With gold and silver prices having fallen in the last five years, Inland Northwest industry representatives say they aren’t anticipating the trend to reverse itself in 2016.

The current price of gold per troy ounce is about $1,070 per troy ounce, down from more than $1,900 five years ago. The price of silver also has fallen in the last five years from $49 per troy ounce to just over $14 per ounce, says Laura Skaer, executive director of the American Exploration & Mining Association.

Gold Reserve Inc. President Doug Belanger says global political and economic instability in several countries, and a presidential election in the U.S., has created an environment of uncertainty in the mining industry. “And I don’t see that going away anytime soon,” he says.

Skaer says, “When you start talking to people, you quickly realize everybody has been through anywhere from one to four cyclical turns of high prices and low prices. Right now it’s a sense of, ‘They can’t be this low forever, they’ve got to go up.’ ’’

What’s frustrating for the industry, she says, is that no one has any idea how much farther prices might fall and what a turnaround would look like. A year ago, gold was selling just above $1,200 a troy ounce, down from about $1,230 an ounce in 2013.

The AEMA held its annual convention Nov. 30–Dec. 4 at the Spokane Convention Center, and despite lower precious metals prices, Skaer says sentiment at the convention was upbeat.

“It’s exciting,” Skaer said at midweek of the convention. “There are 1,600 people affiliated with the industry here.”

At the convention, Hecla Mining Co. President and CEO Phillips S. Baker gave a keynote address touching on the mining company’s 125-year anniversary in 2016. Founded in 1891, the Coeur d’Alene-based company is the oldest mining company on the New York Stock Exchange.

“We’ve operated through many price cycles, from recessions and depressions to boom times, and it’s a testament to the power of our projects and the strength of our team that we have weathered them all,” Baker said in the address.

Hecla has silver mines in Alaska, Idaho, and Mexico, and is a gold producer with a mine in Quebec, Canada. The company also has exploration and pre-development properties in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

Hecla expects to produce close to 11 million ounces of silver and 185,000 ounces of gold in 2015. Company spokeswoman Jeanne DuPont says the company has yet to determine its anticipated production for 2016.

Hecla reported a third-quarter net loss of $10 million, down sharply from net income of $3.6 million in the year-earlier quarter. Overall, prices were lower for gold, silver, lead and zinc prices, Hecla says.

Belanger says Gold Reserve faces uncertainty as it continues in its efforts to secure a $762 million award against Venezuela, stemming from that company’s seizure of the company’s primary mining property, called the Brisas Project. The company announced earlier this month it had secured financial notes to continue operating as it continues to seek payment from Venezuela.

Also facing an uncertain future is Spokane-based Mines Management Inc., which is focused mostly on advancement of the Montanore silver-copper project in northwest Montana. It has been involved in ongoing disputes regarding claim ownership and rights on that project, but describes the project as being in the final stage of the permitting process.

The New York Stock Exchange has given Mines Management until the end of 2016 to regain compliance with certain listing standards, or its stock will be delisted.

—Kevin Blocker