At $.61 per share currently, shares of Great Panther Silver (NYSEMKT:GPL) haven't been this cheap since early 2010, and one insider is using the recent share price weakness to snatch up shares left and right.

Jeffrey Robert Mason, a director of the company who has 25 years of public company experience in precious and base metals, recently made the following purchases, according to SEDI filings posted at CanadianInsider.com.

• On Dec. 13, Mason bought 100,000 shares of stock at $.80 per share, worth $80,000.

• On Dec. 16, Mason bough 193,400 shares of stock at $.80 per share, $6,600 shares at $.80 per share, and 96,548 shares at $.715 per share.

In my original article on Great Panther Silver, I argued that the stock, at five-year lows, could be a strong takeover target as Great Panther has a solid balance sheet, with $35 million in working capital and $20.4 million in cash, in addition to 3 million ounces of annual silver production and a growing resource base of 33 million silver equivalent ounces. I listed potential acquirers as Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK), which has had its own struggles, but is a larger company than Great Panther and has underground mines located literally next door, and First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG), which is a 12 million ounce-a-year producer, but has a low cash balance and could consolidate Great Panther's $35 million working capital to its balance sheet.

When insiders sell a stock, it could be for any reason, but insider purchases are usually a positive sign in my opinion, as it means one thing: insiders believe the share price of the stock will rise.

Here's another positive to this insider purchase. According to BusinessWeek, Mason's total annual compensation is just C$344,198, which means these purchases make up almost an entire year's salary for him.

Mason has extensive experience in mineral exploration and production companies. In addition to having 25 years of public company experience, he has served as Chief Financial Officer, Corporate Secretary and Director for 15 public companies in his career, according to Great Panther's website. He has been the CFO of Wellgreen Platinum since Nov. 12, 2012, a role he currently serves, and he previously served as the CFO of Prophecy Coal Corporation from 2012 to 2013. He's also a former consultant of Detour Gold Corp.

I think the insider purchase is a positive sign and could be a sign that more insider buys are coming, or a sign that Great Panther is on the verge of a takeover at a premium to its share price. At $.61 per share, I'd consider buying shares here as a speculative bet on silver prices.

Disclosure: The author has no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in GPL over the next 72 hours. The author wrote this article themselves, and it expresses their own opinions. The author is not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). The author has no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article. (More...)