According to the Mexican Mining Chamber, in 2010 revenue mining and metallurgical production (US$13.16 billion) surpassed the revenue generation of Mexico's tourism industry and established mining as the country’s second most productive sector after oil and gas. The growth of the sector has led to increased exploration... Read more »

Mexico is a major producer of silver, gold and base metals. In addition, the country is also a leading producer of celestite, bismuth, fluorite, cadmium, molybdenum, graphite, and manganese. In the Fraser Institute's most recent Survey... Read more »

In 2010, Mexico overtook Peru in silver production, reaching the world’s top position, with 128.6 million ounces produced. Mexico currently ranks 12th in gold production, and many think the country has a strong possibility of ranking among the top five within the next few years. In terms of foreign investors, Canada... Read more »

Perhaps we should call this article, "PDAC Revisited". While meeting with mining company executives at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto in March, we wanted to know what was coming up in Q2, 2012? For some companies, it was business as usual, but a number of... Read more »

3. Geologix Explorations Inc. (Stock Profile - TSX:GIX & OTC:GIXEF) Perhaps it's finally time for Geologix to change its name. After years of exploration and development the company is getting close to transitioning... Read more »

There is always a sector among the raw materials on the verge of a period of "euphoria". On the chart below, each resource is represented by a company, because the indexes do not exist for all of the individual resources. Notice that, for 10 years, there is always a sector that is in a phase of "boom",... Read more »

The past year has been a rough ordeal for nearly every sector of the market, but the metals and mining industry seemed to be battered on all fronts, despite previous run-ups in commodity prices across the board.  As if a stalled economic recovery on a global scale and a debt crisis in Europe were not enough, the industry... Read more »

After meeting with mining companies for the past two days at the annual PDAC convention in Toronto, we're pleased to present a list of upcoming mining milestones in March. Or shall we say, March/early April as prefaced by many of the executives in attendance at this year's convention. In alphabetical order, here's... Read more »

Today, the U.S. Commerce Department said the economy grew at a slightly faster pace in the final three months of last year. It expanded at a 3.0 percent annual rate from October to December, the fastest pace since the spring of 2010. The data was slightly ahead of estimates and a full 1.2 percent better that the numbers... Read more »

Silver stocks and silver bullion have been on the upswing over the last month - the shiny white metal has tacked on more than 20 percent. Today, the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) advanced $0.86, or 3.5%, hitting a high of $24.71 per share before retreating back to the $24.34 mark. Investors may be taking safe... Read more »

Canadian fund manager Eric Sprott said this week he was bullish on precious metals and bearish on cyclical commodities like base metals. Sprott said, "I am not bullish on cyclical commodities such as iron ore, coal, steel, lead and zinc because I am worried about this economic contraction that everybody is talking... Read more »

According to Metals Economics Group’s (MEG) Corporate Exploration Strategies, the estimated total 2011 budget for nonferrous metals exploration surged to $18.2 billion.... Read more »

With money markets and Treasuries yielding next to nothing these days, investors are finding income in new places. One area those investors should consider is gold mining. With gold rising in value, mining companies are reaping record profit margins, yet the stock prices are depressed due to lack of investor interest.... Read more »

Here are your "Movers and Shakers" for the week ending September 16th, 2011 on the TSX and TSX-V Exchanges. In no particular... Read more »

The British Columbia Securities Commission said on Friday it's conducting a regulatory investigation into anonymous allegations against Silvercorp Metals... Read more »

World production of the gray precious metal rose again in 2010. Silver, unlike gold, has seen production levels increase since 2003. This difference in production between gold and silver is not a coincidence due to geology and the history of their production. World production of silver in 2010 was 713... Read more »

Like most Canadians, the TSX took a break for Canada day celebrations on Friday after posting four consecutive positive days. And to the south, U.S. stocks posted their biggest weekly rally in two years with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 648 points after Greece took action to avoid default on its debt. “... Read more »

A cursory look at Peruvian mining will show you that many of the world's senior mining companies have operations there. The list of majors in the South American county includes Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX), Newmont Mining (TSX: NMC), BHP Billiton (NYSE: BHP), Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (NYSE: FCX), and Teck Resources... Read more »

On April 24th, the price of silver reached nearly $50 an ounce before a hasty retreat to $32.32. Ask some, and silver's impressive move from under $20 an ounce just eight months earlier was a predictable bubble ready to pop. Others, however, say the move was inevitable considering market forces and the devaluation... Read more »

In the early 1970s two brothers from Texas, William Herbert and Nelson Bunker Hunt, began accumulating silver. By 1979, the pair had effectively cornered the silver market. From September, 1979 to January, 1980 the price of an ounce of silver leapt from $11 to $54. Before the collapse a few months later, it is estimated... Read more »

3. Alexco Resource Corp. (TSX:AXR) Alexco Resource is Canada's newest silver producer.  The company is focused on the Yukon Territory of Northern Canada. Renowned silver bug Sprott Asset Management is a significant shareholder, reportedly... Read more »

What's at the root of silver's volatile ride in 2011? We can't blame it on the Hunt brothers so let's blame it on China. On April 25th, as silver approached record highs, Bloomberg reported that China... Read more »

8. Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAA) Pan American Silver is the world's second-largest primary silver producer and has its sights set on Fresnillo plc, the world's largest primary silver producer and owner of the Fresnillo mine in Mexico. The company has operations in the United States, Mexico, Peru,... Read more »

On March 19th, 1997 Michael de Guzman, the exploration manager for would-be miner Bre-X, jumped from an Alouette helicopter flying eight-hundred feet above the Indonesian jungle. The official version of the events state that de Guzman was suffering from hepatitis B and a tormented conscience. He left behind a few hastily... Read more »

Eric Sprott, founder of Toronto-based investment firm Sprott Asset Management, is generally considered to be of Canada's best investment managers. More recently, Sprott has carved out an international reputation as The Canadian Silver Bull. Originally entering the investment industry in 1981 as a research analyst... Read more »

Eritrea, a funnel shaped country that borders The Red Sea, was, because of its unstable political history, a bit of a mystery to the international mining community. But an unprecedented... Read more »

Blink and you may have missed it. If the recent downturn in commodities is coming to an end, as some suggest, it was a brief correction. While the recent slump actually contained the worst week for commodities since the recession of late 2008, many believe it's a mere blip. Hussein Allidina, head of commodity research... Read more »

A pretty picture. That's what Vancouver's Great Panther Silver (TSX:GPR), which today reported record earnings and revenue for fiscal 2010, has presented to investors. A few years ago, a pretty picture might just have been the downfall of the company. That's because one of the primary uses of silver,... Read more »

The tortoise and the hare. There's no doubt which is which when you're talking about gold and silver, but the slow steady rise of silver has accelerated to a jackrabbit's pace. Silver is up 113% since the end of 2009, while gold's gain... Read more »