Silver is mostly (70%) mined by base metal companies (copper, lead, zinc) with few pure plays.
Top 20 Silver Miners: 1. Penoles 2. KGHM Polska 3. BHP Billiton 4. Grupo Mexico 5. Rio Tinto plc 6. Barrick 7. MIM Holdings 8. Pasminco 9. TeckCominco 10. Buenaventura 11. Noranda 12. Coeur d'Alene 13. Codelco 14. Hochschild 15. Boliden 16. Newmont 17. Omnium Nord Africain 18. Empresa Frisco 19. Hecla 20. Pan American
Gold is mostly mined by gold mining companies, with a decent amount of byproduct from copper miners.
Top 20 Gold Miners: 1. Newmont 2. Anglogold 3. Barrick 4. Gold Fields 5. Rio Tinto 6. Placer Dome 7. Harmony 8. Freeport 9. Ashanti 10. Noranda 11. Buenaventura 12. Durban 13. Auriongold 14. Kinross 15. WMC 16. Newcrest 17. Sons of Gwalia 18. Echo Bay 19. Cambior 20. Lihir
The 6 firms on both lists: BHP Billiton, Barrick, Buenaventura, Newmont, Noranda, and Rio Tinto
To throw in my two cents (copper plated zinc), I'm neutral-to-slighlty positive on silver, and very positive for gold in the long-term. A 100:1 gold-to-silver ratio, such as $500-to-$5 might be possible. The AU/AG ratio has been increasing since early 1998 when it was under 45 to almost 70 currently. goldsheetlinks.com |
