by InfleXion » Mon Jun 24, 2013 1:48 am
I would not be incredibly surprised if peak silver was reached before peak oil. The article does a good job of showcasing the declining ore grades, but didn't mention one of the big reasons for this which is that due to silver's melting point it was primarily deposited near the surface of the Earth's crust when the planet was formed; epithermal deposition being the only method silver was deposited here. Much of the low hanging fruit has already been extracted, and there probably won't be another Comstock lode.
Gold on the other hand was deposited both epithermally and mesothermally with large veins running deep within the crust.
We could very well be on a slippery slope as silver becomes increasingly expensive and dangerous to mine as miners will have to dig deeper for decreasing returns.
Silver: the Rodney Dangerfield of precious metals.
If it's printed on a piece of paper it's worth the paper it's printed on.
If it's a digital asset it's worth the electrons in cyberspace.