Top 10 World Silver Mine

      The majority of silver is produced as a by-product of mining other metals such as copper and gold. The physical properties of silver include high ductility, electrical conductivity, malleability, and reflectivity. Silver has widespread uses throughout the global economy, from jewelry to cell phones to surgical tools.Strong and malleable, silver can take various forms. It is one of the best thermal conduits and has the highest electrical conductivity of all other metals including copper. These characteristics make silver a perfect component for many of today's modern electronics.

      In 2014, the estimated uses for silver were electrical and electronics, 42%; coins and medals, 35%; photography, 13%; jewelry and silverware, 7%; and other, 3%. Other applications for silver include use in bandages and pharmaceuticals for wound care, batteries, bearings, brazing and soldering, catalytic converters in automobiles, cell phone covers to reduce the spread of bacteria, clothing to minimize odor, electroplating, inks, mirrors, solar cells, water purification, and wood treatment. An emerging use of silver is in athletic clothing where biosensing silver fibers may be woven directly into the fabric. This athletic clothing transmits biometric data such as the wearer’s real - time heartbeat to a sensor that displays the data. Silver metal in fine powder form is also being used in 3D printing to make jewelry and various other items. Silver was used for miniature antennas in radio frequency identification devices that were used in casino chips, toll road transponders, gasoline speed purchase devices, passports, and on packages to keep track of inventory shipments.

      Worldwide silver production increased during 2014 despite reduced demand for the metal across several industries. Specifically, the US Geological Survey (USGS) states in its most recent report on silver that mine output rose to 26,100 metric tons (MT) last year. Global silver mine output is split between primary producers and secondary producers who generate silver as a by product. 

This the top 10 world silver mining companies below, with product a primary silver mines :
( Source GFMS )

RANK	COMPANY	COUNTRY	COMPANY	OUT PUT 2014 (moz)
1	Cannington	Australia	BHP Billiton	24.73
2	Escobal	Guatemala	Tahoe Resources	20.30
3	Fresnillo	Mexico	Fresnillo	20.10
4	Dukat	Russia	Polymetal	19.50
5	Saucito	Mexico	Fresnillo	15.49
6	Uchucchacua	Peru	Buenaventura	12.06
7	Pirquitas	Argentina	Silver Standard	8.73
8	Greens Creek	USA	Hecla	7.83
9	Palmarejo	Mexico	Coeur	6.56
10	Pallancata	Peru	Hochschild	6.53

1. Cannington Mine

      The Cannington Silver and Lead Mine is an Australian underground mine located in north-west Queensland, in the Shire of McKinlay, about 200 kilometres (124 mi) southeast of Mount Isa. The deposit was discovered by Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) in 1990. Although sitework and underground mining began in 1997, full production was not achieved until early 1999, with 1.5 million tons of ore processed in 1999. Production since has reached 3 million tons of ore per year. As of 2010 it was the largest and lowest cost silver and lead mine in the world. The expected life of the Cannington mine is 25 years. On August 19, 2014, the mine's owner BHP Billiton announced it was splitting the company in two. A newly formed entity called South32 is to house BHP Billiton's non-core businesses including the Cannington Mine.

2. Escobal mine 

      The Escobal mine is a large silver mine located east of San Rafael Las Flores in the south of Guatemala in Jalapa Department. Escobal represents one of the largest silver reserve in Guatemala and in the world having estimated reserves of 367.5 million oz of silver. Exploration was by Goldcorp beginning in 2007. The mine was sold to Tahoe Resources in 2011. Tahoe Resources’ (TSX:THO), (NYSE: TAHO) Escobal silver mine in Guatemala, which experts say could soon become one of the world’s largest producers of the precious metal, has achieved commercial production.The Reno Nevada-based company said Wednesday that since September last year, when the project began operations, silver production has been ramping towards the 3,500 tonne per day (tpd) target the company set for the first quarter of 2014. To date, the mill has produced 5,970 tonnes of silver-bearing concentrates with an estimated net value (net smelter return) of about $54.3 million. Tahoe said the quality has been outstanding with minimal penalties associated with either the zinc or lead concentrates.

3. Fresnillo mine

      Fresnillo is the center of a rich mining area known especially for silver, and the location of one of the world's richest silver mines, the Mina Proaño or Fresnillo Mine, which belongs to the Peñoles mining company. It has a mining school, and agriculture (cereals, beans) and cattle raising are other important economic activities. Fresnillo plc is a holding company. Through its subsidiaries, the Company is engaged in the mining and beneficiation of non-ferrous minerals, and the sale of related production. The primary contents of this production include silver, gold, lead and zinc. The Company has six operating mines: Fresnillo, located in the State of Zacatecas, which is primary silver mine; Saucito, located in the State of Zacatecas, an underground silver mine; Cienega, located in the State of Durango, an underground gold mine, including the San Ramon satellite mine; Herradura, located in the State of Sonora, a surface gold mine; Soledad-Dipolos mine, located in the State of Sonora, a surface gold mine, and Noche Buena, located in State of Sonora, a surface gold mine. The Company has two development projects, which include Saucito II and San Julian. The Company's subsidiaries include Minera Fresnillo, S.A. de C.V., Minera Penmont, S. de R.L. de C.V., Minera Saucito, S.A. de C.V. and Fresbal Investments, Ltd.

 4. Dukat Mine

      The Dukat hub is one of Polymetal’s first and original assets. It is the largest silver deposit in the world, the largest primary silver operation in Russia and flagship operation. The Dukat hub is located in the Magadan region of Far East Russia. Omsukchan (population of approximately 4,500 people), the location of the Dukat hub’s management and the concentrator facility, is approximately 566 km north-east of the city of Magadan and is connected to Magadan by an unpaved road. Polymetal is also carrying out few near-mine exploration projects with the aim of expanding the hub’s reserve base. The Dukat hub was created in 2008 by merging the Dukat and Lunnoye operating units located in geographic proximity to each other and sharing many support and auxiliary services. The hub is composed of the Omsukchan concentrator with it's processings from the Dukat and Goltsovoye mines, the Lunnoye processing plant and it's processings from the Lunnoye and Arylakh mines, as well as concentrate from the Omsukchan facility. All operating units are located in close proximity to the Omsukchan: Dukat mine (38 km), Goltsovoye mine (80 km), Lunnoye operating unit (172 km) and are accessible by all year-round roads.

 5. Saucito mine

      The Saucito mine, another that’s owned by Fresnillo, is located in Zacatecas, Mexico, just southwest of the Fresnillo mine. Like that mine, the Saucito site includes a flotation plant and an underground mine that produces lead, zinc, gold and silver.Saucito employs 999 contractors and has been operational since 2011. It has an anticipated mine life of 8.8 years. In 2013, the mine put out 360 MT of silver.The Saucito mine, in a town with the same name as the company, aims to produce around 5 million ounces of silver and 23,000 ounces of gold this year and then ramp up production to some 10 million silver ounces and 50,000 ounces of gold by 2014.Fresnillo the largest primary silver producer in the world, plans to double output at its newly opened Saucito mine in central Mexico by 2015 or 2016 in a second phase of expansion

6. Uchucchacua mine

      Situated in Lima, Peru, the Uchucchacua mine is owned by Compania de Minas Buenaventura (NYSE:BVN). It’s located at a very high altitude — between 4,000 and 5,000 meters above sea level — and last year put out 356 MT of silver. Buenaventura is a leading mining company that produces precious metals and holds mining rights in Peru .Since its inception in 1953, Buenaventura has focused on exploration and exploitation activities both by its own and through joint ventures. Buenaventura is among the main gold and silver producers in the world, owns two growing underground gold mines, as well as the world's 4th largest silver mine


7. Pirquitas mine

      The Pirquitas mine is a large silver mine located in the north of Argentina in Jujuy Province. Pirquitas represents one of the largest silver reserve in Argentina and in the world having estimated reserves of 74 million oz of silver. Owned by Silver Standard Resources (TSX:SSO,NASDAQ:SSRI), Pirquitas is in Jujuy, Argentina. Like Uchucchacua, it’s about 4,100 meters above sea level and is accessible by all-weather roads Pirquitas has the mine achieved commercial production on December 1, 2009. It is an open-pit mine utilizing a fleet of 100-tonne trucks and three loading units. It has proven mineral reserves of 48.1 million ounces of silver and 93 million pounds of zinc. At the mine, ore is crushed and treated in a gravity pre-concentrator prior to the processing in a conventional mineral flotation plant. The silver and zinc concentrates produced from the plant are shipped to third party smelters.

 8. Greens Creek mine

      The Greens Creek mine in the Admiralty mining district is the mine largest silver producer in the world; gold is a byproduct. The Admiralty mining district is a mining area in the U.S. state of Alaska which consists of Admiralty Island. Most of the gold recovered from the Admiralty district is a by product of silver and base metal mining. The Alaska-based Greens Creek mine is owned by Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL). It lies within the Admiralty Island National Monument, which is an environmentally sensitive area. The entire project is accessed by boat and includes an ore concentrating mill and camp facilities as well as the mine it self. The mine is an underground operation, with surface disposal of tailings onto two 29-acre (120,000 m2) sites. The mine and mill site lie on 18 patented claims; the mine has mineral rights to 12 square miles (7500 acres) of surrounding land owned by the Federal government. It is located approximately 25 km south of Juneau, Alaska, on Admiralty Island within the Admiralty Island National Monument. The mine produces ores of silver and gold, and concentrates of zinc and lead, from a structurally and mineralogically complex VMS deposit.


9. Palmarejo Mine

      Palmarejo Mine is a surface and underground gold and silver mine located about 420 kilometers by road southwest of the city of Chihuahua in northwestern Mexico and is owned by Coeur Mining (TSX:CDM,NYSE:CDE). It is both an open-pit and underground operation and produces silver and gold, employing 909 workers. The property consists of over 12, 000 hectares of mineral claims encompassing several silver and gold veins systems. Small-scale underground mining for silver veins in the Palmarejo area has occurred intermittently since the early 1800s. Coeur acquired the property in 2007 and mining commenced in 2008. The Pamerejo mine produces ore from surface and underground operations that target a number of silver-gold vein systems. The ore is processed using flotation and cyanide leaching to produce silver-gold bars. In 2012, the mine produced 8.2 million ounces of silver and 106,038 ounces of gold at a grade of 4.7 oz/ton silver and 0.05 oz/ton gold and at a total production cost of $19.26/oz of silver. Reserves at the end of 2012 were 5.3 million ounces of silver and 665,000 ounces of gold. In 2013, the mine produced 236 MT of silver.

10. Pallancata mine

      The Pallancata mine is a large silver mine located in the south of Peru in Ayacucho Region , approximately 160 kilometres from the Arcata operation. Pallancata commenced production in 2007 and up until December 2013 was a joint venture, in which Hochschild held a controlling interest of 60% with International Minerals Corporation (“IMZ”). Following the purchase of IMZ, Hochschild now owns 100% of the operation. Ore from Pallancata is transported 22 kilometres to the Selene plant for processing. Though the veins being mined at the site were discovered in 1980. Pallancata represents one of the largest silver reserves in Peru and in the world having estimated reserves of 30.6 million oz of silver. In 2013, Pallancata produced 237 MT of silver.