Best Silver Stocks of 2016 on the TSX

Silver price has been on the rise in 2016 after it fared poorly in 2015. Prices have increased significantly year-to-date due to a weak US dollar, Brexit results and the US Federal Reserve announcements.
Silver didn’t fare well in 2015 dropping drastically from $18.29 an ounce at the beginning of 2015 to $13.83 early this year. But after the US election, silver jumped to as far as $18.84 and analysts forecast a lift throughout 2017.
In 2016, some of the best silver stocks on the TSX reached over 400 percent year-to-date gains. You can find them in the list below that was generated using The Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and does not include companies with a market cap of less than $50 million. Price and gains are as of January 3, 2017.

1. Northern Dynasty Minerals (TSX:NDM)

Price as of January 3, 2017: $2.59
Gain in 2016: 559.52 percent.
Topping the list of best silver stocks of 2016 is Northern Dynasty Minerals. The company owns 100% of the Pebble project, a copper-gold-molybdenum-silver deposit in southwest Alaska. It has been determined that the deposit contains 57 billion lb copper, 70 million oz gold, 3.4 billion lb molybdenum and 344 million oz silver as reported by the company.

2. Excellon Resources (TSX:EXN)

Price as of January 3, 2017: $1.77
Gain in 2016: 429.03 percent.
Excellon’s 100%-owned La Platosa Mine in Durango is Mexico’s highest grade silver mine, containing lead and zinc by-products. The company is also engaged in the exploration and evaluation of mining properties in Ontario and Quebec.
They report mining over 500,000 tonnes since production commenced in 2005. Their sales in the third quarter of 2016 reached 228,172 silver equivalent ounces and revenue of $4 million.

3. Silvercorp Metals (TSX:SVM)

Price as of January 3, 2017: $3.36
Gain in 2016: 374.24 percent.
Silvercorp is a low-cost silver-producing Canadian mining company with multiple mines in China. The Company is the primary silver producer in that country through the operation of over four silver-lead-zinc mines in the Ying Mining District in Henan Province.
They reported silver production of over 46 million ounces to date and lead-zinc production of over 689 million pounds to date. They also announced that their silver, lead and zinc sales were up 44%, 51%, and 27%, respectively, from the prior year period, to approximately 1.8 million ounces silver, 19.9 million pounds lead, and 5.9 million pounds zinc.

4. Gabriel Resources (TSX:GBU)

Price as of January 3, 2017: $0.56
Gain in 2016: 278.57 percent
In fourth place on our list of best silver stocks is Gabriel Resources, which is a Canadian-based resource company focused on permitting and developing its world class Rosia Montana gold and silver project in Romania. Rosia Montana has been mined for 2,000 years and most recently by the state until 2006.
There has been an ongoing controversy involving local residents about this development. But Gabriel Resources said the $1.5 billion project to build Europe’s largest gold mine would provide a major boost for Romania’s lagging economy and create hundreds of jobs for the Transylvania region.

5. Americas Silver (TSX:USA)

Price as of January 3, 2017: $3.75
Gain in 2016: 191.67 percent
Last on the list of best silver stocks is Americas Silver, which is a junior silver producer with assets in the Americas. The company owns and operates the Cosalá Operations in Sinaloa, Mexico and the Galena Mine Complex in Idaho, USA.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.