Although gold is Canada’s most valuable commodity, the country is the 13th largest producer of silver as of 2022 – with output increasing 32 per cent compared with 2021, according to GlobalData – which bodes well for investors of Canadian silver stocks.
During the forecast period 2022 to 2026, silver production in Canada is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 14 per cent.
When it comes to the silver price, the white metal has again had a tumultuous year starting at just under US$24 per ounce in January (see chart below). The metal dipped to a 2023 low in March at roughly $20 an ounce before reaching a year-to-date high of $26.06 per ounce in May.
Since then, the silver price has continued to fluctuate considerably – mostly in part because of economic factors, the U.S. dollar fluctuating and the Federal Reserve hiking interest rates.
With that being said, the northern nation is host to dozens of publicly listed Canadian silver stocks across its key stock exchanges, including the Toronto Stock Exchange, TSX Venture Exchange and Canadian Securities Exchange.
How to invest in silver stocks
Investing silver stocks can be done through different methods, including:
Investing in silver companies through an online trader or broker. Investing in a silver mining company is advantageous because should the silver price rise, it is also likely its earnings will rise with it
Through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). ETFs are a type of investment fund that is traded on a stock exchange that follows a portfolio of companies. Silver ETFs in particular track the price of silver and are often more liquid than the metal itself. Silver ETFs offer investors exposure to the silver price as well as companies in the space without investing in either/or directly.
Top 9 silver stocks in Canada
Despite market pressures, several Canadian silver stocks have had impressive gains year-to-date. The list includes nine companies focused on silver across each exchange listed above.
- Hercules Silver (TSXV:BIG)
- Minsud Resources (TSXV:MSR)
- Metallic Minerals (TSXV:MMG)
- Calibre Mining (TSX:CXB)
- Foran Mining (TSX:FOM)
- Gabriel Resources (TSX:GBU)
- Minco Silver Exploration (TSX:MSV)
- CMX Gold and Silver (CSE:CXC)
- Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM)
Hercules Silver
Market cap: C$140.09 million; current share price: $0.56
The first of Canadian silver stocks is Hercules Silver which is focused on exploring and developing its 100-per-cent-owned Hercules Silver Project in Idaho.
The project has roughly 4,256 acres in Washington County, which is roughly two and a half hours northwest of Boise International Airport, by highway. The Hercules Silver property is a low-risk developed asset that boasts more than 28,000 metres of drilling in more than 300 shallow historical drill holes and four other targets along strike.
Minsud Resources
Market cap: $146.08 million; current share price: $0.89
Minsud Resources is a mineral exploration company focused on exploring its flagship Chita Valley project in San Juan, Argentina. As one of the top Canadian silver stocks of the year, the company also holds a 100 per cent-owned portfolio of early-stage prospects including 6,000 hectares in the Santa Cruz Province in Argentina.
Notably, Mindsud holds 100 per cent interest in the La Rosita Project through its subsidiary, Minera Sud Argentina S.A. The project is a gold and silver prospect and is in the low sulfidation epithermal metallogenic province of the Deseado Massif, Patagonia, Argentina, within the area of Special Mining Interest in the Santa Cruz Province. The project is currently at an early exploration stage.
Metallic Minerals
Market cap: $51.96 million, current share price: $0.31
Metallic Minerals is another silver stocks option that is focused on copper, silver, gold and other critical minerals in the La Plata mining district in Colorado. The company is also focused on silver and gold in the high-grade Keno Hill and Klondike districts in the Yukon.
The company’s flagship project is the Keno Silver Project in the historic Keno Hill Silver District in the Yukon. It spans 171 square kilometres and is the second-largest land position in the district.
Notably, the region has produced more than 200 million ounces of silver at an average grade exceeding 1,300 g/t. Keno Hill is host to Hecla Mining’s Keno Hill mines, one of the highest-grade primary silver operations in the world, featuring an estimated life of mine production grade of 804 g/t.
Calibre Mining
Market cap: $1.47 billion; current share price: $1.87
Calibre Mining owns several operational open-pit and underground mines, two milling facilities, the El Limon and La Libertad mines, and a portfolio of exploration and development opportunities in Nicaragua, Central America. Calibre Mining is also engaged in the exploration and development of several concessions at its 100 per cent-owned Eastern Borosi Gold-Silver Project. It also holds a 100 per cent interest in Fiore’s Pan Mine, a producing heap leach gold operation.
Foran Mining
Market cap: $1.17 billion; current share price: $3.82
Foran Mining is focused on copper-zinc-gold-silver exploration and development and has eight properties under its belt spanning 140,000 hectares within the Hanson Lake District of eastern Saskatchewan and along the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt.
The company’s projects include the development of the McIlvenna Bay deposit, evaluation of the Bigstone deposit, and near near-mine exploration of several promising targets. McIlvenna Bay is a copper-zinc-gold-silver rich VHMS deposit, which is within the Flin Flon Greenstone Belt that extends from Snow Lake, Manitoba, through Flin Flon to its ground in eastern Saskatchewan.
Gabriel Resources
Market cap: $10.36 million; current share price: $0.01
Gabriel Resources is a silver stocks company focused on exploring and developing the Rosia Montana gold and silver project in Romania. The project’s exploitation concession license spans 2,388 hectares and includes four principal deposits, including: Cetate, Carnic, Orlea and Jig.
The company is also focused on the Bucium exploration concession, which is approximately five kilometres to the southeast of Rosia Montana in Western Transylvania and bordering the Rosia Montana exploitation permit. The project’s targets include the Rodu-Frasin (epithermal gold/silver) and Tarnita (porphyry copper-gold) deposits.
Minco Silver Exploration
Market cap: $12.51 million; current share price: $0.21
Minco Silver Exploration is focused on acquiring and developing silver properties and has been focused on the Fuwan Silver project since December 2005. The company is also focused on acquiring additional quality projects to diversify its portfolio.
The company’s Fuwan Silver project is near Guangzhou City, the capital of Guangdong Province, which is the fourth largest city in China with a population of roughly 13 million people.
The project is close to well-developed infrastructure thanks to its immediate access to road, water, rail, and other services that enable the company to advance the project at much lower capital costs compared with similar-sized projects around the world. To date, Minco Silver has explored only roughly 2.8 kilometres of the 10-kilometre strike-length.
CMX Gold and Silver
Market cap: $4.89 million; current share price: $0.07
CMX Gold and Silver is focused on the Clayton Silver Project in Custer County, central Idaho. Discovered in the late 1800s, the Clayton Silver Mine was historically one of the most active underground mines in the Bayhorse Mining District for lead, zinc, silver, copper and little gold.
In October 2022, CMX Gold and Silver completed its claims-staking program on the project when a total of 22 lode claims were surveyed and staked on federal Bureau of Land Management lands and roughly 450 acres were added. The staking increased the land position by 66 per cent, bringing the company’s total acreage covered to 1,131 acres. In total, 22 new claims were added and sit next to and surround the company’s patented claims covering the historic Rob Roy mine north of the patented Clayton claims.
Wheaton Precious Metals
Market cap: $33.68 billion; current share price: $73.66
Closing out our silver stocks list is Wheaton Precious Metals, one of the world’s largest precious metals streaming companies, which includes gold, silver, palladium and cobalt. It has streaming agreements for roughly 19 operating mines and 13 development-stage projects and has a wide range of assets including: Salobo mine, Antamina, Penasquita, Constancia, Sudbury, Stillwater, San Dimas and Voisey’s Bay.
In terms of its development assets, these include: Blackwater Project, Marmato Mine, Copper World Complex, Goose Project, Curipamba Project and others.
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