Lima, May 14 (Inditop.com/EFE) Silver output in Peru, the world’s leading producer of the precious metal, totalled 17,000 metric tonnes between 2005 and 2009, and showed a 30 percent increase over the previous five-year period.
Peru led the world’s silver production in 2009 with 18 percent of the global output, followed by China, Mexico, Chile, Australia and Bolivia, Peru’s National Mining, Petroleum and Energy Society (SNMPE) said in a statement Thursday.
The rise in silver production between 2005 and 2009 was due to increased investment in the mining sector, which totalled $8.4 billion, Jose Miguel Morales, president of the SNMPE’s gold committee, said, adding that the silver output was 3,854 metric tonnes in 2009 and 862 tonnes in the first quarter of 2010.
Peruvian exports of refined silver during the period were valued at $2.11 billion, more than double the $973 million exported between 2000 and 2004.
