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Mining industry executives including the CEOs of First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) have sent a letter urging the Canadian government to designate silver as a critical mineral, primarily because it is needed for Canada’s national transition to a sustainable low-carbon and digital economy.
For a mineral to be considered for the critical minerals list, it must be essential to Canada’s economic or national security; be required for the shift to a sustainable low-carbon and digital economy; and contribute to Canada serving as a sustainable and strategic source of critical minerals for its international allies.
“While we believe that an effective argument can be made that silver meets all of the first three criteria, the most striking argument for silver as a critical mineral falls under the scope of the second criteria and its requirement as an input to the clean energy transition,” the industry reps said in their letter to Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Jonathan Wilkinson.
Global silver demand in 2023 was estimated at 1.17B oz, with the fastest growing industrial use in photovoltaics, which used 161.1M oz, 14% of global silver demand.
Generating 1 GW of solar capacity through PV requires 685K oz of silver on average, and the growing adoption of extensive solar facilities is boosting the demand for silver.
The open letter was signed by 20 executives, including First Majestic (AG) CEO Keith Neumeyer, Coeur Mining (CDE) President and CEO Mitchell Krebs, and The Silver Institute President and CEO Michael DiRienzo.
Front-month Comex silver for February delivery settled +0.3% on Thursday at $23.130/oz.
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