Silver has been mined at the Fresnillo mine in Mexico’s “silver belt” since 1554 – soon after the arrival of Spanish conquistadors who took command of the empire – and centuries later the mine owner is entering the FTSE 100.
It follows Fresnillo’s keenly-timed listing on the London Stock Exchange in May after parent company Peñoles spun out its precious metals arm. The listing raised a total of $1.8bn (£983m) including $900m worth of new money, for Peñoles, backed by Mexican billionaire Alberto Bailleres.
