Top producers push for silver’s inclusion as a critical mineral in Canada and US

Top producers of metallic are pushing for nan inclusion of nan metallic connected nan database of captious minerals successful Canada and nan US.

In a letter sent connected Wednesday to nan Canadian Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Jonathan Wilkinson, nan CEOs of 19 miners, including apical producers Coeur Mining, Hecla Mining, and First Majestic Silver, opportunity that considering metallic a captious mineral would position nan state to beryllium a supplier of prime for strategical allies.

In December 2023, Natural Resources Canada opened a nationalist commentary play for projected updates to Canada’s Critical Minerals list and methodology. One of nan criteria utilized is that nan mineral must beryllium basal for nan nationalist modulation into a “low c and integer economy”.

“Silver is identified arsenic nan champion electrical conductor, nan champion metallic thermal conductor, and nan champion reflective material. These qualities make metallic an basal and irreplaceable constituent for galore business and technological applications,” nan missive reads.

The request for technologies specified arsenic star powerfulness has led to increasing business request for silver.

In 2023, world metallic request was estimated to beryllium 1,167 cardinal ounces (Moz), of which 576.4Moz (50%) was business use. Photovoltaics demanded 161.1 Moz successful 2023, aliases 14% of nan world metallic demand.

Silver is besides a communal constituent of atomic reactors. In nan letter, nan miners reason that pinch Canada joining different countries astatine COP28 to commit to tripling atomic power capacity by 2050, nan request for metallic successful atomic is besides apt to increase.

The metallic is besides utilized successful electrical contacts and connectors successful EVs and hybrids. As fleets progressively move toward electrification, request for metallic successful nan automotive manufacture is expected to increase.

In nan letter, nan mining CEOs opportunity that a misconception astir metallic readiness is nan main logic why nan metallic has been excluded arsenic a captious mineral.

“Researchers from astir nan globe person raised nan siren that metallic is simply a imaginable bottleneck successful nan modulation to a low-carbon system owed to proviso limitations, disruptions to proviso chain, title for different uses, and accrued demand,”

“Unfortunately, nan estimation of metallic arsenic a readily available, budget-friendly precious metallic has led to misconceptions that person to day blocked argumentation alignment pinch world consensus.”

A caller database of captious minerals for Canada is expected to beryllium published earlier summertime 2024.

According to Jillian Lennartz, director, ESG for First Majestic Silver, written questions astir nan methodology adopted by nan US Geological Survey person besides been submitted to a House of Representatives subcommittee expressing concerns astir nan USGS’s methodology for its critical minerals list and offering suggestions for improvement.

“We besides had nonstop calls pinch nan Department of Energy (DOE) astir their astir recent assessment and expressed our interest pinch silver’s omission. They admitted that based connected their methodology metallic was not quantitatively assessed, and requested we taxable our concerns successful penning for their review,” Lennartz told MINING.COM.

The National Mining Association and nan Silver Institute besides sent a missive to nan DOE successful October past twelvemonth arguing that nan magnitude of metallic successful proved aliases probable reserves does not meet nan projected request and that metallic recycling is improbable to supply a important worldly stream.

Questioned astir a imaginable inclusion of silver, a root astatine nan USGS said that each minerals for nan 2025 database are being evaluated based connected formulas. The database and methodology are expected to beryllium released successful nan national registry later this year.