Mr. Ian Bennett reports

ROYAL CANADIAN MINT'S 1,000 OZ. SILVER BARS APPROVED FOR COMEX GOOD DELIVERY

The Chicago-based CME Group has added The Royal Canadian Mint's 1,000-ounce silver bar product to the COMEX's silver good delivery list, effective Dec. 5, 2013. While the mint is already on the COMEX gold good delivery list, the addition of a silver good delivery designation for its 1,000-ounce 99.9-per-cent pure silver bars by North America's leading silver future contracts exchange is a highly prestigious endorsement of its increasingly important silver refining operations.

The Royal Canadian Mint has satisfied COMEX as to its production capability and financial standing. The mint has also passed testing procedures under which its 1,000-ounce pure silver bars were examined and assayed by independent referees, and its own assaying capabilities were evaluated.

"As one of the world's top producers of silver bullion, the Royal Canadian Mint prides itself on the industry leading quality and reliability of its silver refining and assaying capabilities," said Ian Bennett, president and chief executive officer of the Royal Canadian Mint. "The addition of the mint's 1,000-ounce pure silver bars to the COMEX silver good delivery list is a coveted seal of approval which reinforces the world-class status of our silver refinery, our assay operations and our silver bullion products."

The Royal Canadian Mint's refinery is located at its Ottawa, Ont., facility and primarily serves the North American market. Its main sources of feedstock are silver dore bars from silver mines; silver removed from gold deposits during gold refining; scrap silver and silver production scrap from its minting operations. The mint's output of refined silver is mostly in the form of large bars delivered to refinery customers preferring the return of physical silver, or to investment firms, central banks and other financial institutions for investment purposes.

The COMEX silver good delivery list officially names the only exchange-approved brands of silver bullion bars which can be delivered against COMEX metal futures contracts. The Royal Canadian Mint's 1,000-ounce silver bars fully meet COMEX silver futures contracts specifications.