SilverSeek reported that falling yields are becoming a big problem for the silver industry because yield declines indicate that high-grade silver production is being replaced by low-grade supply that is more expensive.

As quoted in the market news:

Pan American Silver was producing silver at 7.4 oz/t in 2005, but by 2012 this had fallen to 5.1 oz/t (this is excluding the Dolores open-pit mine which would drop the average yield down to 2.9 oz/t). Furthermore, Hochschild’s average silver yield declined from 12.4 oz/t in 2005 to only 6.7 oz/t in 2012. I could go on and on.
What we are witnessing here is the evaporation of high-grade silver production only to be replaced by a much more expensive low yielding supply. This will only become more difficult each passing year. As costs to mine silver continue to rise in the future, so will the price of silver.

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