South32 Ltd (ASX: S32), Silver Mines Limited (ASX: SVL), Manuka Resources Ltd (ASX: MKR), and Silver Lake Resources Limited (ASX: SLR)'s share prices all finished lower at the close of trading today.
The South32 share price ended the day 1.79% lower while Silver Mines shares were down 4.55%. Manuka Resources shares were selling 3.33% under yesterday's close while the Silver Lake share price fell 4.29%. To put these numbers in perspective, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) finished just 0.47% down on yesterday.
The slump in these ASX mining share prices can be attributed to today's fall in silver.
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Today's drop in the silver price
Silver fell by 1.83% today in commodities trading to US$26.20 at the time of writing. For comparison, the next closest precious metal to fall in price as steeply was copper. However, copper's commodity price dropped by only half that of silver.
Despite today's fall in price, silver has been on an upward trajectory over the past year. The metal was trading at US$11.77 in March last year. That means, even after today's falls, the current silver price is trading 123% higher than at the same time last year.
The fall in the price of silver today, however, wreaked havoc on ASX silver shares. The wider market began the day positively only to fall following news the Reserve Bank of Australia would keep interest rates steady.
Silver shares, meanwhile, were in decline from today's opening. Since the shares mentioned above are reliant on particular commodities, it is common for their share prices to fluctuate along with the commodity's price.
Share price snapshots
Despite today's turmoil, three of the abovementioned four shares are currently trading higher than this time last year, some by significant margins. The exception is the Silver Lake Resources share price which has fallen by around 15% over the past year.
The South32 share price closed today at $2.74. Only last week, it hit a new 52-week high of $2.88. During the onset of COVID-19 in March last year, South32 shares hit a low of $1.59.
The Silver Mines share price was trading at 22 cents at close of trading today. Only one month ago, Silver Mines shares hit a 52-week high of 36 cents. This time last year, shares in the company were trading at 8 cents each. Investors who bought in one year ago would be sitting on a tidy return of 175% based on the current Silver Mines share price.
Manuka Resources shares were selling for 44 cents each at today's closing. While down from its record high of 71 cents, the Manuka share price is still double that of its initial public offering (IPO) price of 22 cents a pop.
The exception to these 12-month gains is the Silver Lake Resources share price, which closed today's session at $1.33. This time last year, investors were buying Silver Lake shares for $1.58. The company's shares have also been on the decline year to date, having fallen nearly 30% since the start of the year.
Based on current share prices, the market capitalisations of South32, Silver Mines, Manuka Resources, and Silver Lake Resources are around $13.3 billion, $261 million, $42 million, and $1.2 billion, respectively.
