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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold and Silver Juniors, Mid-tiers and Producers -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (1962)	11/17/2005 7:36:41 AM
From: Bruce Robbins	Respond to of 78420

World production from mines for silver in 2004 was 19,500 tons compared to 2,470 tons for gold (gold is much rarer). Over 2/3 of the silver produced is as a byproduct of base-metal mines (thus very low cost). Silver has a very significant scrap component. minerals.usgs.gov Gold is not more abundant than silver. Silver gets recycled quite a bit and is produced at a much lower cost. I would appreciate $500/oz silver because it would alow me to unload a large amount of scrap. I'm sure people in India would do the same... B

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (1962)	11/17/2005 7:43:56 AM
From: PaperPerson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78420

Ralph and Claude, Whether you call silver a monetary metal or an industrial metal or a hybrid, I think we generally agree here that this a valuable element that is still quite cheap compared to how hard it is to wrest from the earth. Also, it is undeniable that silver, which is one-sixtieth the price of gold, has been valued through the ages at a much higher ratio. My various readings show that has ranged from a tenth of the price of gold to maybe 1/20th! Only in the last few decades has the ratio rotted to its current heights. I confidently look to a return to a more reasonable ratio. With gold at $500, that would put silver at $25. That is my bare minimum for moving toward the exits. Hence my excitement about Bear Creek Mining and Silver Wheaton, which is a back door safer way to play Bear Creek in my view. Thanks to Claude for his valuable counsel as to the merits of Bear Creek! It is good to remind ourselves that silver has already been 650 percent higher than today's $8 level, and that was 25 years ago! A 500 percent increase from today's u.s. silver spot price of $8.00 would put the metal at $40. Silver hit $54 for a brief time during the Hunt Bros. short squeeze in 1979, peaking in early 1980. buyandhold.com Michael in Sarasota

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (1962)	11/17/2005 7:52:39 AM
From: Bruce Robbins	Respond to of 78420

Hecla's average total production costs per ounce of silver in 2004 is $3.57. Imagine the profits... hecla-mining.com PAAS $4.51 per ounce: panamericansilver.com And according to this person $3.50 to $4 per ounce in Mexico and South America: technicalindicators.com And this is from primary silver producers. As I stated before, 2/3 of world production comes as a byproduct of base-metal production. I wonder what the costs per ounce are there. I would bet lower. Especially with copper having a run... B

To: Proud Deplorable who wrote (1962)	11/17/2005 8:51:49 AM
From: Claude Cormier	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 78420

- That being the case then silver should be 500.00/oz and gold 8.00 Not possible. Because there is much more silver in the crust of the earth than there is gold. In fact approximately 16 times more, I think. As silver prices increases, much more would be produced. Gold has the best balance for a monetary standard. It is rare enough and its rate of increase in production over years approximate the rate of increase in the population growth as well as the rate of growth of all goods and services. -Silver is running out....gold is abundant everywhere on the planet. Yes there is more gold above ground...but it is not available at any price because it is hoarded. > When silver reaches 20 bucks believe me silver will then turn into instant money and Kodak will be screwed...AMEN! Silver demand is inelastic. There is too little of it that is use in the various industrial applications. So industrial users will simply have to raise their prices. > As far as an investment? Silver has FAR more leverage than gold. Gold may double, silver can increase 500% easily. That I can agree... but gold is not an investment, it is a store of value, money. Assuming we would return on a physical monetary standard, gold would be the logical choice. But this doesn't mean that silver could not be use as well to complement gold, to some degree. In fact, anything can be used (and has been) as money. I am just saying that gold is the best suited to be the best metallic component of a monetary standard.