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This week’s jobs data from the United States sparked expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus program into 2014, and in doing so pushed silver prices over $22.50.
Last week was fairly uneventful for silver, which moved only marginally higher after the United States avoided a debt default and ended its government shutdown. This week, however, other news from the US elicited a more positive reaction from the white metal.
On Monday, silver traded between $22.07 and $22.30 as investors waited for the release of US jobs data. Kitco’s Jim Wyckoff reported at the time that the release of that and other data “could make for more volatile price action in many markets that had seen a dearth of fresh U.S. economic/fundamental news” during the shutdown.
For silver, the data turned out to be positive. Tuesday morning, the white metal rose quickly from $21.97 to $22.81 on the news that US non-farm payrolls rose by 148,000 last month, lower than the 180,000 expected by analysts. The weaker number sparked expectations that the Federal Reserve will continue its stimulus program into 2014, according to Reuters.
Since then, silver has remained above $22.50, hitting a high point of $22.70 on Wednesday and a high of $22.83 today. And, while Capital Trading Group notes in its Wednesday report that “the optimism off the pushing back of tapering expectations seems to have run its course,” silver does not seem ready to move back downward just yet.
The white metal ultimately closed Thursday at $22.72.
The results are in…
Last week, when Silver Investing News asked readers whether increased Indian demand for silver is likely to push silver prices up, the overwhelming response was “yes.” Here’s a breakdown of the results:
- 71.69 percent of voters said higher Indian demand will push prices up
- 11 percent of voters said higher Indian demand will not make a difference
- 16.87 percent of voters said it’s too soon to tell
Stay tuned for future surveys and news on how the situation in India develops.
Company news
Aurcana (TSXV:AUN,OTCQX:AUNFF) released on Monday its production results for the third quarter of 2013, commenting that its silver equivalent production came to 748,294 ounces, up 4 percent from the year-ago quarter. For the first nine months of the year, the company put out a total of 2,158,858 ounces of silver equivalent, a 14-percent increase from the same period last year.
Also announcing results was US Silver & Gold (TSX:USA,OTCQX:USGIF), which on Tuesday provided production figures from its Idaho-based Galena mine complex. It said that the mine put out 529,860 silver equivalent ounces for the quarter — that is a 15-percent decline compared to the year-ago quarter. However, production for the first nine months of this year is up 3 percent compared to the first nine months of 2012.
On a different note, Odyssey Marine Exploration (NASDAQ:OMEX), which made headlines back in July when it recovered more than 61 tons of silver bullion from a shipwreck almost 3 miles deep, announced that to date, it has monetized more than 900,000 troy ounces of the silver it recovered from that wreck “at an average price per ounce of $23.56 for a gross total of $21.5 million.”
Junior company news
On Monday, Trevali Mining (TSX:TV,OTCQX:TREVF) announced that via underground drilling at the Magistral North deposit at its Peru-based Santander mine, it has intersected high-grade silver-lead–zinc mineralization at depth. Intercepts include 14.1 meters at 7.3 ounces per ton silver, 5.8-percent lead and 11.7-percent zinc, as well as 10.8 meters at 4.9 ounces per ton silver, 9.8-percent lead and 9.3-percent zinc.
The same day, SilverCrest Mines (TSXV:SVL,NYSEMKT:SVLC) completed the preliminary economic assessment( PEA) for its Mexico-based La Joya silver-copper–gold project. Highlights of the PEA include a nine-year life-of-mine plan with 15.5 million tonnes grading 50 grams per ton (g/t) silver, 0.33-percent copper and 0.19 g/t gold. Life-of-mine production is estimated at 34.8 million payable silver equivalent ounces consisting of 19 million ounces of silver, 53,000 ounces of gold and 93 million pounds of copper in concentrate.
The company also said a NI 43-101 compliant technical report is currently being completed and should be filed within 45 days of Monday’s release.
Wednesday, Kootenay Silver (TSXV:KTN) provided assay results from three further drill holes completed as part of the company’s drill and resource expansion program at its Mexico-based Promontorio silver project, noting that all three intercepted “significant” mineralization. Highlights include hole DH 191, which returned 183 g/t silver equivalent over 25 meters, including 305 g/t silver equivalent over 5 meters and 325 g/t silver equivalent over 3 meters.
This morning, Oremex Silver (TSXV:OAG) and its Mexican subsidiary revealed that they have entered into an agreement with First Majestic Silver under which First Majestic has the option to acquire, in exchange for $1.5 million, “an undivided 100% registered and beneficial title” to Oremex’s Chalchihuites property, as well as Oremex’s interest in the Navidad property. Oremex said it considers those properties non-core assets.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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