Many have dividends, but most are in the range of 1% or less. I certainly wouldn't use that as a factor. I heard one ( maybe ABX, I don't remember) is planning on issuing a dividend dependent on the price of gold, so it would vary +/-. Jim
Disclosure: I own shares of all companies mentioned below. @desertgem: Its Newmont (NEM) that you were thinking of. They will increase the dividend .20 for each $100 increase in average selling price realized. @bmoscoto: Silver Wheaton (SLW) just started paying a small dividend. I expect the dividend payout to grow substantially over the next few years as they no longer need to issue shares for buying new silver streams - existing cash flows provide the capital for new deals. Royal Gold (RGLD) also pays a small dividend. I love the royalty/streaming business model. These are not your standard mining stocks. Leverage without the production risk as they have a fixed cost for the metal for the future of the mine life. Gold Resource (GORO) has been paying a "special" .03 monthly dividend like clockwork but as yet has not issued a regular dividend.
Kitco has an impressive analysis of different majors: http://www.kitco.com/ind/matlack/apr062011.html I'd really like to see a breakdown of what percentage of output each company has, divided up by metal. For example, it's fairly common for a silver mine to produce more copper than silver by a large margin (ie; 100 ounces for every 1 ounce of silver).
I don't think anybody should be in gold/silver mining stocks for the dividend. On a lot of days, the fluctuation in the stock price will be more than the annual dividend.
