Ivanhoe sees "substantial" silver at Oyu Tolgoi

* Oyu Tolgoi to produce 3 million ounces/year of silver

* Spot silver hits 31-year record at $34.96/ounce

TORONTO, March 3 (Reuters) - Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO) said on Thursday that it would produce 3 million ounces of silver a year at its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in southern Mongolia.

Ivanhoe said Oyu Tolgoi would produce 78 million ounces of silver over its 27-year mine life.

Spot silver prices hit a 31-year high on Wednesday at $34.96 an ounce, as precious metal prices rose on uncertainty over the Libyan conflict.

"The buoyant global silver market has fueled the interests of investors and has prompted us to more widely circulate the projections for silver production," said Ivanhoe Chief Executive Robert Friedland.

"Oyu Tolgoi will rank as a very substantial silver producer when commercial production begins in 2013."

Ivanhoe said that annual production at Oyu Tolgoi will be 1.2 billion pounds of copper, 650,000 ounces of gold and 3 million ounces of silver. The mine will also produce molybdenum, a metal that is used to harden steel.

Comparatively, Pan American Silver (PAA.TO) produces 5 million ounces of silver a year at its Alamo Dorado mine in Mexico, while Coeur D'Alene (CDE.N) produces 9 million ounces of silver at its Palmarejo mine, also in Mexico, each year.

Initial production is expected at Oyu Tolgoi in late 2012.

Shares of Ivanhoe closed at C$27.73 on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Julie Gordon, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

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