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Silver has lost about half its value since peaking in January, but major silver producers still delivered higher profits during the third quarter.
Even after the slide, miners sold silver for roughly 60 to 80 percent more than they did a year earlier, enough for some producers to more than double or triple their net earnings.
However, that cushion is getting thinner. Silver swung between US$55.29 and US$70.26 an ounce during the quarter on the LBMA benchmark and finished at US$60.73, close to where it started. Furthermore, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates on September 16, pressuring precious metals broadly.
And high prices began to cost silver one of its biggest sources of demand: early in the quarter, a leading Chinese solar panel maker said it would start replacing silver with copper, following similar moves by other panel makers. The Silver Institute expects silver use in solar to fall 19 percent this year.
Mine supply offers little relief. The Silver Institute still projects a sixth straight market deficit in 2026, with global mine output flat. The third-quarter reports point the same way: Fresnillo, the largest producer in this group, cut silver output 11.6 percent, alongside other major producers also mining less silver than a year earlier.
Read on for details on Q3 earnings from major silver producers.
Pan American more than doubles net earnings, cuts gold guidance
Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS,NYSE:PAAS) reported Q3 net earnings of US$357 million, or US$0.86 per share, compared with US$169 million a year earlier.
The company ran its silver mines more cheaply than planned in the third quarter, but problems at its gold operations forced it to lower its full-year gold forecast.
Silver all-in sustaining costs (AISC) of US$11.21 an ounce came in below the company's quarterly outlook, and net earnings more than doubled from a year earlier to US$357 million. Pan American returned US$300 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks during the quarter.
The company now expects to produce 660,000 to 680,000 ounces of gold this year, below its original range of 700,000 to 750,000 ounces, and has raised its gold cost guidance by US$300 an ounce.
Most of the shortfall stems from the Jacobina mine in Brazil, where Pan American is managing seismicity and fixing ventilation and secondary egress deficiencies flagged in an inspection by Brazil's National Mining Agency. That work will leave the mine processing lower-grade ore for the rest of 2026, and the company said it is still assessing the impact on 2027 production.
Unplanned repairs to a grinding mill foundation at its Huaron mine in the fourth quarter, along with a higher gold-to-silver ratio at Cerro Moro, will also keep silver output at the low end of its 25 million to 27 million ounce guidance.
Falling grades cut Fresnillo's silver output
Fresnillo (LSE:FRES,OTCPL:FNLPF), which describes itself as the world's largest primary silver producer, is pulling less silver from the ground as ore grades at its key underground mines decline.
Attributable silver output fell 11.6 percent from a year earlier to 10.3 million ounces in the third quarter, and production has dropped in each successive quarter this year. Updated geological models at the Saucito mine confirmed narrower veins and grades that fall more steeply at depth.
At Juanicipio, which Fresnillo operates and co-owns with Pan American, silver grades fell by more than a fifth from a year earlier, a decline the company had anticipated. The end of the Silverstream contract also removed a source of ounces.
Fresnillo kept its 2026 forecast of 42 million to 46.5 million ounces of silver. With 32.4 million ounces produced through September, it needs about 9.6 million in the fourth quarter to reach the bottom of that range.
"Production of gold and silver was in line with expectations in the third quarter and we remain on track to meet our full-year guidance," Chief Executive Octavio Alvídrez said in the company's production report.
The flagship Fresnillo mine offered a counterpoint, lifting gold output 74.9 percent from a year earlier as grades exceeded what the company's geological model had predicted.
Hecla reins in Keno Hill as Greens Creek delivers record cash
Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) will run its Keno Hill mine well below capacity until it secures permit amendments it expects around mid-2029, a setback for an operation that has yet to reach commercial production and had just set a quarterly milling record.
The mine is running short of tailings storage, waste rock and water treatment capacity under its existing permits. Hecla plans to cut throughput to about 300 tons per day in the fourth quarter and lower it further from January 2027, holding that pace until the amendments arrive and the related infrastructure is built.
The company said the decision was not driven by cost and that more selective mining should limit the hit to silver output.
Greens Creek, in Alaska, generated a site-record US$147 million in free cash flow, lifting Hecla's total to a record US$151 million and leaving the company with US$692 million in cash and no debt outside finance leases.
Hecla is also studying a pyrite concentrate circuit at the mine that could recover 1 million to 1.2 million ounces of silver a year that now goes to tailings, with intermittent output possible from late 2027 if the project wins permits and final investment approval.
Hecla raised the low end of its 2026 silver guidance to 15.3 million ounces.
Coeur's Canadian acquisitions make gold its main business
Coeur Mining (TSX:CDE,NYSE:CDE) still produces more than 4 million ounces of silver a quarter, but its third-quarter results show how thoroughly gold now drives the business.
Silver accounted for 27 percent of revenue, against 66 percent for gold, after Coeur added the New Afton and Rainy River operations in Canada. The new mines helped lift revenue 77 percent from a year earlier to US$1 billion.
Silver output fell 12 percent to 4.2 million ounces, largely because of lower grades at Palmarejo in Mexico, where heavy rain also delayed deliveries of construction materials. Rain disrupted open-pit mining at Rainy River as well, and a conveyor belt failure in late August slowed New Afton until mid-September.
Coeur is returning much of its cash to shareholders, spending US$111 million on buybacks in the quarter, about 46 percent of free cash flow.
Chief Executive Mitchell J. Krebs said he expects "strong fourth quarter results to drive record full-year 2026 production and financial performance," including adjusted EBITDA of more than US$2 billion and free cash flow above US$1.3 billion at current prices. The company is targeting the low end of its production guidance ranges.
First Majestic settles old tax disputes as a new one shuts San Dimas
First Majestic Silver (TSX:AG,NYSE:AG) spent the third quarter clearing up old tax disputes with Mexico's tax authority, only to have a new dispute over taxes, this time with its own workers, shut its San Dimas mine.
The company paid US$36.8 million to settle two reassessments tied to legacy forward silver purchase agreements and said all assessments linked to those agreements are now resolved, pending administrative steps by the authority.
It has also agreed in principle on a framework to settle a separate legacy dispute over an advance pricing agreement previously obtained by Primero Empresa Minera.
At San Dimas, operations have been suspended since a labour dispute broke out on September 18. Local leaders of the National Union of Mine and Metal Workers want the company to cover workers' income tax on an annual production bonus; First Majestic says Mexican law requires all employees to pay their own.
The union declared a strike on October 8, First Majestic challenged its legality the next day, and the company expects a ruling in the second half of November. It has withdrawn San Dimas guidance in the meantime.
"While resolving the labour disruption at San Dimas is a priority, the company remains financially strong, supported by three producing operations that continue to perform at or above budget," Chief Executive Keith Neumeyer said.
Higher silver prices nearly tripled net earnings from a year earlier to US$74.5 million even as silver output fell 11 percent, and First Majestic ended September with US$1.23 billion in treasury.
Endeavour cuts Terronera costs
Endeavour Silver (TSX:EDR,NYSE:EXK) has lowered operating costs at Terronera, its newest mine in Mexico, every quarter this year, just not quickly enough to stay within its original budget.
Direct operating costs at the mine fell to US$155.52 per tonne in the third quarter from US$195.11 in the first, as Endeavour released contractors and shifted power generation from diesel to liquefied natural gas. The LNG transition took longer than expected, however, and an August blockade at the site cut throughput.
Endeavour now expects Terronera's costs to average US$170 to US$180 per tonne this year, above previous guidance.
"At Terronera, we are particularly encouraged by the steady improvements in grades, recoveries and operating efficiencies achieved over the past three quarters," Chief Executive Dan Dickson said.
Higher silver prices are changing the economics at the company's Guanaceví mine, where Endeavour can now economically mine lower-grade ore, a shift it expects to extend the mine's life. The company reset its 2026 silver guidance to 7.8 million to 8.1 million ounces after revising its Guanaceví forecast.
With revenue up 29 percent, Endeavour swung to pretax earnings of US$39.5 million from a loss a year earlier. It ended September with US$287.9 million in cash as it advances its Pitarrilla project.
Silvercorp's output slumps under China's new safety rules
Silvercorp Metals (TSX:SVM,NYSEAMERICAN:SVM) lost more than 40 percent of its silver output in its fiscal second quarter, the three months to September 30, as new safety rules in China forced it to overhaul safety systems at its mines.
The projects meant to diversify the company beyond China have run into delays of their own. At the Ying Mining District, its main operation, Silvercorp spent the quarter on safety upgrades required under new industry-wide regulations. The government has since inspected the work and approved a restart.
The smaller GC mine faces a longer wait. China's mine safety regulator in Guangdong province suspended it in late June after finding its development had strayed from a 2014 mine design, and its safety production permit expired at the end of August.
Silvercorp is targeting a restart in November 2027 and is weighing options for the mine, including a sale.
In Ecuador, unusually heavy rain linked to El Niño slowed construction at the El Domo project, prompting Silvercorp to raise its budget to US$298.2 million and target first production in November 2027.
Higher silver prices limited the financial damage, though revenue still fell 13 percent and adjusted earnings slipped to US$18.4 million from US$22.6 million a year earlier.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.