of US$0.021. The company’s
dividend policy takes business profitability and underlying earnings growth into account, as well
as capital requirements and cash flow. Its 2012 final dividend is its highest on record at
US$0.424.
4. Tahoe Resources (TSX:THO,NYSE:TAHO)

Tahoe Resources operates the Guatemala-based Escobal mine, which was the second top
primary silver mine in the world in 2014. Escobal put out 20.3 million ounces of the white metal
that year, also recording gold, lead and zinc output. As of July 1, 2014, proven and probable
mineral reserves for the mine sat at 31.4 million tonnes at an average silver grade of 347 g/t.
Tahoe is also developing the Shahuindo gold project in Peru.
In September 2015, Tahoe declared its ninth monthly dividend of the year. It came in at
US$0.02 per share. The monthly US$0.02 dividend was originally declared on November 14,
2014, and has continued since that time.
5. Silvercorp Metals (TSX:SVM)

Canada-based Silvercorp Metals has multiple mines in China, and most recently started
production at its GC project in the country. It bills itself as China’s largest publically listed
primary silver producer, and put out 5.1 million ounces of silver in the 2015 fiscal year.

While that’s impressive, it’s worth noting that Silvercorp has received some bad press this year
— in the spring, the BC Supreme Court ruled that British Columbian Kun Huang could sue the
company. Huang had alleged that Silvercorp worked with Chinese authorities to keep him
imprisoned in China for years, and Silvercorp had attempted to get those allegations ruled out.
A detailed look at the case, including how it relates to Jon Carnes, was published by The Globe
and Mail earlier this year.
Most recently, Silvercorp paid a quarterly dividend of C$0.005 per share on March 31, 2015. Its
2014 dividends all also came to that amount, while for 2013 all its dividends came in at C$0.025
per share.
6. Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL)

In addition to being a major US primary silver producer, Hecla is also an emerging gold
producer. It is the oldest precious metals miner in North America, and owns two primary silver
mines in Alaska and Idaho, as well as a Quebec-based gold mine. Its anticipated 2015
production is 10.5 million ounces of silver and 185,000 ounces of gold.
Hecla’s most recent dividend payment came to $0.0025 per share on September 1, 2015. Its
highest dividend payment on record is $0.0125 per share, last paid on March 25, 2013. The
company’s dividends are based on its average realized silver price for the preceding quarter; it
also pays an annual minimum common stock dividend of $0.01 per share. More details can be
found on Hecla’s website.

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Is the Highest

© 2015 Silver Investing News 1

What Was the Highest Price for Silver?

That’s fairly bleak, and many silver-focused

How is silver traded?

Historical silver price action

© 2015 Silver Investing News 2

Beware silver price manipulation

© 2015 Silver Investing News 3

Additional information on Silver stock investing – FREE

© 2015 Silver Investing News 4