Loss of silver after end of work in holy place (9)
I believe the answer is:
shrinkage
'loss' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'silver after end of work in holy place' is the wordplay.
'silver' becomes 'ag' (Ag is the chemical symbol for silver).
'after' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'end of' says to take the final letters.
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'holy place' becomes 'shrine' (I've seen this before**).
The last letter of 'work' is 'k'.
'ag' put after 'k' is 'kag'.
'kag' placed inside 'shrine' is 'SHRINKAGE'.
'of' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for shrinkage that I've seen before include "The amount by which something diminishes" , "lessening" , "Process of shrivelling or contracting" , "Process of becoming smaller" , "waste allowance" .)