JPMorgan spoofing convictions don't 'tell the whole story' - First Majestic Silver's Keith Neumeyer

First Majestic Silver CEO Keith Neumeyer was not surprised by last month's conviction of JPMorgan Chase & Co employees for illegally manipulating the precious metal market. Neumeyer spoke to Kitco at the Gold Forum Americas show in Colorado Springs. In August, two out of three former JPMorgan Chase & Co employees were convicted by a federal jury in Chicago after being charged with manipulating gold prices for years. The conviction included charges of price manipulation, spoofing and wire fraud. "I used to work for banks back in the '80s. These trading methods are common, and they're endemic throughout the entire system. You know it doesn't tell the whole story. These trading desks communicate with each other on a regular basis, and it's not just in the silver market. It is throughout all equity markets and all commodity markets," said Neumeyer. "Call it collusion, call it what you will. It doesn't really matter what name you put on it. They're protecting their book. Their job is to make money for the bank. That's that's what they're hired to do...but this is endemic, as I said." First Majestic Silver (NYSE: AG) is a miner with operations in the U.S. and Mexico. The company is expecting a 25% production leap in H2 thanks to Santa Elena and Jerritt Canyon operations. The company will eventually settle on annualized production of 45 to 50 million silver equivalent ounces by end of 2024. A year ago, Jerritt Canyon was acquired by First Majestic from Sprott Mining for $470 million. The deposit was discovered in 1972; it has been in production since 1981 and has produced over 9.5 million ounces of gold over its 40-year production history. First Majestic has spent money on operations at Jerritt to increase production. Neumeyer said Jerritt provides the pieces for future M&A. "We would love to get a nice, juicy silver mine into our portfolio, but they're just hard to find. I think it is an important step for us in the growth of our business to step into Nevada. [It] is a very exciting jurisdiction to be in. We're building a team around the Jarritt Canyon operation, and we hope that team's going to be used for future M&A opportunities, as well." First Majestic has a total of 250,000 meters of drilling planned, what Neumeyer calls a record exploration budget for the company. Neumeyer said the fall in precious metal prices and the drying up of liquidity is tough on the juniors. "Being a junior and not cash flowing, it's tough times. I was just talking yesterday with a fellow and you know this is a reminiscent of 2015," said Neumeyer. 0:30 - You are forecasting a 25% increase in production with help from Santa Elena and Jerritt Canyon. Are you on track? 1:02 - Talk about the drill program. 3:00 - Precious metal prices have fallen significantly. How are juniors supposed to navigate this? 3:40 - First Majestic is producing a lot of gold. Are you producing enough silver to be a silver play? Your chair of First Mining Gold. The company closed its Duparquet this month. Why is that significant? 4:40 - I want to talk about some of your other investments. Let's start with Snowline Gold, which is up 280% this year. Why'd you get involved? 6:30 - Let's talk macro. I was looking at First Majestic Silver. What's a solar car port? 7:20 - Thoughts on last month's J.P. Morgan news? Last month two out of three former JPMorgan Chase & Co employees were convicted by a federal jury in Chicago after being charged with manipulating gold prices for years. 8:23 - Next 12 months?