First Among Mines, Second Among ProducersNarrow moat
KGHM Polska Miedź (KGH) — moat facet
No single mining complex on earth lifts more silver, and KGHM never went looking for it.
KGHM's silver position is not a rounding item on a copper business. It is, by one measure, the biggest in the world.
The company's own half-year report states that it retained first place in the classification of largest silver mines in the world and second place in the global ranking of largest silver producers, per the World Silver Survey 20261. Group silver production in the first half of 2026 was 711,6 tonnes2; full-year 2025 output was 1 323,3 tonnes3.
The distinction between the two rankings is worth understanding. First among mines means no single mining complex on earth lifts more silver than KGHM's. Second among producers means one company — mining several deposits — produces more in total. Both are genuine, and the first is the more remarkable, because it says the Lower Silesian orebody is the single richest source of silver being worked anywhere.
None of this was designed. KGHM did not go looking for silver; it went looking for copper, and the deposit happened to be one of the most argentiferous large copper systems ever found, running about 49 grams of silver to the tonne4.
The value of the position is that it cannot be competed away. A rival cannot decide to have silver in its copper ore.
The measure is silver output in tonnes. It has been flat for six years5, which means the position is being held rather than extended, and holding it is enough.
First among the world's silver mines and second among producers per the World Silver Survey 2026 - the same position as the year before, on tonnage that has been flat for six years.
The ranking follows the tonnes: output falling for several halves would cost KGHM its place among the largest producers.
Source: KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026 ↗- ReportedThe company's own half-year report states that it retained first place in the classification of largest silver mines in the world and second place in the global ranking of largest silver producers, per the World Silver Survey 2026.KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026, production, unit costs and employment (electrolytic copper of 291,5 thousand tonnes of which 183,6 thousand from own concentrate, metallic silver of 696,7 tonnes, the pre-precious-metals-credit unit cost of 52 201 złoty a tonne against a total unit cost of 17,415, C1 of 2,44 USD/lb, average group employment of 34 543 including 18 870 at the parent, and payable copper from the international assets of 59,5 thousand tonnes of which Sierra Gorda 40,2 and Robinson 17,7) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedGroup silver production in the first half of 2026 was 711,6 tonnes; full-year 2025 output was 1 323,3 tonnes.KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026, production, unit costs and employment (electrolytic copper of 291,5 thousand tonnes of which 183,6 thousand from own concentrate, metallic silver of 696,7 tonnes, the pre-precious-metals-credit unit cost of 52 201 złoty a tonne against a total unit cost of 17,415, C1 of 2,44 USD/lb, average group employment of 34 543 including 18 870 at the parent, and payable copper from the international assets of 59,5 thousand tonnes of which Sierra Gorda 40,2 and Robinson 17,7) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedGroup silver production in the first half of 2026 was 711,6 tonnes; full-year 2025 output was 1 323,3 tonnes.KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in the first half of 2026, production, unit costs and employment (electrolytic copper of 291,5 thousand tonnes of which 183,6 thousand from own concentrate, metallic silver of 696,7 tonnes, the pre-precious-metals-credit unit cost of 52 201 złoty a tonne against a total unit cost of 17,415, C1 of 2,44 USD/lb, average group employment of 34 543 including 18 870 at the parent, and payable copper from the international assets of 59,5 thousand tonnes of which Sierra Gorda 40,2 and Robinson 17,7) — H1 2026 · publ. August 2026 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcKGHM did not go looking for silver; it went looking for copper, and the deposit happened to be one of the most argentiferous large copper systems ever found, running about 49 grams of silver to the tonne.Moat Explorer calculation - arithmetic on figures KGHM reports: ore grade (30 387 thousand tonnes of copper over 1 858 259 thousand tonnes of ore, and 91 837 tonnes of silver over the same), the by-product credit (52 201 less 17 415 złoty a tonne), the European share of parent sales (about 17 147m of 21 927m), copper and silver as a share of parent revenue (22 378m and 6 133m of 30 964m), the minerals extraction tax against parent net profit (4 693m over 1 946m), the dividend against trailing earnings (1,50 against 43,44 a share), and own concentrate as a share of refined output (183,6 of 291,5 thousand tonnes) — FY2023-H1 2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedIt has been flat for six years, which means the position is being held rather than extended, and holding it is enough.KGHM Polska Miedz S.A. Group - Management Board's report on activities in 2025, the production and unit-cost record (electrolytic copper of 570,9 thousand tonnes against 588,7 in 2024, 592,4 in 2023 and 560,4 in 2020; metallic silver of 1 323 tonnes against 1 403 in 2023; C1 payable copper production cost of 3,16 USD/lb for the Polish assets against 1,03 for KGHM INTERNATIONAL and 0,86 for Sierra Gorda; group payable copper of 710,0 thousand tonnes against 753,7 in 2021; wire rod and wire production of 279,9 thousand tonnes; and world mined silver production of about 25,3 thousand tonnes) — FY2018-FY2025 · publ. 10 March 2026 · source ↗