Rebuttal comes as shareholders launched an investigation over possible false and misleading statements made by the miner about its Pebble copper-gold project in Alaska.
Silver is mainly a byproduct of zinc, lead (and copper) mining and capacity coming back on stream could see return of silver's chronic oversupply issues.
Report by the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) says the country is not in a good position to benefit from the increasing number of companies ready to make new and significant investments.