...and down she goes!

Mining supply could eventually run low with silver. Due to its melting point when the planet was formed silver is only deposited epithermally (near the surface of the Earth's crust) where is gold is deposited both epithermally and mesothermally (deeper in the Earth) in large veins of ore. So it is possible that silver will become increasingly difficult and expensive to mine, which seems to be evidenced by today's mining GSR of 7:1 vs. the historic 15:1 ratio. Ore grades also seem to be getting worse for silver having mined much of the easy to get material already over the years. Better techniques will help, but may or may not stem the mining shortfall.

Gold is a monetary metal and doesn't have anything to do with technology. Silver's role as a dual role metal will be impacted by technology but it's a monetary metal first and follows gold over copper every time they diverge. Industrial silver demand is actually falling the last couple years, but overall demand is still rising so the technology aspect isn't crucial in a commodity bull market which is due to monetary expansion, debt accumulation, and negative real interest rates. Solar cells and electrical circuits are a nice potential boon to silver in a strong economy, but technology isn't going to make or break the market.

 

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Not much that isn't already being recovered.

Let's look at just one application of silver in manufacturing: Socks.

Silver nanoparticles are embedded into socks nowdays to prevent athletes' foot. Let's assume each pair of socks requires .0001 ounce of silver and that each person in the US goes through 10 pairs of socks in a year. 300,000,000 * 10 * .0001 = 300,000 ounces of silver. None of that silver is technically "destroyed", but none of it is realistically recoverable either.

One source of recoverable silver (and gold) that recently became economically feasible is electronics. However, there is a whole lot more PM in 1990's electronics than there is in 2000's electronics, and even less in 2010's electronics. Manufacturers are producing more devices, but using less and less PM in each device. They're also no longer using mercury or lead, so most modern devices (minus the batteries) can go straight to the landfill.

 

well that certainly turned around

 

Made for an interesting thread though.

 

Silver frequently appears as a by-product of base metal mining (lead, zinc, copper). The silver recovered from such mines might, or might not, be counted in mined silver totals. When silver is a by-product of mines in developing countries, it is often used as a "rainy day" fund when the main base metal(s) is/are not bringing in enough income. Stand-alone silver mines are decreasing, but silver-as-a-by-product mines are fairly common.

 

Squirrel!

 

I predict that women take both pride and offense at such a comment.

 

Silversilver is consumed its in some medocine and viatimens

 

come on silver.. drop to $10, give me time to buy a bunch, then you can shoot back up..

 

Technology is going to break the market eventually. The only question is when. Asteroid mining, ocean floor mining, extracting gold from ocean water, and eventually even artificial creation of the element will force gold lower, eventually to the cost of production, which will forever decrease.

 

If you send me your snail mail, I will send you a dictionary.

 

With this hiccup in the price of silver, what exactly did it mean for any of us. Did your local shop lower the price of junk silver? Mine didn't. Is there some vendor that sells you silver depending on bid? Who are they. Buy the coin, not the metal.

 

This is a short interesting article on silver's dive. http://www.tfmetalsreport.com/blog/4724/silver-drops-10-no-one-cares

 

Walrus!

Cointalk sure is fun.

 

And eventually, we'll all be dead, as will our heirs. The interesting and challenging decisions involve the period between now and then.

In the long term, your metals, your rare art, your businesses and your real estate will all disappear into the swelling sun, along with all the rest of the Earth. I do not expect you to consider this in your investment decisions.

 

Good, because that's over a billion years off. The things I'm talking about will happen within the next hundred years, probably much sooner. Probably within the lifetimes of most of us here.

When silver (almost) hit $50 in 1980 and then crashed, it took 30 years for it to happen again. I'm not sure we have enough time left for another bull market before the supply of precious metals dramatically and irreversibly increases. I'd sell now:yes:.

 

I don't want to discourage you from learning, but I do want to discourage you from giving advice, but there are so many logical and fundamental errors in your thinking, I just don't know where to begin...

 

Loosely summed up for the past few years I have been buying them 'used' from folks who don't know any better and think they are getting a good deal. Mostly folks who got them a decade or so ago. Admittedly if silver prices keep falling their visualized 'profit' becomes less and they may not be willing to sell until the price falls enough for them to want to bail.

 

Wait until they figure out those silver moons we
collect are really Miss Liberty's butt. :devil:

 

Don't worry. The sun is going out and will blink off like a lightbulb in 30,000 years so you are correct. No need to work a swelling sun into your investment planning.