MINERS

Coeur takes 'once in a lifetime opportunity'

More silver consolidation could be in the future as companies scramble to get access to primary silver assets in as the metal price rises, Mitchell Krebs, President & CEO of Coeur Mining told Mining Journal. Coeur's US$1.7 billion all-stock bid for SilverCrest Metals and its high-grade Las Chispas mine in Sonora, Mexico, comes hot on the heels of First Majestic Silver's $970 million bid for Gatos Silver and its Los Gatos mine in Chihuahua. "Across the metals complex in silver, it's a very, very small universe. There are not a lot of primary silver assets out there, like Las Chispas," said Krebbs.