Silver production is mainly categorized into mining and recycling. Since most silver mineral resources are mixed with other minerals, mined silver can be produced from an independent silver mine or as a byproduct of refining copper, lead, zinc and other base metals. Recycled silver are collected from solid waste containing silver (such as waste residue, scrap, etc.) or from plating solution for treatment of precious metal surface and from waste fixing solution in photographic industry.

The world’s mined silver is produced mainly in countries and regions where there’re relatively abundant silver resources, while recycled silver is produced mainly in big silver-consuming countries. Currently, China, Peru, Mexico, Australia, Bolivia, Russia, Chile, the United States, Poland, Kazakhstan are the world's 10 largest silver-producing countries.  According to statistics from the World Silver Institute and the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, the 10 countries produced 19,268 tons of mined silver, accounting for more than 80% of the global total. China’s mined silver is mainly the byproducts from refining copper, lead and zinc, while globally, independent mining, byproducts from zinc and lead refining, and byproducts from gold and copper refining are the three main sources for mined silver production.

Global mined silver and recycled silver production from 2001-2010 （Unit: ton）

　　　　　　　Source：GFMS