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Gold/Mining/Energy : Silver prices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Don Rohner who wrote (1140)	5/14/1998 10:43:00 AM
From: Tommaso	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8010

Some producers can do better than that. There's a thread here on PAASF, Pan American silver, which has lower production costs than that. You might also check out news stories, 10-K reports, etc. on PAASF --on Yahoo and elsewhere. OK--here you go: biz.yahoo.com

To: Don Rohner who wrote (1140)	5/14/1998 1:08:00 PM
From: Mark Bartlett	Respond to of 8010

Don, Not always true ... First Silver (FSR) on the VSE is a good little company and they make excellent money with silver at 5.00. There are exceptions to the rule ,- PAASF is another. Never be afraid to ask a question ... we all started at some point with a lot of questions <g> MB

To: Don Rohner who wrote (1140)	5/14/1998 1:56:00 PM
From: Ray Hughes	Respond to of 8010

Hello Don, Silver oxides, which are recoverable via inexpensive leaching, are highly soluble and so tend not to persist in nature. Hence, most mineable silver is in sulfide form. Most sulfide deposits that are a) shallow and, b) high grade, have been discovered and mined out. Hence, available deposits are deeper and, mostly, grade at best, about 10 oz/ton. The economics, very roughly are that underground mining costs run US$30 - $60 per ton, milling costs about $10/ton and G&A and interest, local and payroll taxes, etc add another $5/ton for a minimum total of US$45/ton. With milling, smelting & refining recoveries at about 80% of gross ore grade, one gets paid for 8 ounces on a 10 ounce ore body. At $45/ton cost one needs $45 divided by 8, or about $5.60/oz to breakeven. Add in profit and the minimum cost rises to about $6.60/oz. Add to this capital and reclamation costs of another $2/oz and our minimum, all-in cost rises to around $8.80. What we look for, then, for a "buy" is a shallow, big tonnage, 20 oz/ton resource in a country with, in order of priorities, tasty beer, warm climate, good air connections, safe food and water, cheap wages (undergound mining being labor intensive), a government that is "easy" on environmental issues, etc. Shangri La, in mining terms. RH

To: Don Rohner who wrote (1140)	5/15/1998 7:59:00 AM
From: Bill Jackson	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 8010

Don, Shallow heap leach deposits can be mined more cheaply than underground mines, esp in warm friendly countries. Often there are gold and copper/zinc/cobalt credits to add to the mix. Look at Barricks Pierina. The large silver credit give them gold for $50 per ounce. Or the large gold credit gives them silver at $1.2 per ounce, or in between. Thereare many areas yet unexplored for silver or gold, so I expect a long period of relative stability. Possibly the explosion of electronic cameras will kill silver based photography over the next 5 years. Possibly xerography will kill silver based X-rays as well. Perhaps not. Bill