The Largest Silver Mines In The US Are In These Unexpected Places

Precious metals are consistently on the minds of many investors. Gold, silver, and even copper bullion help provide stability to portfolios through lean times in the stock market. Investing in bullion adds a shiny, feel-good element to your physical holdings, but not all investments in the silver arena have to revolve around the commodity itself. It's always worthwhile to chase these opportunities back to their source, and, in the case of silver production, that tends to be Alaska. The top two American producers of silver, Greens Creek Mine and Red Dog Mine, are found in the state — delivering a combined estimate of 16.25 million ounces of the metal in 2023, which is almost double the amount produced by the next three most-productive mines. 

Much like the nation's largest deposits of gold, Nevada is also heavily represented in silver reserves as home of the third top silver producer, Rochester Mine. The mine produced 4 million ounces of silver in 2023, and is followed by Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho and Kennecott Copper Project in Utah as the fourth and fifth top silver producing mines in America. As is also the case with gold-focused investment strategies, you can buy into components of the market involved in mineral extraction, manufacturing with the metal, and more. Silver mining companies are frequently a point of interest in this arena. With the precious metal acting as a primary resource in the fabrication of solar panels and even medical device manufacturing, there's a lot to like about the industry as a whole.

Historically, when the market begins to show cracks in its often-bullish stance, gold and bond values often start to rise. The same goes for silver assets, and for many savers, silver actually provides a better investment option than its primary counterpart because it's priced at a much lower overall cost basis. Gold is hovering above $4,000 per ounce, as of late October 2025, while silver sits at a much more approachable rough mark just under $50. Both commodity assets behave in a roughly similar manner, historically, as well. This means that an investor looking to get into precious metals to hedge other investments can frequently anticipate either metal to perform roughly the same, although looking long term, gold appreciates faster and offers more stability, on the whole.

Beyond direct investments in silver as a commodity, the industry acts as an interesting place to park some of your capital. Some of the largest mining operations focused on extracting silver include the Mexican firm Industrias Penoles SAV de CV, sporting a revenue figure just a tick above $6 billion, and Canada's Pan American Silver Corp with a $2.52 billion revenue figure. It should be noted that IPOAF trades like a penny stock on the OTC market, even with its market price at roughly $40 per share as of late October. The United States' largest gold mine, Greens Creek Mine is owned by Hecla Mining and is expected to operate until 2037. The company is NYSE-listed (HL) and trades at roughly $13 per share with a P/E ratio – a critically important stock market indicator – of about 81.

Beyond the immensely productive Greens Creek Mine in Alaska — which produced some 9.96 million ounces of silver on its own in 2023 — the Red Dog Mine produced 6.29 million ounces in 2023. Red Dog is also found in Alaska, and it's owned by Teck Resources. NYSE:TECK sports a P/E ratio of 25 and an average trading volume significantly smaller than some others in the market. This signals a potentially slower pace of pricing change, which indicates lower liquidity, but potentially better price stability in the short term.

Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) is another big name in the industry, operating the Rochester Mine in Nevada, America's third largest silver producer. The outlet is both a gold and silver mining outfit, potentially delivering quality exposure for investors across this pair of high value commodity assets. CDE sports an average volume standing between the other two companies highlighted here, with a P/E ratio of 45. Coeur's market cap is currently pegged at $12.08 billion, while Hecla's market cap stands at $8.08 billion and Teck Resources' market cap is $21.2 billion.