Why Miners With Positive Cash Flow Deserve YourMy Comments:
With Silvercrest at multi-year lows, it's hard to stay positive, even considering the companies many accomplishments this past year. It makes matters even worse knowing that Eric Fier is dealing with health related issues. He's one of the main reasons I'm an investor in the company and the "not knowing" of the extent of his illness gives me concern as a shareholder. But with that said, I'm still here and invested. Patiently awaiting for higher prices and a future dividend which needs to come soon in the not too distant future or I'm going to have to move on. Looking at the share price, it's at the same level it was back in 2007 when I first started investing in Silvercrest. Call me crazy but if I'm going to stick around for another 8 years I'm going to need some kind of dividend to keep me happy while waiting for the share price to appreciate. ;)
See below, Philip Ker has some positive remarks regarding Silvercrest.
Philip Ker interview at Seeking Alpha:
Philip Ker
TGR: Is the current U.S. dollar/Canadian dollar exchange rate sustainable?
PK: We should continue to see a stronger U.S. dollar in the near term, particularly with the Canadian economy's heavy exposure to oil. That sector has sold off considerably, thus putting negative pressure on the Canadian dollar.
TGR: The strong U.S. dollar is also helping companies with operations in Mexico. What are some companies you follow that are benefiting from a weaker peso?
PK: SilverCrest Mines Inc. (NYSEMKT:SVLC) comes to mind.
TGR: In Q4/14 SilverCrest saw its silver production increase 49%, while gold production dropped 11% year over year. Should investors be concerned about declining gold production?
PK: No, there's no need to be concerned at all. Over 2014, SilverCrest transitioned itself from an open-pit heap-leach producer to an underground conventional milling operation. Late in 2013, the operation was targeting higher-grade zones from deeper within the open pit as its reserves were becoming depleted and still it utilized a heap-leach recovery method prior to the commissioning of the new Merrill Crowe plant. So, although gold production came down slightly from Q4/13, the real story is the increased growth of silver production as a result of the higher recovery levels attributed to the new mill compared to heap leaching. We continue to be bullish on SilverCrest as it expands underground development into additional stopes of the ore body and possesses multiple sources of mill feed from the heaps or within the pit bottom to offset any potential lag in ore feed. 2015 is positioned to be another banner year for SilverCrest Mines.