Let’s consider some of the many reasons that silver should go up. The fact that JPMorgan has used unsavory tactics to hold the price of this important mineral down has created some powerfully bullish consequences. The historically low price has discouraged mining for silver. Many discoveries have been made that have never been mined because of the low level of profitability. Furthermore, prospecting, drilling and exploring for silver deposits has diminished greatly. A lot less silver has been mined and consequently much less exists above ground. In fact, so little currently exists that a surge of investment buying on top of the existing industrial demand would likely lead to a shortage.
A silver shortage would most certainly lead to a price explosion. That, in turn, would lead to a buying panic among industrial users who must have silver or go out of business. Thousands of companies rely on silver. The low price also nullifies any significant search for alternatives to silver. As the price rises, industrial users won’t have anything cheaper to switch into.
Silver deposits are epithermal, which means they are generally deposited near the earth’s surface. The big deposits like Leadville, Cerro Rico de Potosi and the Comstock Lode were on the surface and easily discovered. Most of those big deposits are mined out. Mining companies now have to do more costly deep drilling. Consequently, discoveries tend to be smaller. Almost two-thirds of the silver mined now comes as a byproduct to copper, lead, zinc and gold mining. That means the production of silver is price insensitive. In other words, no matter how high the price of silver, mining companies won’t increase their production of these other metals to get more silver.
All these factors will eventually be understood and the silver market will change forever. We’ve always had periods where investors have poured into silver. Inevitably this has caused the price to go through the roof. We are patiently waiting for this event to happen again. When it does, the world’s foremost silver analyst Ted Butler claims that the gains will be huge. We can’t begin to comprehend the small amount of silver available in comparison to the enormous amount of buying power that can be directed into it. According to Mr. Butler, the price rise to come will be written about for centuries.
The fact that JPMorgan and its manipulative short selling are under investigation by the Justice Department is likely to be the game changer for silver. The entire world of finance appears to be ignoring this incredible news. Give full credit to Mr. Butler for unearthing this crime and repeatedly bringing it to the attention of the authorities. Further news on this subject is likely to light a fire under the silver market. Mr. Butler suggests we are on the eve of something so earth shaking in silver it can propel it upward twenty times or more. The facts don’t lie. Think deeply about what everybody is missing. When investment buying of silver begins in earnest Mr. Butler suggests the market will be wild, disorderly and expensive. You want to have silver put aside by then.
James Cook is President of Investment Rarities Inc.
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