Riding the rising silver market wave: Sunshine Silver (SSMR.US) with zero revenue aims to debut on NYSE, planning to raise $400 million to reopen the old Idaho mine.

Sunshine Silver Mining & Refining Co. has applied for an IPO in the United States, aiming to seek funds to restart a mine located in Idaho that previously produced silver, antimony, and other minerals. According to documents submitted by the company to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this Monday, as the owner and developer of the Sunshine mine and other facilities, the company incurred a net loss of $13.3 million in the three months ending March 31, 2025, with no revenue; in comparison, the net loss for the same period last year was $2.9 million. The documents show that Sunshine Silver plans to resume mining operations at the mine by 2028. Over the past 16 years, the company has invested approximately $208 million in expanding land holdings and upgrading mining infrastructure. Sources revealed that the IPO could raise around $400 million. Investors in the company include natural resources-focused investment firms Electrum Group and Ospraie Management. The documents state that after the IPO, Electrum is expected to continue holding over 50% of the outstanding shares. The offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Bank of Montreal. The company expects its stock to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "SSMR." Silver hits two-month high Against a backdrop of lackluster gold performance, silver prices recorded the largest single-day increase in months, breaking through key resistance levels and reaching a two-month high. On Monday, silver prices surged. Data showed that the spot silver price soared by about 7% in a single day, closing at $85.485 per ounce, marking the largest single-day increase in dollar value and percentage for silver since late February this year, also reaching the highest level since early March. The sharp rise in silver prices was not driven by a single factor but a combination of multiple factors at the same time. The most direct catalyst was from a trading perspective. Silver prices had steadily climbed over the past six weeks, breaking through technical levels closely watched by traders. According to Ryan McKay, senior commodities strategist at TD Securities, hedge funds and leveraged investors who had been on the sidelines for several weeks reignited their interest, while trend-following traders also jumped in. This concentrated influx of funds formed a bullish buying frenzy, quickly driving up prices. If technical buying provided the momentum, the reshaping of U.S.-China trade prospects injected soul into the rise. The biggest difference between the risk-averse rise in gold earlier and the rise in silver this time is that about 60% of silver demand comes from the industrial sector - including CECEP Solar Energy, electric vehicles, and semiconductors. These manufacturing supply chains largely depend on the U.S.-China tradelink. The market is focusing on U.S. President Trump's upcoming state visit to China this week. This will be the first visit by a U.S. president to China in nearly nine years. Investors are betting that the U.S. and China will extend the tariff truce agreement set to expire later this year, and may even reach a "trade committee" framework. For CECEP Solar Energy (silver paste is a core material) and the electronics industry, the thaw in trade relations means an increase in certainty about production capacity planning, directly boosting expectations for industrial silver consumption. As RJO Futures analyst John Caruso said, this rise is "not a safe-haven trade but a manufacturing outlook trade." While industrial properties dominate, silver's precious metal properties have not been dormant. Tensions between the U.S. and Iran remain ongoing, with Trump rejecting Iran's peace proposal and calling it a "junk document," while the prospects for navigation in the Strait of Hormuz remain uncertain. Although this geopolitical anxiety has not driven a significant rise in gold prices, it has provided solid support for silver prices. In addition, the fluctuations in energy prices and inflation concerns caused by Iranian conflicts have led some funds to seek silver as a hedge against inflation. Behind this rally is solid supply and demand fundamental support. Analysts point out that silver has faced supply shortages for several years, with the Silver Institute predicting a sixth consecutive year of supply deficits by 2026. The demand for silver in photovoltaic and AI infrastructure is rigid, and this long-term structural tension makes the market extremely sensitive to positive news, easily triggering a reassessment of prices.