Top 10 Countries with Largest National Silver Reserves

Although gold always seems to glitter to the top of the news, silver is quickly becoming the most valuable precious metal for essential industries. It is a critical resource for the electronics, medical, and—most recently—solar energy industries.

Thus, countries that count major silver reserves – the amount of silver within their borders that is eligible to be mined economically – are set to be big names in precious metals for years to come. So, this page is a resource for you to know which countries have the most silver in reserve.

However, please note that this page is not focused on silver production – a separate issue. Similarly, the countries with major silver reserves are not necessarily the countries with stores of gold. So, let’s talk about the heavies when it comes to silver reserves.

Top Countries by Silver Reserves

The countries below are the owners of the largest silver reserves on the planet. However, please note that the aggregate amount of reserves in the rest of the world are quite significant. If the ‘rest of the world’ were considered a single country, it would rank sixth on the list.

Incidentally, India holds the 11th-largest reserve in the world. Its reserve is 8 metric tons.

Detailed Analysis of Top 5 Countries

As you can see, there’s a wide gulf between the 5 countries with the largest silver reserves and the five countries lower on the list. These five countries collectively hold almost 69%, or more than two-thirds, of the world’s silver stores.

It’s important to understand the relationship that these countries have with silver. All five of them are top producers of silver as well, although their order on the production side does not necessarily match their position on the reserve list. So, let’s talk about the silver stored in each of these countries’ mines, along with its handling of production.

Peru: 17.54% of Global Reserves

Peru is the second-largest silver producer in the world, trailing only Mexico. Unlike Mexico, Peru is sitting on the largest amount of silver reserves in the world, with roughly 110,000 metric tons of silver waiting to be mined. It is home to four of the top 30 producing mines in the world – the Antamina, the Yauli, the Toromocho, and the Immaculada.

Overall, production numbers from these and other mines in Peru have been relatively flat for the past few years. The reserve numbers suggest that Peru may be poised to overtake Mexico as the top silver producer in the future. However, its mining efficiency needs to improve, as its production numbers don’t reflect its massive stores.

Australia: 14.99% of Global Reserves

Australia has the second-largest reserve of silver in the world. It is also the sixth-most prolific producer of silver in the world. Its Cannington mine in Queensland is the eighth-most productive in the world and continues to churn out fine silver year after year – as an after-product.

What Cannington produces is galena, a lead derivative that happens to be rich in silver at this location. Thus, much of Australia’s silver is pulled from this mineral.

The Cannington is the top mine in the country, and its production numbers are increasing. Australia at-large is also producing slightly more silver on a year-over-year basis, and Australia may be better positioned to increase its production numbers using technology than the other countries.

Russia: 14.67% of Global Reserves

Russia has the third-largest reserves of silver in the world. It is also tied with Australia and Bolivia as the sixth-largest producer of silver in the world and produces 1,200 metric tons of the shiny white metal annually.

The bedrock of Russia’s silver industry is its massive Dukat mine in the far eastern portion of the country, which accounts for a massive portion of Russia’s reserves. The Dukat mine is also a major gold producer for Russia.

In addition, Russia has discovered large new veins of silver in recent years, so the country may be poised to be a bigger player in the world silver market soon.

China: 11.48% of Global Reserves

China is a massive country with massive reserves of silver. However, on a per-capita basis, it may be on the downslope of its recovery of the metal.

While no other country is really close to Mexico in terms of annual silver production, China is the second-largest producer and one of only three countries in the world to mine more than 3,000 metric tons of silver annually.

However, it has only an estimated 72,000 metric tons remaining to mine, which may not bode well for long-term success. Interestingly, China’s production is the result of a multitude of mines rather than the vast contribution of a single mining operation. Its largest mine, the Ying, only accounts for about a sixth of the country’s total output.

Poland: 10.05% Global Reserves

The last member of the top 5 is Poland, which may seem an odd entrant on the list to some. However, both its silver production and reserves place the unassuming eastern European country in the top five on both lists. Poland annually mines more silver than Russia or Australia.

Much of Poland’s numbers stem from the presence of the world’s top silver mine within its borders. The KGHM mine in Lubin produces the lion’s share of Poland’s silver and is the home of many of Poland’s 63,000 metric tons of silver reserves.

Factors Influencing Silver Reserves

The location of silver deposits may seem curious. After all, its top producers are spread across the world, not clustered together in a massive “district.”

Like all metals, silver is a product of the Earth’s mantle. Thus, it comes to the surface because of plate tectonics and the seams in the earth’s crust formed by the interaction of the plates floating on the molten mantle.

So, it’s not terribly surprising that Mexico and Peru – the two largest producers of silver – are located on the Ring of Fire – the Pacific Ocean’s rim known for its earthquakes and, more importantly, volcanic activity. By that rationale, though, the silver in intraplate areas like Poland and China may actually be older and a product of previous eons.

Now, one interesting fact about silver is that it is rarely found in a pure form. Instead, it is usually found as part of a copper, lead, or zinc alloy. Thus, part of the difficulty that some countries experience with their mining of silver is that they might not find it so easy to separate the silver from the other materials.

By contrast, those that can separate out the silver can find themselves at the top of the market. Australia, for instance, is a top producer of silver thanks to its ability to separate the shiny white metal from galena, a lead-based mineral.

The Economic Importance of Silver Reserves

Needless to say, the presence of silver reserves within a country’s borders is a boon to its national economy. For many of the same reasons that buying silver makes sense for the individual investor, silver reserves can buoy and backstop the rest of the country’s industries.

Silver, like gold, is a tangible store of value. It has been used as such for thousands of years and can offer a bulwark against inflation for a country’s currency and economy.

Silver can also give developing economies legitimacy with respect to their trade negotiations with other countries. The presence of silver reserves can draw interest and investment, both of which are crucial injections to the health of the economy.

Future Outlook

One thing to understand about the silver reserves mentioned above is that they are estimates. Because silver is embedded within the earth, it is literally impossible to count every single ounce of silver locked in a country’s ore.

Silver reserves are calculated using several different methods. Primarily, geologists take samples from the silver veins, analyze the silver content in each sample, and extrapolate the total amount of silver based on the volume of the mine itself.

Of course, the distribution of silver through a mine is not consistent. So, the scientists involved must also take the variability of the silver into consideration – along with how economically feasible it is to recover all the silver in a mine.

However, technology and technique are always evolving. The amount of available ore may increase or decrease dramatically as new innovations make the estimation more accurate.

The roster of countries on this list is not static by any means. It is entirely possible that new locations may arise and supplant some of the top areas listed above.

Annual Silver Production by Country

We have already indicated that many of the same countries with the highest reserves of silver are also some of the world’s top producers. After all, it makes sense that the countries that have the silver are going to be the ones mining it.

However, it’s not a 1:1 correlation. The country rankings for silver production do not line up exactly with the list of silver reserves. So, here’s a list of the top 10 countries that produce the most silver on an annual basis:

1. Mexico – 6,400 metric tons
2. China – 3,400 metric tons
3. Peru – 3,100 metric tons
4. Chile – 1,400 metric tons
5. Poland – 1,300 metric tons
6. Australia – 1,200 metric tons (tie)
7. Bolivia – 1,200 metric tons (tie)
8. Russia – 1,200 metric tons (tie)
9. United States – 1,000 metric tons
10. Kazakhstan – 990 metric tons

There’s Mexico, then there’s China and Peru, then there’s everyone else. Mexico benefits from two of the largest mines in the world, and we’ve already discussed how China and Peru make their numbers happen. However, Mexico does not have nearly the estimated reserves that Peru has, so Peru may overtake Mexico as the world leader for silver mining in the future.

Final thoughts

Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good – even when you’re a country. Some countries have been fortunate enough to discover great stores of silver inside their borders.

For some countries, the presence of silver reserves can help to lever their economy and their place on the world stage. The precious metal can backstop the country’s currency and guard or hedge against inflation.

However, like talent in people, it’s not what silver you have that matters – it’s what you do with it. So, the countries that figure out how to mine their silver economically are the ones poised to benefit most from it.

Bear in mind that technology is changing the story for many different views of the world. There is a decent chance that a vast repository of silver lies dormant and undiscovered in a country lower on this list – or not at all.

So, even though the countries above are top dogs right now, there’s no guarantee that they will remain in these positions. The best thing to do is keep an eye on the latest reports from trusted sources in the industry.