Interior Department releases final 2025 List of Critical Minerals and Silver makes the cut.

badhop55

Silver and copper have been added to the list as of 7 Nov 2025.
Source: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-releases-final-2025-list-critical-minerals

The question I have is what quantity of silver will have to be stockpiled in order to meet today's requirements. And if they don't already have it where are they going to source it? It seems as though everybody is trying to lock it up from in the ground to vaults around the world.

Some history: After WWII (1945-1949) the US Gov held roughly 200-300 million dollars worth of silver.
Source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/data/M1433BUSM144NNBR

At roughly $.70/oz (at the time) that works out to about 357 million oz.
source: https://www.macrotrends.net/1470/historical-silver-prices-100-year-chart.

From then until about the 1990's silver lost it's luster and 357 million oz were used up/sold/evaporated until the pile was gone.
Now we have to replenish.

Fits in today with everybody scrambling for Plata.

blitzdude

The gutter certainly isn't "rare" or "precious". It's more considered like overpriced copper. Heck that's how they mine it as a byproduct. Very few have been strict gutter miners. Perhaps someday the shills will try to label the Cu as precious too? CRZY ARS WRLD! THKS!!

derryb

the dependency of national security/weapons on silver is what now makes silver critical.

DisneyFan

@derryb said:
the dependency of national security/weapons on silver is what now makes silver critical.

Silver bullets anyone?

softparade

@blitzdude said:
The gutter certainly isn't "rare" or "precious". It's more considered like overpriced copper. Heck that's how they mine it as a byproduct. Very few have been strict gutter miners. Perhaps someday the shills will try to label the Cu as precious too? CRZY ARS WRLD! THKS!!

lol

dcarr

@blitzdude said:
The gutter certainly isn't "rare" or "precious". It's more considered like overpriced copper. Heck that's how they mine it as a byproduct. Very few have been strict gutter miners. Perhaps someday the shills will try to label the Cu as precious too? CRZY ARS WRLD! THKS!!

.

I think what the Interior Department states is a lot more important than anything you write.

Dissecting your statement above, you don't even seem to realize that it is actually an endorsement for silver. Silver prices are a lot higher than copper prices, and yet, there are not many primary silver mines. This points to silver's scarcity relative to copper.

.