Quartermain named Silver Institute president

The Silver Institute recently elected Silver Standard Resources (SSO-T, SSRI-Q) president Robert Quartermain as its next president.

Quartermain has 15 years’ experience in the silver market and about 30 years in mining. He was a unanimous choice among Silver Institute members.

“His experience and knowledge of the industry will serve the silver community well,” says Michael DiRienzo, executive director and secretary of the Silver Institute.

Established in 1971, the non-profit Silver Institute’s main mandate is to increase demand for silver. Industrial demand for silver saw a fifth consecutive year of growth in 2006 and the annual average silver price, led by growing investor demand, rose by a remarkable 58% to US$11.55 per oz. — levels not seen in more than 25 years.

“Through this position, and in my role as president of Silver Standard, I am committed to continuing industry-wide education on the ever-increasing value and uses of silver,” Quartermain says.

Silver Standard has been a member of the Silver Institute since 2003, the year in which Quartermain was also first elected a member of the Silver Institute’s board of directors and executive committee. In 2005, the board elected Quartermain as its vice-president.

Quartermain began his career as an exploration geologist for U.S. Steel (X-N) and AMAX, prior to joining the Teck Group in 1981. In 1985, he took over as president of Vancouver-based Silver Standard and helped it grow. The company now controls the largest in-ground silver resource of any publicly traded silver company.

With its large base of silver resources, Silver Standard is moving ahead with its first open-pit operation in Argentina. The latest feasibility study showed that the Pirquitas project could produce almost 10 million oz. of silver per year, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Silver Standard has other properties in Peru, Mexico, Canada, the U.S., Australia, and Chile.