Russia's new silver mine Prognoz, one of two major projects coming online around the world this year, will start selling silver concentrate in the third quarter of 2024, its owner told Reuters on Wednesday.
Global silver output from mines is expected to rise by 4% this year to 843-million troy ounces, the highest level in six years, partly due to the commissioning of Prognoz, according to the Silver Institute and consultancy Metals Focus.
"The silver concentrate will reach the global market in the third quarter of 2024," said Polymetal, a Russian subsidiary of Polymetal International. The Russian subsidiary is due to change owner next month.
The open-pit mine will produce 5-7 million troy ounces of silver in silver concentrate on average a year, it added.
Ore mining at Prognoz, in Russia's far east, started in the second quarter of 2023. The ore is now being transported for processing to Polymetal's Nezhda concentrator located 675 km away from the mine.
Polymetal International said last week it would sell all its Russian assets, including Prognoz, to a Siberian gold miner to focus on its assets in Kazakhstan after the Russian ones were hit by Western sanctions.
The new owner has said that Polymetal's current Russian management will stay on.
Despite rising output from mines, silver - used in jewellery, electronics, electric vehicles and solar panels as well as an investment - faces a fourth year of structural market deficit in 2024.
Reuters' latest poll of analysts shows them expecting silver prices to average $24.94 per ounce in 2024. The spot price on Wednesday stood at around $22.3.
