Mr. Randy Smallwood reports

SILVER WHEATON REPORTS RECORD 2012 OPERATING AND FINANCIAL RESULTS

Silver Wheaton Corp. has released its audited results for the fourth quarter and year ended Dec. 31, 2012. All figures are presented in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted.

Full-year highlights:

• Fourth consecutive year of record attributable silver equivalent production of 29.6 million ounces compared with 25.4 million ounces in 2011, representing an increase of 17 per cent;
• Record silver equivalent sales of 27.3 million ounces compared with 21.1 million ounces in 2011, representing an increase of 30 per cent;
• Record revenues of $849.6-million compared with $730.0-million in 2011, representing a 16-per-cent increase;
• Record net earnings of $586.0-million ($1.66 per share) compared with $550.0-million ($1.56 per share) in 2011, representing a 7-per-cent increase;
• Record operating cash flows of $719.4-million ($2.03 per share) compared with $626.4-million ($1.77 per share) in 2011, representing a 15-per-cent increase;
• Cash operating margin of $26.79 per silver equivalent ounce, compared with $30.56 in 2011, representing a 12-per-cent decrease;
• Average cash costs up to $4.30 per silver equivalent ounce, compared with $4.09 in 2011, representing a 5-per-cent increase;
• In August, 2012, acquired from Hudbay Minerals Inc. a precious metals stream from its currently producing 777 mine and a silver stream from its cornerstone development project, Constancia;
• During 2012, Silver Wheaton paid $123.9-million in dividends (35 cents per share) compared with $63.6-million in 2011 (18 cents per share), representing a 95-per-cent increase.

Fourth quarter highlights:

• Record attributable silver equivalent production of 8.5 million ounces compared with 6.9 million ounces in fourth quarter 2011 and 7.7 million ounces in third quarter 2012, representing an increase of 22 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively;
• Record silver equivalent sales of 9.1 million ounces compared with 6.0 million ounces in fourth quarter 2011 and 5.1 million ounces in third quarter 2012, representing an increase of 53 per cent and 78 per cent, respectively;
• Record revenues of $287.2-million compared with $191.9-million in fourth quarter 2011, representing a 50-per-cent increase;
• Record net earnings of $177.7-million (50 cents per share) compared with $144.7-million (41 cents per share) in fourth quarter 2011, representing a 23-per-cent increase;
• Record operating cash flows of $254.0-million (72 cents per share) compared with $163.7-million (46 cents per share) in fourth quarter 2011, representing a 55-per-cent increase;
• Cash operating margin of $26.76 per silver equivalent ounce, compared with $28.06 in fourth quarter 2011, representing a 5-per-cent decrease;
• Average cash costs up to $4.70 per silver equivalent ounce, compared with $4.06 per silver equivalent ounce in fourth quarter 2011, representing a 16-per-cent increase, driven primarily by higher costs associated with silver and gold from the Hudbay 777 mine ($5.90 and $400 per ounce of silver and gold, respectively);
• Declared quarterly dividend of 14 cents per common share, representing 20 per cent of the cash generated by operating activities during the three months ended Dec. 31, 2012.

Outlook for 2013

Silver Wheaton anticipates a 13-per-cent year-over-year increase in its 2013 attributable production to approximately 33.5 million silver equivalent ounces, including 145,000 ounces of gold.

In 2017, the company forecasts 53 million ounces of silver equivalent production (including 180,000 ounces of gold), which represents an increase of 79 per cent from 2012.

The acquisition of the Salobo and Sudbury gold streams from Vale S.A. subsequent to Dec. 31, 2012, is expected to double Silver Wheaton's attributable gold production over the next five years. Coupled with a full year of attributable production from Hudbay's 777 mine, acquired in August, 2012, these cornerstone assets will drive the company's production growth in 2013.

As per the company's news release dated March 19, 2013, attributable silver and gold reserves increased to 851.4 million ounces and 4.96 million ounces, respectively, as a result of organic and acquisition growth, inclusive of the acquisition of gold streams from Vale's Salobo and Sudbury mines. Based on reserve estimates as at Dec. 31, 2012, following the Vale transaction, silver equivalent reserves attributable to Silver Wheaton have grown to 1.12 billion ounces.

"Two thousand twelve was another exceptional year for Silver Wheaton, anchored by a fourth quarter that saw record production, sales, revenue, net income and cash flow for the company," said Randy Smallwood, president and chief executive officer of Silver Wheaton. "With the addition of production from Hudbay's 777 mine midway through the year, plus growing production from Penasquito, San Dimas and Zinkgruvan, 2012 production exceeded our forecast by over 1.5 million ounces.

"This translated into sales of over 27 million ounces, with the fourth quarter coming in at over nine million ounces, and full-year cash flows of over $719-million. Given our dividend policy of paying out 20 per cent of the trailing quarter's cash flow, Silver Wheaton's strong production growth profile directly translates into higher dividends, with 35 cents per common share paid during 2012, almost double what was paid in 2011, and our strong fourth quarter resulted in our first dividend in 2013 being 14 cents per share.

"With the recently announced acquisition of gold streams from Vale S.A.'s Salobo and Sudbury mines, we are confident that 2013 and beyond will bring further growth and many new records to Silver Wheaton. While our organic growth profile now forecasts roughly an 80-per-cent increase of silver equivalent production over the next five years, we firmly believe there are yet more accretive opportunities for us to further add to our world-class portfolio of precious metals streams."

Financial review

Revenues

Revenue was $287.2-million in the fourth quarter of 2012, on silver equivalent sales of 9.1 million ounces (7.3 million ounces of silver and 33,000 ounces of gold). This represents a 50-per-cent increase from the $191.9-million of revenue generated in the fourth quarter of 2011, due primarily to a comparable increase in the number of ounces sold with relatively unchanged gold and silver prices.

Revenue was $849.6-million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, on silver equivalent sales of 27.3 million ounces (24.8 million ounces of silver and 46,100 ounces of gold). This represents a 16-per-cent increase from the $730.0-million in revenue generated for the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, due primarily to a 30-per-cent increase in the number of ounces sold and a 6-per-cent increase in the average realized gold price, which were partially offset by a 10-per-cent decrease in the average realized selling price of silver.

Costs and expenses

Average cash costs in the fourth quarter of 2012 were $4.70 per silver equivalent ounce, compared with $4.06 during the comparable period of 2011. This resulted in cash operating margins of $26.76 per silver equivalent ounce, a 5-per-cent decrease compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. The slightly lower margins were primarily a result of the higher production payments associated with the precious metals stream on Hudbay's 777 mine ($5.90 and $400 per ounce of silver and gold, respectively).

Average cash costs for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, were $4.30 per silver equivalent ounce, compared with $4.09 during the comparable period of 2011. This resulted in cash operating margins of $26.79 per silver equivalent ounce, a 12-per-cent decrease compared with the year ended Dec. 31, 2011, resulting primarily due to a 10-per-cent decrease in the average realized silver price.

Earnings and operating cash flows

Net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2012 were $177.7-million (50 cents per share), compared with net earnings of $144.7-million (41 cents per share) for the same period in 2011, an increase of 23 per cent. Cash flow from operations in the fourth quarter of 2012 was $254.0-million (72 cents per share), compared with $163.7-million (46 cents per share) for the same period in 2011, an increase of 55 per cent. The increase in net earnings and operating cash flows is primarily attributable to the increase in the amount of gold and silver sold in the quarter.

Net earnings for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, were $586.0-million ($1.66 per share), compared with net earnings of $550.0-million ($1.56 per share) for the same period in 2011, an increase of 7 per cent. Cash flow from operations for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, was $719.4-million ($2.03 per share) compared with $626.4-million ($1.77 per share) for the same period in 2011, an increase of 15 per cent. The increase in net earnings and operating cash flow is primarily attributable to the increase in the amount of gold and silver sold, slightly offset by the decrease in the average realized silver price.

Balance sheet

At Dec. 31, 2012, the company had approximately $778-million of cash on hand. Subsequent to the year-end, Silver Wheaton announced the acquisition of two gold streams from Vale for a cash consideration of $1.90-billion (plus 10 million Silver Wheaton warrants with a strike price of $65 and a term of 10 years). As part of the financing for this transaction, Silver Wheaton entered into two new unsecured credit facilities, composed of: (1) a $1-billion revolving credit facility having a five-year term and (2) a $1.5-billion bridge financing facility having a one-year term. The revolving facility and bridge facility replaced the $400-million revolver loan and the term loan, with the latter being repaid in full on Feb. 22, 2013. The $778-million of cash and cash equivalents as at Dec. 31, 2012, combined with the liquidity provided by the $2.5-billion of new credit facilities, positions the company well to finance all outstanding commitments, as well as providing flexibility to acquire additional accretive precious metal stream interests.

Operational highlights

Attributable silver equivalent production was a record 8.5 million ounces (7.0 million ounces of silver and 26,400 ounces of gold) in the fourth quarter of 2012, a 22-per-cent increase compared with the fourth quarter of 2011. In 2012, Silver Wheaton experienced its fourth year of record annual attributable production of 29.6 million silver equivalent ounces (26.9 million ounces of silver and 50,000 ounces of gold), a 17-per-cent increase compared with 2011.

Operational highlights for the year ended Dec. 31, 2012, are as follows:

Penasquito

In 2012, the Penasquito mine produced 6.6 million ounces of attributable silver, an increase of 24 per cent over 2011. Though production was higher than 2011, an unprecedented regional drought resulted in water shortages causing mill throughput to average 100,000 tonnes per day in 2012, below the design capacity of 130,000 tonnes per day. As stated in Goldcorp Inc.'s press release dated Jan. 7, 2013, the Penasquito mine continues to be impacted by the drought, and, as a result, throughput is expected to average 105,000 tonnes per day in 2013 as additional water wells are brought into production within the Cedros basin in addition to new dewatering wells within the Chile Colorado pit. A water and tailings study to develop a comprehensive long-term water strategy for the Penasquito district is under way, and Goldcorp expects this study to be completed during the first half of 2013.

San Dimas

Attributable production from the San Dimas mine was 5.9 million ounces in 2012, an increase of 6 per cent over 2011. On Oct. 15, 2012, Primero Mining Corp. announced a mine and mill expansion of San Dimas. Primero has elected a staged approach to the full expansion and has approved the expenditure of a total of $14.4-million to expand the San Dimas mine and mill from 2,000 tonnes per day currently to 2,500 tonnes per day. Construction of the mine and mill expansion began in October, 2012, with an estimated completion during the first quarter of 2014. A further plant expansion to 3,000 tonnes per day continues to be assessed and is dependent on future exploration success by Primero.

Zinkgruvan

Attributable production in 2012 was a record 2.5 million ounces, an increase of 48 per cent over 2011, due to high ore grades, good recoveries and continued strong throughput levels. Production for 2013 is forecast to be 2.4 million ounces as more normalized grades are expected while throughput and recoveries are expected to remain strong.

Barrick and Pascua-Lama

Silver Wheaton's 2012 attributable production from the currently producing Barrick silver interests, consisting of Veladero, Lagunas Norte and Pierina mines, was 2.7 million ounces of silver.

As per Barrick's year-end 2012 management's discussion and analysis, during the fourth quarter of 2012, Barrick finalized the cost estimate and schedule for its Pascua-Lama project. Initial production remains on track for the second half of 2014, and the total preproduction capital budget remained at $8.0-million to $8.5-billion, of which $4.2-billion had been spent as of the end of 2012. At the end of 2012, construction was approximately 40 per cent complete, with the four-kilometre-long conveyance tunnel approximately 70 per cent complete. Construction of the primary crusher in Chile commenced in January, 2013, and, in Argentina, construction of the process plant facility advanced with approximately 60 per cent of structural steel erected. Also noted in Barrick's 2012 MD&A, Barrick halted all prestripping activities during the fourth quarter as increased dust, exacerbated by stronger than normal winds, was observed in the open-pit area. Regulatory authorities in Chile subsequently issued an order to suspend prestripping activities until strengthened dust mitigation and control measures could be implemented. To date, the suspension of prestripping has not altered Barrick's target of first production in the second half of 2014.

Until Dec. 31, 2015, Silver Wheaton will be entitled to all or a portion of the silver production from Barrick's Veladero, Pierina and Lagunas Norte mines, to the extent Pascua-Lama is operating below 75 per cent of design capacity. Once in production, Pascua-Lama is forecast to be one of the largest and lowest-cost gold mines in the world with an expected mine life in excess of 25 years. In its first full five years of operation, Silver Wheaton's attributable silver production is expected to average nine million ounces annually.

Produced but not yet delivered

Payable silver equivalent ounces produced but not yet delivered to Silver Wheaton by its partners decreased by 1.4 million ounces in the fourth quarter, resulting in a total of approximately 3.8 million payable ounces at Dec. 31, 2012. This was primarily due to decreases in concentrate inventories at the 777, Yauliyacu and Penasquito mines.

Detailed mine-by-mine production and sales figures can be found in Silver Wheaton's management's discussion and analysis in the results of operations and operational review section.

Developments

Subsequent to year-end 2012

Salobo and Sudbury

In February, 2013, Silver Wheaton announced a deal with Vale to acquire 25 per cent of the life-of-mine gold production from the Salobo mine in Brazil and 70 per cent of the gold production from its Canadian Sudbury mines for a 20-year term. The Salobo mine, the largest copper deposit ever found in Brazil, began operating in 2012 at a capacity of 12 million tonnes per annum of mill throughput capacity. The mine is already undergoing an expansion to 24 million tonnes per annum and is expected to produce approximately 70 thousand ounces of gold annually for Silver Wheaton for the first 10 years of full production. Sudbury is one of the largest nickel-producing areas globally and has an operating history dating back to 1885. Vale's integrated operations in Sudbury are amongst the largest in the world and are expected to contribute 50,000 ounces of gold annually on average over the next 20 years.

Long-term silver equivalent production forecast 2013

Based upon its current agreements -- including the gold streams from Vale's Salobo and Sudbury mines -- the company forecasts 2013 attributable production of approximately 33.5 million silver equivalent ounces, including 145,000 ounces of gold. This represents a 13-per-cent increase compared with 2012, which is primarily driven by a full year of production from Hudbay's 777 mine, as well as the addition of gold production from Vale's Salobo and Sudbury mines.

By 2017, based upon its current agreements, annual attributable production is anticipated to increase by 79 per cent to approximately 53 million silver equivalent ounces, including 180,000 ounces of gold. The increase is the result of the anticipated ramp-up of three new mines, including Barrick's Pascua-Lama project, Hudbay's Constancia project and Augusta Resource's Rosemont project. The world-class Pascua-Lama project is forecast to commence production in mid-2014 and, in its first full five years of operation, will contribute approximately nine million ounces of attributable silver production annually to Silver Wheaton.

Reserves and resources

Silver Wheaton's attributable reserves and resources, as of Dec. 31, 2012, can be found in the company's news release dated March 19, 2013, and are available on the company's website and in its management's discussion and analysis, also available on the company's website and posted on SEDAR. Attributable reserves and resources are based on information available to the company as of March 18, 2013.

This earnings release should be read in conjunction with Silver Wheaton's MD&A and audited financial statements, which are available on the company's website and have been posted on SEDAR.

Webcast and conference call details

A conference call will be held March 22, 2013, starting at 11 a.m. (Eastern Time) to discuss these results. To participate in the live call, please see the attached webcast and conference call table.

                          WEBCAST AND CONFERENCE CALL

Dial toll-free from Canada or the United States                  1-888-231-8191                                  
Dial from outside Canada or the U.S.                             1-647-427-7450                                  
Passcode                                                               26000662                                        
Live audio webcast                                   The Silver Wheaton website

Participants should dial in five to 10 minutes before the call.

The conference call will be recorded, and you can listen to an archive of the call by one of the methods listed in the attached conference call archive table.

                                                                                                                  
                          CONFERENCE CALL ARCHIVE

Dial toll-free from Canada or the United States                   1-855-859-2056                                  
Dial from outside Canada or the U.S                               1-416-849-0833                                  
Passcode                                                                26000662                                        
Archived audio webcast                                The Silver Wheaton website

           CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS 
  (U.S. dollars in thousands, except per-share amounts)       

                                        Years Ended Dec. 31,
                                             2012      2011

Sales                                 $   849,560 $ 729,997
Cost of sales
Cost of sales, excluding depletion    $   117,489 $  86,266
Depletion                                 101,229    57,457
Total cost of sales                   $   218,718 $ 143,723
Earnings from operations              $   630,842 $ 586,274
Expenses and other income
General and administrative            $    30,839 $  25,180
Foreign exchange loss (gain)                   29      (453)
Other (income) expense                       (817)    3,182
Total                                 $    30,051 $  27,909
Earnings before income taxes          $   600,791 $ 558,365
Income tax expense                        (14,755)   (8,337)
Net earnings                          $   586,036 $ 550,028
Basic earnings per share              $      1.66 $    1.56
Diluted earnings per share            $      1.65 $    1.55

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