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- <text id=91TT0630>
- <title>
- Mar. 25, 1991: Business Notes:Mexico
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1991
- Mar. 25, 1991 Boris Yeltsin:Russia's Maverick
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- BUSINESS, Page 51
- Business Notes
- MEXICO
- Precious Glut
- </hdr><body>
- <p> At $4.11, the price of a troy ounce of silver is down more
- than $1 since late last August. With an international glut and
- depressed prices rubbing up against high production costs,
- Mexico, the world's largest silver producer, has had to close
- down more than 50 mines this year. Hardest hit are the states
- of Zacatecas and Guanajuato, where silver mining is "on the
- verge of collapse," according to Jose Valdes, president of the
- Guanajuato Miners' Association. Officials expect this year's
- national output to be 63 million troy ounces, down 11% from
- 1990.
- </p>
- <p> To put the shine back in the tarnished industry, the Mexican
- Chamber of Mines is considering minting 20,000-peso silver
- coins (worth about $6.75). Another idea is to lower the
- controlled price for the local handicrafts market. But
- silversmiths say such an action would have little effect at the
- retail level, since silver makes up only a small part of their
- overall costs.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
-