There has been a slew of positive global economic news lately, such as shipping routes returning to normal after the blockage in the Suez Canal, and President Biden’s expected unveiling of the next phase of his U.S. economic recovery in addition to a set of infrastructure proposals. Over the past couple of weeks, these positive recovery outlooks have created bearish sentiment on precious metal markets, but the process of recovering from the massive economic disruption caused by the public health crisis will be slow and bumpy, meaning there’s plenty of reason to see upside in silver’s longer term prospects. Meanwhile, relatively low silver prices could help shine the spotlight on silver companies like Blackrock Silver Corp. (TSXV:BRC) (OTC:BKRRF), Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE:EXK) (TSX:EDR), Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ:PAAS) (TSX:PAAS), First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSX:FR), and Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) (TSX:WPM) as they ramp up silver assets.
Blackrock Silver Corp. Develops Silver-Focused Assets
Recently, Vancouver-based exploration company Blackrock Gold Corp rebranded itself to Blackrock Silver Corp. (TSXV:BRC) (OTC:BKRRF) to better reflect the silver dominant nature of the Company’s flagship Tonopah West project in the Walker Lane trend in southwest Nevada, along with the company’s other silver-rich Nevada assets.
On March 18, Blackrock released the Company’s first high-grade intercepts from its 2021 program on the Tonopah West project. Highlights from the report include the intersection of a new vien immediately south of the known vein swarm at its DPB target with grades of 388 g/t silver or 1,003 g/t silver equivalent.
“Today’s results highlight the exciting upside potential this project holds as a new high-grade vein has been discovered just beyond the limits of where our resource definition program at our DPB target is currently underway,” Pollard said in Blackrock’s March 18 release. “With four drill rigs in operation, testing three target areas, our vision for the project continues to expand as it appears the potential for mineralization remains wide open.”
2021 is poised to be a big year for the Company as it aims to deliver a maiden resource on its Tonopah West property during Q4, which could offer significant re-rate potential. With 40,000 meters of drilling laid out during 2021, utilizing multiple drill rigs leading up to Blackrock’s maiden resource estimate, a significant amount of news flow is expected from this emerging silver company that pinpoints just why Nevada is still known as the “Silver State.”
Silver Focused Companies Saw Huge Benefit in 2020
As the global health crisis drove the economy into disarray, silver companies have seen windfalls from their focus on the precious metal. On January 7, Endeavour Silver Corp. (NYSE:EXK) (TSX:EDR) reported the company’s highest quarterly production in the last two years for quarter four 2020. The company also reported 1,117,289 ounces of silver production for the quarter.
Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ:PAAS) (TSX:PAAS) released its quarter four results on January 19, along with its results for all of 2020. For quarter four, the company reported record revenue of $430.5 million, and directly attributed the record results to precious metal rises due to the health crisis. The company produced 17.3 million ounces of silver for the year.
First Majestic Silver Corp. (NYSE:AG) (TSX:FR) released its quarter four consolidated financial results for the year and fourth quarter on January 1. The company reported a 21 percent revenue increase in the fourth quarter for total revenues of $117.1 million. The company noted an average silver price of $24.88 per payable silver ounce, a 43% increase compared to the same period in 2019.
Wheaton Precious Metals (NYSE:WPM) (TSX:WPM), a metal streaming company with significant silver assets, noted in its February 10 release that its portfolio demonstrated resilience throughout last year’s challenges thanks largely to its high-quality, low-cost precious metals assets. In 2021, the company forecasts significant increases in silver production.
Silver was an important source of stability throughout the challenges of 2020, much to the benefit of silver-focused companies. As 2021 puts the global economy on the bumpy road to recovery, companies like Blackrock Silver Corp. look set to continue benefiting.
For more information about Blackrock Silver Corp., click here.
Featured image: DepositPhotos © ras-slava
