Silver mining in the United States

Silver mining in the United States began on a major scale with the discovery of the Comstock Lode in Nevada in 1858. The industry suffered greatly from the demonetization of silver in 1873 by the Coinage Act of 1873, known pejoratively as the "Crime of 73", but silver mining continues today.

United States mines produced 1,170 tons of silver in 2014, 17% of the silver it used, while 63% of consumption was imported, from Mexico, Canada, Peru and Chile, and the remainder was derived from recycling. Three US mines had silver as their primary product, and 39 mines reported silver as a byproduct of gold and base metals production. Alaska was the country's leading silver-producing state, followed by Nevada and Idaho.^[1]

Interest in silver mining has increased in recent years because of an increased price for the metal: the average silver price increased from $4.39 per troy ounce for the year 2001, to $13.45 per troy ounce for 2007.^[2] In 2011, silver prices rose to almost $49 per troy ounce in April before dropping to around $34 per troy ounce in late June. In March 2016, the silver price was around $15 per troy ounce.^[3][4]