5 Top Silver News Stories of 2019

The silver price has seen relatively consistent upward motion during the second half of 2019, finally breaking through the US$19 per ounce level for the first time in years in September. 

Overall, the white metal has put on an impressive performance over the last 12 months, and many investors believe it’s primed to climb even further.  

It remains to be seen what 2020 will bring for the market — for now, let’s take a look at what happened this past year. Scroll down to see the list of our most popular silver news stories of 2019.

1. Randy Smallwood: Silver Always Lags Gold, but Wait Until it Moves

First on our list of top silver news stories in 2019 is an interview with Randy Smallwood, president and CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM,NYSE:WPM), at this year’s Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention.

When asked about the white metal, Smallwood told the Investing News Network (INN), “Silver always lags gold, but when it moves it will outperform.” Smallwood proclaimed that he was even more bullish on silver than he was on gold because “(there are) better fundamentals behind silver.”

Read on to get more of Smallwood’s thoughts on the factors supporting silver. 

2. Lobo Tiggre: If Gold Goes Bananas, Silver Will Too

INN spoke with Lobo Tiggre, CEO of Louis James LLC, at the Sprott Natural Resource Symposium in July. He stated that market watchers should keep an eye on silver as the gold price continues to climb.

Tiggre added that while the yellow metal is often more popular with market participants, silver has a potentially even brighter future. “It’s well known … how silver tends to lag gold. Gold moves first and then silver more than catches up,” Tiggre said. “If gold goes bananas, silver will go bananas — no question in my mind, and it will go more bananas than gold.”

Click here to read his other notions on the white metal, as well as his thoughts on the best-performing stocks in his portfolio at the time, which happened to be silver equities.

3. Silver Rides Gold’s Coattails to Push Past US$18

Third on our list of top silver news stories of the past year is an article surrounding the white metal’s first significant price gain in 2019. 

On August 27, the silver price finally broke through the US$18 level thanks to ongoing US-China trade war concerns and support from gold’s rally around the same time. Aside from the trade war, factors such as interest rate cuts led to increased demand for the metal.

“It’s obvious that the US-China trade dispute is a big driver for gold right now. But I think silver’s significant outperformance is a clear sign that monetary concerns are also sparking demand, and that the rally will be a long-term, secular move as a result,” Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter, told INN.

Read on to get more of Lundin’s thoughts on silver.

4. Will M&A Hit the Silver Space Next?

With the trend of major mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the gold space, investors wanted to know: could it happen in silver as well?

In this top story of 2019, INN chatted with five industry insiders during this year’s PDAC convention and got their thoughts on the chances of the silver space adopting that same strategy.

When speaking with these industry experts, it was obvious that they fell into two camps — those who were hopeful and could envision the possibility of consolidation within the silver space and those who could not see the plausibility of it, given the white metal’s price at the time.

Find out who we spoke with and what they had to say about silver M&A by clicking here.

5. First Majestic Silver Sets Production Record in 2018

Our final top story of 2019 is about First Majestic Silver (TSX:FR,NYSE:AG), which revealed that it had a record-setting 2018, increasing its full-year silver production by 37 percent from 2017.

The company released its production results for Q4 and the full 2018 year in a press release on January 14, stating that total production consisted of 11.7 million ounces of silver, 111,084 ounces of gold, 16.1 million pounds of lead and 5.7 million pounds of zinc.

“First Majestic had a record year in 2018 producing 22.2 million silver equivalent ounces following the successful acquisition and integration of the San Dimas silver/gold mine,” said Keith Neumeyer, president and CEO of the company.

Read on to discover more details on the silver miner’s record-breaking quarterly results.

What were your favorite silver news stories in 2019? Let us know in the comments.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Nicole Rashotte, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.