Silver is back in the spotlight
The second most important precious metal is showing strong signs of a renewed rally.
Jörg P. SchulteOctober 5, 2026
Gold was the precious metal that caught all the attention as investors moved into safe haven amid the economic impact of the pandemic. The gold price broke all records in August, reaching $ 2,050 / oz. But silver also had an excellent year, with earnings almost twice as high as gold, reported Bloomberg. The surge was triggered by a weakening US dollar, falling real interest rates and geopolitical tensions - all of which are motivating investors to seek refuge for precious metals. SIGN UP FOR THE ENERGY BALANCE SHEET Colin Plume, founder and CEO of Los Angeles-based precious metals broker Noble Gold, said prior to the pandemic that he saw investors buy gold and silver at a 60/40 ratio, but now the purchase is almost 50/50. "We've seen a pretty dramatic upward trend in our business since it closed, well over 30% growth since March," Plume told MINING.COM. Silver fell 0.4% to $ 26.87 an ounce on Monday after hitting a high of $ 29.13 on August 10th. "When Covid struck, silver was in the $ 15 range and immediately backed out due to the strength of the dollar in late March-early April. It hit $ 13.92 and rose to $ 29, which is pretty meteoric That is an unprecedented run for a time frame of four to five months, "said Plume. Plume believes that as the economy recovers, there will be more room for the price of silver to appreciate, especially as California this year began mandating solar panels on all new builds - of which silver is a key ingredient. Other states are likely to follow suit as solar panel prices fall and solar panel usage becomes more widespread, Plume said, adding that California tends to set the bar for US real estate law. "For solar panels in California next year, every new property, whether commercial or residential, that is built must have solar panels by 2021 ... and silver is an important part of that." Short supply Plume said silver is currently difficult to acquire because production has declined due to the pandemic. Among the mining activities affected by Covid-19, silver production was the biggest casualty. "I think all of this will drive the price of silver and physical demand on the retail side," said Plume. "Recycling silver is still not where it needs to be, so you have to focus on getting more of it out of the ground, and I think it's getting harder and harder to do. "I think we will continue to monitor this shortage on the industrial side, and I know that on the retail side, things like royal Canadian and US coins have been unavailable for many months because of Covid. Silver is still well below its all-time high of $ 49.52, which it hit on April 1, 2011, but since then its use in the electronics industry has increased dramatically. While much of the industry is back in full swing, some mines have had to close again as the number of Covid-19 cases increased. The Silver Institute is now predicting a market deficit for the first time in five years. The world has seen mine production from Latin America decline by 13% this year, with global supply expected to shrink 7.2%. This is based on the assumption that 67 million less ounces are coming from the region, which would be enough silver to make about 100 million solar panels.
