Silver Above $60: Why the Bull Market May Be Far From Over | Lon Shaver (Silvercorp Metals)
Summary
Silver holds above $60 despite summer doldrums, with constrained new mine supply and durable industrial demand supporting the bull case, argues Silvercorp president Lon Shaver.
Silvercorp's all-in sustaining cost of roughly $14 to $18 per ounce insulates margins from energy cost inflation and lets profits widen sharply at higher realized silver prices.
Bringing a new mine from discovery to first production can stretch 5 to 20 years once permitting, community negotiations, and capital intensity are factored in, so today's tight silver supply is unlikely to ease quickly.
Silvercorp closed a 6 million ounce gold acquisition in Kyrgyzstan in January and is now drilling two campaigns totaling 110,000 meters to grow resources ahead of a planned 2027 PEA.
In its most recent quarter Silvercorp realized about $69 per ounce of silver after smelter deductions, highlighting the margin leverage of high-grade lead concentrates even at lower headline prices.
Key points on Silvercorp Metals Inc
- Silvercorp realized roughly $69 per ounce of silver in the quarter ended June 2026, net of smelter deductions on its high-grade lead concentrate sold to smelters.
- All-in sustaining cost per ounce of silver was $18 in the latest quarter and just over $14 for the prior full year, leaving Silvercorp unusually cushioned against input-cost inflation versus higher-cost peers.
- The Ying Mining District in China still carries a 17-year reserve life based on a technical report filed a couple months before the August 18, 2026 recording, with resources on top of reserves.
- Revenue rose 70% year-over-year in the most recent quarter, with silver accounting for 77% of revenue, giving the company direct exposure to moves in the silver price.
- Silvercorp entered a 6 million ounce-plus gold project in Kyrgyzstan in January 2026 and kicked off a 110,000-meter drilling campaign across two phases, targeting a PEA in 2027 and a feasibility study in 2028.
Lon Shaver's takeaways
- Top takeaway Shaver argues that silver holding above $60 through August 2026 is bullish when reframed against a multi-year perspective, because a year earlier this level would have looked like a sustained top.
- He frames mining-company valuations as being whipsawed by sector flows rather than fundamentals, and points to Silvercorp's low cost structure as the reason his company should not be lumped in with high-cost producers.
- He frames supply as structurally constrained because permitting and construction cycles for new mines can run up to 20 years, so the gap between industrial demand for silver and base metals and new supply should persist.
- He outlines a multi-jurisdiction growth plan, with construction underway on a starter project in Kyrgyzstan, a larger second-phase Kyrgyzstan project to be funded by starter-project cash flow, and expansion activity at the long-standing Ying District in China.
- He argues jurisdiction risk cuts both ways: a safe-looking jurisdiction that will never permit a mine can destroy as much value as an off-the-beaten-path jurisdiction with a receptive community can create.
Craig Hemke's takeaways
- Top takeaway Hemke argues that silver staying above $60 through the summer of 2026 is significant because prior excursions above $50 in 1979 and 2011 reversed immediately, and this move has not.
- He contends the mining sector has been sold off indiscriminately, with Silvercorp down roughly 25% from its February high despite its low-cost structure, so investors should look past the sector trade and underwrite each producer individually.
- He urges viewers to do their own homework and identify companies that control input costs rather than ride the broader mining squeeze narrative.
- He echoes Eric Sprott's framing that primary silver miners are scarce and pitches Silvercorp as a notable option for silver-specific exposure.
Eric Sprott's takeaways
- Top takeaway Hemke repeatedly cites Sprott's long-standing complaint that genuine primary silver miners are hard to find, using it as the framing to highlight Silvercorp as one of the few direct plays.