First Majestic shares rise as it gets into the minting business

Shares of precious metals producer First Majestic Silver (TSX: FR; NYSE: AG) were up 5% on Friday after it announced it has opened a 100%-owned and operated minting facility in Nevada.

“The decision to open our own mint was made to ensure our bullion store has adequate supplies in order to fulfill customers demand,” president and CEO Keith Neumeyer said in news release on Thursday.

The Canadian miner noted that “First Mint,” as it is called, will expand upon its existing bullion sales through vertically integrating the production of investment-grade fine silver.

The opening of its own minting unit, First Majestic said, will allow the company to sell a much larger portion of its silver production directly to shareholders and customers, reducing production costs and expediting delivery time. 

“Last year, we sold over 440,000 ounces of silver bullion, generating over $11 million in revenue,” Neumeyer said. “However, sales could have been substantially higher had we not been constrained by limited supply from our minting partners.”

The Vancouver-based company said First Mint will operate “some of the most innovative” processing equipment in the precious metals industry. These include an environmentally friendly flameless tunnel, which uses significantly less electricity and releases fewer emissions when compared to traditional minting processes.

The company, which has mines in Mexico and the U.S., expects the new mint to begin production of silver bullion products in the fourth quarter of 2023.

In a research note issued on Thursday before the mint announcement, BMO Capital Markets silver analyst Kevin O’Halloran said BMO had reinstated coverage of First Majestic and gave it a market perform rating and a $8.25 target price. 

“The company trades at 2.2x our NAV estimate, making it the highest valued amongst silver peers on a P/NAV basis,” he said. 

Though operations at its Jerritt Canyon mine in Nevada were suspended in March, O’Halloran said he expects more growth in the company in 2026 when the mine returns to production. 

First Majestic shares rose as high as 5% to $7.95 apiece on Friday morning in Toronto, valuing the company at $2.2 billion. Its shares traded in a 52-week window of $6.90 and $13.04.