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Will the First Majestic Silver (TSX:FR,NYSE:AG) CEO’s silver price prediction of over US$100 per ounce come true?
The silver spot price has surged over 50 percent in the first nine months of 2025, reaching a 14 year high above US$44 on September 22 after breaking through the US$40 per ounce mark in early September. Silver’s price is rallying on growing economic uncertainty amid ongoing geopolitical tensions and US President Donald Trump’s escalating trade war, supported by long-term demand fundamentals.
Well-known figure Keith Neumeyer, CEO of First Majestic, has frequently said he believes the white metal could climb even further, hitting the US$100 mark or even reaching as high as US$130 per ounce.
Neumeyer has voiced this opinion often over the past decade. He put up a US$130 price target in a November 2017 interview with Palisade Radio, when silver was just US$17, and he also discussed it in an August 2022 interview with Wall Street Silver. He has reiterated his triple-digit silver price forecast in multiple interviews with Kitco over the years, including one in March 2023.
In 2024, Neumeyer made his US$100 silver call in a conversation with ITM Trading’s Daniela Cambone at the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, and in April of that year he acknowledged his reputation as the ‘triple-digit silver guy’ on the Todd Ault Podcast.
At times he’s been even bolder, suggesting in 2016 that silver could reach US$1,000 if gold were to hit US$10,000. More recently, he has pushed his expected timeline for US$100 silver back, but he remains very bullish in the long term.
In order to better understand where Neumeyer’s opinion comes from and whether a triple-digit silver price is really in the cards, it’s important to take a look at the factors that affect the metal’s movements, as well as where prices have been in the past and where other industry insiders think silver could be headed.
First, let’s dive a little deeper into Neumeyer’s US$100 silver prediction.
In this article
Why is Neumeyer calling for a US$100 silver price?
Neumeyer believes silver could hit US$100 due to a variety of factors, including its consistent deficit, its industrial demand and how undervalued it is compared to gold.
There’s a significant distance for silver to go before it reaches the success Neumeyer has boldly predicted. In order for the metal to jump to the US$100 mark from US$44, its price would have to increase by around 125 percent. However, silver has already jumped by nearly 160 percent from its price of around US$17 per ounce when he made his US$130 call in November 2017.
Neumeyer has previously said he expects a triple-digit silver price in part because he believed the market cycle could be compared to the year 2000, when investors were sailing high on the dot-com bubble and the mining sector was down. He thinks it’s only a matter of time before the market corrects, like it did in 2001 and 2002, and commodities see a big rebound in pricing. It was during 2000 that Neumeyer himself invested heavily in mining stocks and came out on top.
“I’ve been calling for triple-digit silver for a few years now, and I’m more enthused now,” Neumeyer said at an event in January 2020, noting that there are multiple factors behind his reasoning. “But I’m cautiously enthused because, you know, I thought it would have happened sooner than it currently is happening.”
In an August 2022 with Wall Street Silver, he reiterated his support for triple-digit silver and said he’s not alone in this optimistic view — in fact, he’s been surpassed in that optimism. ‘I actually saw someone the other day call for US$500 silver,’ he said. ‘I’m not quite sure I’m at the level. Give me US$50 first and we’ll see what happens after that.’
Another factor driving Neumeyer’s position is his belief that the silver market is in a deficit. In a May 2021 interview, when presented with supply-side data from the Silver Institute indicating the biggest surplus in silver market history, Neumeyer was blunt in his skepticism. “I think these numbers are made up,” he said. “I wouldn’t trust them at all.”
He pointed out that subtracting net investments in silver exchange-traded products leaves the market in a deficit, and also questioned the methodology behind the institute’s recycling data given that most recycled silver metal comes from privately owned smelters and refineries that typically don’t make those figures public.
‘I’m guessing the mining sector produced something in the order of 800, maybe 825 million ounces in 2022,’ Neumeyer said when giving a Q4 2022 overview for his company. ‘Consumption numbers look like they’re somewhere between 1.2 and 1.4 billion ounces. That’s due to all the great technologies, all the newfangled gadgets that we’re consuming. Electric vehicles, solar panels, windmills, you name it. All these technologies require silver … that’s a pretty big (supply) deficit.’
In a December 2023 interview with Kitco, Neumeyer stressed that silver is more than just a poor man’s gold and he spoke to silver’s important role in electric vehicles and solar cells. In line with this view on silver, First Majestic is a member of a consortium of silver producers that in January 2024 sent a letter to the Canadian government urging that silver be recognized as a critical mineral. Silver’s inclusion on the list would allow silver producers to accelerate the development of strategic projects with financial and administrative assistance from the government.
In this 2024 PDAC interview, Neumeyer once again highlighted this sizable imbalance in the silver’s supply-demand picture. “We’re six years into this deficit. The deficit in 2024 looks like it’s gonna be bigger than 2023, and why is that? Because miners aren’t producing enough silver for the needs of the human race,” he said.
More controversially, Neumeyer is of the opinion that the white metal will eventually become uncoupled from its sister metal gold, and should be seen as a strategic metal due to its necessity in many everyday appliances, from computers to electronics, as well as the technologies mentioned above. He has also stated that silver production has gone down in recent years, meaning that contrary to popular belief, he believes the metal is actually a rare commodity.
Neumeyer’s March 2023 triple-digit silver call was a long-term call, and he explained that while he believed gold would break US$3,000 that year, he thought silver will only reach US$30. However, once the gold-silver ratio is that unbalanced, he believes that silver will begin to take off, and it would just need a catalyst.
‘It could be Elon Musk taking a position in the silver space,’ Neumeyer said. ‘There’s going to be a catalyst at some time, and headlines in the Wall Street Journal might talk about the silver supply deficit … I don’t know what the catalyst will be, but investors and institutions will wake up to the fundamentals of the metal, and that’s when it will start to move.’
In an August 2023 interview with SilverNews, Neumeyer said banks are holding the silver market down. He pointed to the paper market for the metal, which he said the banks have capped at US$30 even in times of high buying.
‘If you want to go and buy 100 billion ounces of (paper) silver, you might not even move the price, because some bank just writes you a contract that says (you own that),’ he noted, saying banks are willing to get short because once buying stops, they push the price down to get the investors out of the market and buy the silver back. ‘… If the miners started pulling their metal out of the current system, then all of a sudden the banks wouldn’t know if they’re going to get the metal or not, so they wouldn’t be taking the same risks they’re taking today in the paper markets.’
The month after the interview, his company First Majestic launched its own minting facility, named First Mint.
In 2024, gold experienced a resurgence in investor attention as the potential for Fed rate cuts came into view. In an interview with Cambone at PDAC 2024, Neumeyer countered that perception, stating, “There’s a rush into gold because of the de-dollarization of the world. It has nothing to do with the interest rates.”
In an April 2025 Money Metals podcast, Neumeyer reiterated his belief that silver is in an extreme supply deficit and that eventually silver prices will have to rise in order to incentivize silver miners to dig up more of the metal.
‘You need triple digit silver just to motivate the mining companies to start investing again because the mining companies aren’t going to make the investment because there’s just so much risk in it,’ he said.
Several market analysts have raised concerns about this silver supply deficit.
Moreover, in April at the Sprott Silver Conference, Maria Smirnova, senior portfolio manager and chief investment officer at Sprott Asset Management, highlighted the deficit as well.
Smirnova explained that silver has been in a supply deficit of 150 million ounces to 200 million ounces annually (or 10 percent to 20 percent of total supply), while production has been stagnant or declining over the past decade. She emphasized that above-ground inventories have declined by nearly 500 million ounces in recent years.
What factors affect the silver price?
In order to glean a better understanding of the precious metal’s chances of trading around the US$100 range, it’s important to examine the elements that could push it to that level or pull it further away.
The strength of the US dollar and US Federal Reserve interest rate changes are factors that will continue to affect the precious metal, as are geopolitical issues and supply and demand dynamics.
Although Neumeyer believes that the ties that bind silver to gold need to be broken, the reality is that most of the same factors that shape the price of gold also move silver.
For that reason, it’s helpful to look at gold price drivers when trying to understand silver’s price action. Silver is, of course, the more volatile of the two precious metals, but nevertheless it often trades in relative tandem with gold.
First, it’s useful to understand that higher interest rates are generally negative for gold and silver, while lower rates tend to be positive. That’s because when rates are higher, investment demand shifts to products that can accrue interest.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the Fed cut rates down to zero from 1 to 1.25 percent. However, rising inflation led the Fed and other central banks to hike rates, which negatively impacted gold and silver. In February 2023, the Fed raised rates by just 25 basis points, the smallest hike since March 2022, as Chair Jerome Powell said the process of disinflation has begun. The Fed continued these small rate hikes over the next year with the last in July 2023.
The Fed’s rate moves are currently playing a key role in pumping up silver prices. In early July 2024, as analysts factored in the rising potential for interest rate cuts in the remainder of 2024, silver prices were once again testing May’s nearly 12 year high, and they topped US$31 in September in the days leading up to the anticipated first rate cut.
Heading into September of this year, the silver price was testing 14 year highs as market watchers expected the first rate cuts on the part of the Fed since it paused its interest rate moves in November 2024. The Fed chose to cut rates at the meeting, and silver and gold have both climbed even further in the week following the decision.
While central bank actions are important for gold, and by extension silver, another key price driver lately has been geopolitical uncertainty. The past few years have been filled with major geopolitical events such as tensions between the US and other countries such as North Korea, China and Iran. The huge economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the banking crisis in early 2023, Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, and rising tensions in the Middle East brought about by the Israel-Hamas war have been sources of concern for investors.
Trump’s tariffs have also rattled stock markets and ratcheted up the level of economic uncertainty pervading the landscape in 2025. This has proved price positive for gold, bringing silver along for the ride.
However, silver’s industrial side can not be ignored. In the current environment, the industrial case of silver is weakening in the short term; but longer term still holds some prospects for larger gains.
Higher industrial demand from emerging sectors due to factors like the transition to renewable energy and the emergence of AI technology will be highly supportive for the metal over the next few years. Solar panels are an especially exciting sector as manufacturers have found increasing the silver content increases energy efficiency.
“Even in the US, the policy really is ‘all of the above’ — all forms of energy. So I’m not concerned about solar cells diminishing. Could they go flat? Yeah, that’s fine. Flat at 300 million ounces? That’s great demand for silver,” said former Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) CEO Phil Baker during a May webinar hosted by Simon Catt of Arlington Group.
“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi made a policy decision a year ago to grow the solar industry in India. So in India, only about 10 percent of their demand for silver is used for industrial purposes. In China, it’s 90 percent, and so what you’re going to have in India is you’re going to see their solar panel growth skyrocket,” he added.
Could silver hit US$100 per ounce?
While we can’t know if we’ll reach a $100 per ounce silver price in the near future, there is support for Neumeyer’s belief that the metal is undervalued and that “ideal conditions are present for silver prices to rise.”
So, if the silver price does rise further, can it go that high?
Let’s look at silver’s recent history. The highest price for silver was just under US$50 in the 1970s, and it came close to that level again in 2011. The commodity’s price uptick came on the back of very strong silver investment demand. While it has yet to reach these levels again, the silver price has increased significantly in recent years.
After spending the latter half of the 2010s in the teens, the 2020s have seen silver largely hold above US$20.
In August 2020, the price of silver reached nearly US$28.50 before pulling back again, and moved back up near those heights in February 2021. The price of silver saw a 2022 high point of US$26.46 in February, and passed US$26 again in both May and November 2023. Silver rallied in the later part of the first quarter of 2024, and by April 12 was once again flirting with the US$30 mark as it reached an 11 year high of US$29.26. Despite pulling back to the US$26 level soon after, by October 22 the price of silver had a nice run in the lead up to the election, rising up to US$34.80.
However, a stronger dollar and signs that the Fed might not be so quick to cut interest rates as deeply as expected were seen as price negative for silver. It was in a downward slide for much of the remainder of the year.
For much of the first half of 2025, silver has followed gold higher on factors including persistent inflationary pressures brought on by Trump’s aggressive tariff announcements and the ongoing geopolitical risks in the Middle East.
On September 22, 2025, the price of silver had reached a 14 year high of US$44.11, up over 50 percent since the beginning of the year.
What do other experts think about US$100 silver?
As silver’s trajectory continues upwards, some silver market experts are agreeing with Neumeyer’s triple-digit silver hypothesis, or at least that the price of silver still has further room to grow.
‘One day the market will run, and if you’re not in, you won’t win it,’ Middelkoop said.
Substack newsletter writer John Rubino sees the silver supply deficit as not only an issue for the industrial sector, but for the COMEX futures markets as well, which could spark a major rally in the silver price.
Rubino explained that there is real danger in an exchange defaulting on delivering physical metal to futures contract traders and needing to pay cash instead. This scenario is likely to trigger panic buying.
He added that he would be shocked if silver didn’t reach US$100 an ounce “somewhere along the way, and it’s possible that much higher prices could happen when the panic buying starts.”
“It’s hard not to reference Keith, our CEO, and triple digit comes to mind pretty frequently now — more people are talking about it,” Alkhafaji explained at the time. He elaborated, “I’m a believer of economics, you look at the mining ratio and that’s sitting at 7:1, yet the price ratio is sitting at 90:1 right now. We just talked about that gold is comfortable at US$3,000, so that tells us that silver needs to play catch up to collapse that ratio.”
‘Another thing that’s important to note is the price inelasticity,’ he explained. ‘Most commodities, when the price goes up, the supply goes up. But with silver, it’s primarily a by-product from base metal mining. It depends on the nature of the recession we get and how severe it is, but that could impact the demand for base metals, and therefore you may not see an increase in mining supply for silver.’
“I think we’ll see new highs in the next 12 months and I think we will recast the highs in the next six months. Recasting meaning US$50 in the next six, and then breaking out to new highs in the next 12 months,” he said.
Concerning his reasons for laying out this path forward for silver, Costa cited the high volumes of silver purchases occurring after days when prices declined, as well as the clear outperformance of silver even when gold is falling.
Analyst firm InvestingHaven is very bullish on the silver market and is expecting prices to test all-time highs in 2025, moving as high as US$49 before blasting through new records in the next few years. InvestingHaven even sees the precious metal reaching as high as US$77 in 2027 and US$82 by 2030.
FAQs for silver
Can silver hit $1,000 per ounce?
As things are now, it seems unlikely silver will ever reach highs of US$1,000 per ounce, which Keith Neumeyer predicted in 2016 could happen if gold ever climbed to US$10,000 per ounce.
This is related to the gold to silver production ratio discussed above. At the time of the 2016 prediction, this ratio was around 1 ounce of gold to 9 ounces of silver, or 1:9. In 2024, it was about 1:7.5.
If silver was priced according to production ratio today, when gold is at US$3,000 silver would be around US$400, or US$333 at 1:9. However, the gold to silver pricing ratio has actually sat around 1:80 to 1:90 recently, and when gold moved above US$3,000 in March 2025, silver was around US$34.
Additionally, even if pricing did change drastically to reflect production rates, gold would need to climb by more than 300 percent from its current price to hit the US$10,000 gold price Neumeyer mentioned back in 2016.
Why is silver so cheap?
The primary reason that silver is sold at a significant discount to gold is supply and demand, with more silver being mined annually. While silver does have both investment and industrial demand, the global focus on gold as an investment vehicle, including countries stockpiling gold, can overshadow silver.
Additionally, jewelry alone is a massive force for gold demand.
There is an abundance of silver — according to the US Geological Survey, to date 1,740,000 metric tons (MT) of silver have been discovered, while only 244,000 MT of gold have been found, a ratio of about 1 ounce of gold to 7.1 ounces of silver. In terms of output, 25,000 MT of silver were mined in 2024 compared to 3,300 MT for gold.
Looking at these numbers, that puts gold and silver production at about a 1:7.5 ratio last year, while the price ratio on June 11, 2025, was around 1:92 — a huge disparity.
Is silver really undervalued?
Many experts believe that silver is undervalued compared to fellow currency metal gold. As discussed, their production and price ratios are currently incredibly disparate.
While investment demand is higher for gold, silver has seen increasing time in the limelight in recent years, including a 2021 silver squeeze that saw new entrants to the market join in.
Another factor that lends more intrinsic value to silver is that it’s an industrial metal as well as a precious metal. It has applications in technology and batteries — both growing sectors that will drive demand higher.
Silver’s two sides has been on display in recent years: silver demand hit record highs in 2022, according to the Silver Institute, with physical silver investment rising by 22 percent and industrial by 5 percent over 2021. For 2023, industrial demand was up 11 percent over the previous year, compared to a 28 percent decline in physical silver investment.
Is silver better than gold?
There are merits for both metals, especially as part of a well-balanced portfolio. As many analysts point out, silver has been known to outperform its sister metal gold during times of economic prosperity and expansion.
On the other hand, during economic uncertainty silver values are impacted by declines in fabrication demand.
Silver’s duality as a precious and industrial metal also provides price support. As a report from the CPM Group notes, “it can be seen that silver in fact almost always (but not always) out-performs gold during a gold bull market.”
At what price did Warren Buffet buy silver?
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.A) bought up 37 percent of global silver supply between 1997 and 2006. Silver ranged from US$4 to US$10 during that period.
In fact, between July 1997 and January 1998 alone, the company bought about 129 million ounces of the metal, much of which was for under US$5. Adjusted for inflation, the company’s purchases in that window cost about US$8.50 to US$11.50.
How to invest in silver?
There are a variety of ways to get into the silver market. For example, investors may choose to put their money into silver-focused stocks by buying shares of companies focused on silver mining and exploration. As a by-product metal, investors can also gain exposure to silver through some gold companies.
There are also silver exchange-traded funds that give broad exposure to silver companies and the metal itself, while more experienced traders may be interested in silver futures. And of course, for those who prefer a more tangible investment, purchasing physical bullion in silver bar and silver coin form is also an option.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Platinum-group metals (PGMs) include platinum, palladium, rhodium and other metals, all of which are prized for their durability, resistance to corrosion and excellent catalytic properties.
The automotive industry is the world’s largest consumer of these metals, which among other things are used in catalytic converters for vehicle exhaust systems. A rebound and continued growth in auto production is projected in the coming years, particularly in developing markets, and this should increase demand for PGMs, especially when it comes to platinum and palladium.
On the supply side, the platinum market slid into a significant deficit in 2024, which has extended into 2025 and is expected to continue into the next year. These fundamentals led platinum prices to a 12 year high of US$1,495 per ounce on September 23, 2025.
But where do platinum and palladium come from? The list of the world’s top palladium- and platinum-mining countries is a short one, and most PGMs come from South Africa and Russia. We dive into the miners, markets and regulations affecting the top PGM countries below, and you can also learn more about the companies mining these metals here.
Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine and electricity shortages in South Africa are expected to seriously hamper the ability of these nations to bring PGMs to market.
So what other countries are platinum and palladium producers, and which countries hold the most platinum and palladium reserves? Below is a list of the five top producers in 2024, as per the latest data from the US Geological Survey.
1. South Africa
Platinum production: 120,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 72,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 63 million kilograms
South Africa is top of the list of the world’s top platinum producers, with production of 120,000 kilograms in 2024. South Africa is also a major producer of palladium, taking second place globally with 72,000 kilograms last year. The country holds the largest-known reserves of PGMs globally at 63 million kilograms, accounting for over 75 percent of known global reserves.
According to the US Geological Survey, 2024 production of PGMs in South Africa ‘decreased compared with (74,900 kilograms) in 2023 owing to declining prices, higher costs associated with deep-level mining, labor disputes, and ongoing disruptions to the supply of electricity.’
The Bushveld complex is the largest PGMs resource in the world, and represents a large majority of annual global production of platinum and palladium. Impala Platinum Holdings (OTCQX:IMPUF,JSE:IMP), commonly called Implats, is a significant producer in the complex, which hosts the company’s Impala Rustenburg mine, Marula mine, Bafokeng and Two Rivers joint venture.
2. Russia
Platinum production: 18,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 75,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 16 million kilograms
Despite being the world’s second biggest platinum-mining country, Russia’s annual production trails behind South Africa’s by a large margin, coming in at 18,000 kilograms for 2024. That said, Russia was the world’s top palladium producer in 2024, putting out 75,000 kilograms last year — 3,000 kilograms higher than South Africa’s output.
Russian mining company Norilsk Nickel (MCX:GMKN) is the world’s largest palladium producer, and it plans to invest US$35 billion in infrastructure upgrades between 2021 and 2030, which will ultimately result in higher metals output.
While Russia held its spot as the top palladium producer last year, its palladium production dropped significantly from 87,000 kilograms in 2023. The USGS attributed the drop to ‘disruptions from natural disasters, lower metal grades and ore recovery, ongoing issues related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and planned outages at a major metallurgical plant.’
3. Zimbabwe
Platinum production: 19,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 15,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 1.2 million kilograms
Zimbabwe is a major producer of both platinum and palladium, producing 19,000 and 15,000 kilograms of the precious metals respectively in 2024. Zimplats Holdings (ASX:ZIM) is the biggest platinum miner in the country, and it is 87 percent owned by Implats.
In October 2022, Zimbabwe introduced a policy that allows it to stockpile physical metals, including PGMs. A change to the country’s existing cash royalties on miners, the rules require mining companies to instead pay the royalties based on their production in a 50/50 combination of cash and refined metals.
The policy currently applies to PGMs, gold, diamonds and lithium. However, it is dynamic, with the option to add or subtract affected metals and change royalty percentages based on factors such as geological scarcity and demand trends.
In January 2025, the Government of Zimbabwe officially implemented a 5 percent levy on unbeneficiated platinum exports, which it had postponed to allow mining companies time to build refining capacity.
In line with the government’s goal of adding value to the country’s platinum products, Zimplats has expanded its smelting capacity and is making slow progress on a US$190 million refurbishment of its mothballed base metals refinery to process PGM mattes into pure platinum metal concentrates.
4. Canada
Platinum production: 5,200 kilograms
Palladium production: 15,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 310,000 kilograms
Canada’s strong palladium production of 15,000 kilograms tied with Zimbabwe to make it the third highest producer globally in 2024. Canada’s platinum production was also significant at 5,200 kilograms. The North American country’s palladium and platinum production were nearly both on par with the previous year.
The country only holds 310,000 kilograms of known PGMs reserves — the lowest total reserves on this list — but companies continue to explore for PGMs in Canada in search of more deposits.
Canadian PGMs production takes place mainly in the province of Ontario, but PGMs output also comes out of Québec and Manitoba. The country has one primary PGMs-producing mine, the Lac des Iles mine in Western Ontario, which is owned by Implats Canada. The remainder of the country’s production is as a by-product of Canada’s nickel mines.
5. United States
Platinum production: 2,000 kilograms
Palladium production: 8,000 kilograms
PGM reserves: 820,000 kilograms
The United States produced 8,000 kilograms of palladium in 2024 alongside 2,900 kilograms of platinum. The US holds 820,000 kilograms of identified PGM reserves.
Sibanye Stillwater’s (NYSE:SBSW,JSE:SSW) Stillwater Complex in Montana is the only primary producer of PGMs in the US. The company also maintains a smelter, refinery and laboratory in Montana and recovers PGMs from spent catalytic convertor material from vehicles.
Low palladium prices forced Sibanye Stillwater to curtail production and layoff about 700 employees at the Stillwater Complex in 2024. The company has pointed to Russia flooding the palladium market to depress prices.
In response, on July 30, 2025, Sibanye Stillwater and related industry participants filed antidumping and countervailing duty petitions with the US Department of Commerce and the US International Trade Commission (ITC) on imports of unwrought palladium from Russia.
On September 18, the ITC determined there is a reasonable indication the industry was ‘materially injured’ by the Russian imports, and commenced the final phase of investigations.
FAQs for investing in palladium and platinum
What is platinum?
Platinum is a precious metal that belongs to the platinum-group metals category. Platinum has a silverish-white hue and is represented by the symbol Pt and atomic number 78 on the periodic table of elements.
What is platinum used for?
Platinum has several uses, including playing a large role in the auto industry for its ability to reduce emissions. Additionally, platinum is in high demand for jewelry and as an investment metal.
Platinum is also benefiting from growing demand from the hydrogen fuel cell sector. The metal is a key catalyst in the process that converts hydrogen into electricity.
What is palladium metal?
Palladium fits into the precious metals category and is a PGM. It is represented by the symbol Pd and atomic number 46 on the periodic table of elements. Palladium has a silvery-white color and is prized for its rarity.
What is palladium used for?
The automotive sector is the primary end user of palladium. The metal is a key component in the catalytic convertors of internal combustion engine vehicles, where it is used to reduce emissions.
Like platinum, palladium is used in jewelry and valued as an investment. It has other smaller-scale uses, and is consumed in various ways by the medical and dental fields, among others.
What is the best way to invest in palladium?
While there is no single best way to investing in palladium, those interested in gaining exposure to this market have a variety of options. Investors who prefer more tangible assets can add physical palladium to their portfolios, including palladium bullion and coins. Palladium exchange-traded funds such as the Sprott Physical Platinum and Palladium Trust (ARCA:SPPP) and the Aberdeen Standard Physical Palladium Shares (ARCA:PALL) offer another route. Palladium-focused stocks are yet another option, with pure-play palladium miners including Sibanye-Stillwater and Impala Platinum Holdings.
Why are metals like gold, platinum and palladium so expensive?
Precious metal gold has long been valued as a form of currency and a store of wealth, all of which have built up its high intrinsic value. Platinum and palladium are 30 times rarer than gold, much harder to mine and are in high demand due to their important industrial uses.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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It can be tempting for investors to focus on specific assets or strategies when building an investment portfolio, but those taking a long-term approach will want to diversify in order to balance out potential portfolio instability.
Gold has a reputation for being a reliable diversifier because it can act as a hedge against various risks.
For those unfamiliar with the term, put simply, a hedge is an investment position whose main purpose is to offset potential losses or gains related to another asset. But how does that work, and what’s the best way to get exposure to gold as a hedge?
Read on for a look at how this strategy works and why it’s worth considering.
In this article
Why use gold investments as a hedge?
Gold is looked at as a hedge investment in many different situations. The first and most popular use of gold as a source of protection is as a hedge against the decline of a currency, typically the US dollar. When the dollar slips, the yellow metal not only becomes less expensive to hold, but also tends to rise in value.
“Gold’s relationship with the dollar is determined by US-based gold supply and demand, as well as by the status of the dollar as the reserve currency globally,” states the World Gold Council. “Historically, a weak dollar tends to provide a stronger boost to gold’s performance than the drag created by a strong dollar.”
By holding the precious metal as a diversification tool when the economy negatively affects currencies, investors can incur gains from the metal’s increased value.
The second reason why gold makes a good hedge is that it can act as a defense against inflation. When the cost of living begins to rise, the stock market often falls. In those cases, investors with assets that are negatively affected by a volatile market need something to balance that out — that’s where gold comes in.
Over the past 50 years, investors have seen gold make huge gains when the stock market is crumbling. As Investopedia points out, “This is because, when fiat currency loses its purchasing power to inflation, gold tends to be priced in those currency units and thus tends to arise along with everything else.”
Interestingly, the yellow metal has also been used as a hedge against deflation, which happens when prices drop, the economy is in a downturn and excessive debt looms. This situation has not occurred since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and to a much smaller degree after the 2008 financial crisis.
Market participants may decide to hoard cash in this type of scenario, and the safest place to hold cash is in gold. Again, while this situation is not commonplace, many investors keep the yellow metal in their portfolios on the off chance that another massive period of deflation will take place.
Finally, gold can be used as a general portfolio hedge when market participants hold investments that are not related to one another. Since the precious metal generally has a negative correlation to stocks, bonds and other financial instruments, investors often diversify by creating a portfolio that combines gold with stocks and bonds in order to reduce both volatility and risk.
While it is true that the yellow metal goes through times of volatility, it has always maintained its value over the long term, making it a steady addition to investors’ portfolios.
Those who have decided to add gold to their portfolio as a hedge have a variety of options. Here’s an overview of three of the most popular ways of getting exposure to gold.
1. How to use physical gold as a hedge
Investors can get the most direct exposure to gold by buying physical gold, and holding the physical metal also adds diversification from digital assets. Physical gold can be purchased through government mints, private mints, precious metals dealers and even jewelry stores.
Physical gold investors should generally focus on 0.999 fine items, as these will also be the easiest to sell. The majority of gold bullion products fit this description.
One of the most common choices for investors are gold bullion coins, such as the South African Krugerrand or the Canadian Gold Maple Leaf, which are 0.999 fine. The American Gold Eagle is reputable and popular as well, but has a lower purity at 91.67 percent. Another option is gold rounds, which are similar to coins, but are not legal tender, making them often slightly cheaper.
Gold bars are another popular option, and because they come in a variety of sizes, they can accommodate a range of investors. Large investments may best be made in bars since bigger sizes are available. Further, it is often easier to manage several large products than it is to manage an array of smaller gold items.
When deciding on what to purchase, gold buyers will want to keep their plans for selling in mind. For example, large products may be more difficult and thus slower to sell, meaning it could be harder to take advantage of gold price movements or convert it to cash in an emergency. Individuals making ongoing or significant investments may therefore want to consider purchasing gold in various weights to give them versatility.
Click here to learn more about physical gold as an investment.
Click here to learn what moves the gold price and the highest price for gold is.
2. How to use gold ETFs as a hedge
One of the common ways investors add gold as a hedge is through investing in a gold exchange-traded fund (ETF), which trade on a stock exchange just like equities. There are several kinds of gold ETFs, offering exposure to different aspects of the gold market. Gold ETFs can offer investors access to gold price movements by holding physical gold or the gold futures market through holding futures contracts. There are also gold ETFs focused on gold mining stocks, providing a more stable alternative to investing in individual gold stocks.
It is important to keep in mind that investors who own gold ETFs do not own any physical gold — even gold ETFs that track physical gold generally cannot be redeemed for it, with the exception of the Vaneck Merk Gold ETF (ARCA:OUNZ). Nonetheless, gold ETFs are a good option for getting exposure to the precious metal without personally trading physical gold, gold futures or gold stocks.
Click here for a list of five biggest gold ETFs and more information on gold ETFs.
Click here for a list of top ASX-listed gold ETFs.
3. How to use gold futures as a hedge
A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell gold on a date in the future for a price determined when the contract is initiated. In a gold futures transaction, two parties agree on a price, the amount of gold being purchased and the future delivery month.
The futures market is often referred to as an arena for paper trading. The bulk of the activity is just that, as metal is not actually exchanged and settlements are made in cash. It allows investors to buy or sell gold as they want without management fees, and taxes are split between short-term and long-term capital gains.
In some cases, the futures market can be an arena for purchasing physical gold. However, obtaining gold through the futures market requires a large investment and involves a list of additional costs. The process can be complicated, cumbersome and lengthy, which is why actually buying physical gold through futures is considered best for highly experienced market participants.
Click here to learn more about gold futures.
Securities Disclosure: I, Lauren Kelly, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Jerry Greenfield, co-founder of the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, has stepped down from the company he started 47 years ago citing a retreat from its campaigning spirit under parent company Unilever.
Greenfield wrote in an open letter late Tuesday night — shared on X by his co-founder Ben Cohen — that he could no longer ‘in good conscience’ remain an employee of the company and said the company had been ‘silenced.’
He said the company’s values and campaigning work on ‘peace, justice, and human rights’ allowed it to be ‘more than just an ice cream company’ and said the independence to pursue this was guaranteed when Anglo-Dutch packaged food giant Unilever bought the brand in 2000 for $326 million.
Cohen’s statement didn’t mention Israel’s ongoing military operation in Gaza, but Ben & Jerry’s has been outspoken on the treatment of Palestinians for years and in 2021 withdrew sales from Israeli settlements in what it called ‘Occupied Palestinian Territory.’
Greenfield’s resignation comes five months after Ben & Jerry’s filed a lawsuit accusing Unilever of firing its chief executive, David Stever, over his support for the brand’s political activism. In November last year Ben & Jerry’s filed another lawsuit accusing Unilever of silencing its public statements in support of Palestinian refugees.
‘It’s profoundly disappointing to come to the conclusion that that independence, the very basis of our sale to Unilever, is gone,’ Greenfield said.
‘And it’s happening at a time when our country’s current administration is attacking civil rights, voting rights, the rights of immigrants, women, and the LGBTQ community,’ he added.
Richard Goldstein, the then president of Unilever Foods North America, said in a statement after the sale in 2000 that Unilever was ‘in an ideal position to bring the Ben & Jerry’s brand, values and socially responsible message to consumers worldwide.’
But now Greenfield claims Ben & Jerry’s ‘has been silenced, sidelined for fear of upsetting those in power.’ He said he would carry on campaigning on social justice issues outside the company.
The financial performance of the Ben & Jerry’s brand isn’t made public but Unilever’s ice cream division made 8.3 billion Euros ($9.8 billion) in revenue in 2024. Unilever is in the process of spinning off its ice cream division, however, into a separate entity which involves cutting some 7,500 jobs across its brands globally.
Cohen and Greenfield founded the business in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, where it is still based.
NBC News has contacted Unilever for comment overnight but had not received any at the time of publication.
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The S&P 500 ($SPX) just logged its fifth straight trading box breakout, which means that, of the five trading ranges the index has experienced since the April lows, all have been resolved to the upside.
How much longer can this last? That’s been the biggest question since the massive April 9 rally. Instead of assuming the market is due to roll over, it’s been more productive to track price action and watch for potential changes along the way. So far, drawdowns have been minimal, and breakouts keep occurring. Nothing in the price action hints at a lasting change — yet.
While some are calling this rally “historic,” we have a recent precedent. Recall that from late 2023 through early 2024, the index had a strong start and gave way to a consistent, steady trend.
From late October 2023 through March 2024, the S&P 500 logged seven consecutive trading box breakouts. That streak finally paused with a pullback from late March to early April, which, as we now know, was only a temporary hiccup. Once the bid returned, the S&P 500 went right back to carving new boxes and climbing higher.
New 52-Week Highs Finally Picking Up
If there’s been one gripe about this rally, it’s that the number of new highs within the index has lagged. As we’ve discussed before, among all the internal breadth indicators available, new highs almost always lag — that’s normal. What we really want to see is whether the number of new highs begins to exceed prior peaks as the market continues to rise, which it has, as shown by the blue line in the chart below.
As of Wednesday’s close, 100 S&P 500 stocks were either at new 52-week highs or within 3% of them. That’s a strong base. We expect this number to continue rising as the market climbs, especially if positive earnings reactions persist across sectors.
Even when we get that first day with 100+ S&P 500 stocks making new 52-week highs, though, it might not be the best time to initiate new longs.
The above chart shows that much needs to align for that many stocks to peak in unison, which has historically led to at least a short-term consolidation, if not deeper pullbacks — as highlighted in yellow. Every time is different, of course, but this is something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.
Trend Check: GoNoGo Still “Go”
The GoNoGo Trend remains in bullish mode, with the recent countertrend signals having yet to trigger a greater pullback.
Active Bullish Patterns
We still have two live bullish upside targets of 6,555 and 6,745, which could be with us for a while going forward. For the S&P 500 to get there, it will need to form new, smaller versions of the trading boxes.
Failed Bearish Patterns
In the chart below, you can view a rising wedge pattern on the recent price action, the third since April. The prior two wedges broke down briefly and did not lead to a major downturn. The largest pullbacks in each case occurred after the S&P 500 dipped below the lower trendline of the pattern.
The deepest drawdown so far is 3.5%, which is not exactly a game-changer. Without downside follow-through, a classic bearish pattern simply can’t be formed, let alone be broken down from.
We’ll continue to monitor these formations as they develop because, at some point, that will change.
United States Antimony (NYSEAMERICAN:UAMY) has secured a US$245 million sole-source contract from the US Defense Logistics Agency to supply antimony ingots.
The five year ‘indefinite delivery indefinite quantity’ agreement was finalized after months of negotiations and makes US Antimony the exclusive supplier of antimony ingots to the National Defense Stockpile.
The company confirmed that first deliveries are expected this week. News of the award sent its shares up 17.8 percent in New York trading, boosting its market value to about US$975 million.
“This is the kind of knowledge that is only gained through decades of execution and know-how,” Chairman and CEO Gary C. Evans said in the Tuesday (September 23) announcement. “USAC has some of the most experienced antimony chemists, metallurgists and other professionals on its team in the global landscape.”
Evans added that the expertise of Gus Gustavsen, the company’s antimony division president, was central to the award. Gustavsen has more than 50 years in the field.
Washington is moving to strengthen supply chains for materials considered essential to defense and energy security. China dominates global antimony production, leaving the US reliant on imports in recent years. By securing a sole-source deal, the Pentagon has effectively locked in a domestic pipeline for a mineral it deems strategically important.
US Antimony said it is working to broaden its ore supply beyond imports.
Mining began this month on its acreage in Alaska, where early results indicate high-grade deposits that could support efficient processing and eventually supply military-grade products, including antimony trisulfide.
The Alaska development marks a shift for US Antimony, which for decades has depended heavily on foreign ore. The company emphasized that many competing sources, both in the US and abroad, are unlikely to meet military standards and remain years away from commercial production.
“We don’t believe the low quality of those antimony ores controlled by others will meet the stringent requirements of our U.S. Military,” the company reaffirmed.
The US Geological Survey lists antimony as one of 50 minerals critical to national security and economic stability.
The Defense Logistics Agency has been tasked with replenishing the National Defense Stockpile, which in recent years has drawn down to its lowest levels since the Cold War.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Bitcoin may soon share space with gold on central bank balance sheets, according to a new report from Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) that frames the cryptocurrency as an emerging reserve asset.
“There is room for both gold and Bitcoin to coexist on central bank balance sheets by 2030,” Marion Laboure and Camilla Siazon, both analysts at the firm, wrote in a note published on Monday (September 22).
Deutsche Bank’s report points to recent diversification trends in global central bank reserves.
The US dollar is still the dominant reserve currency, but it accounted for only 43 percent of holdings in 2024, down from 60 percent at the start of the century. Meanwhile, China reduced its US treasury holdings by US$57 billion last year.
Against this backdrop, both gold and Bitcoin are being positioned by market participants as hedges against inflation, geopolitical risk and questions about monetary sovereignty.
Gold has been a standout performer in 2025. The precious metal surged to a record of US$3,788.33 per ounce on Tuesday (September 23), capping a year-to-date rally of more than 40 percent and its largest gain in over four decades.
Central banks have been a driving force behind the rally, with a recent World Gold Council survey showing that 43 percent of monetary authorities plan to increase their gold reserves in the next 12 months.
Nearly all respondents, tallying 95 percent, expect global central bank gold reserves overall to continue rising.
Bitcoin, meanwhile, has faced short-term pullbacks, but has shown longer-term resilience. After topping US$123,500 in August, the cryptocurrency slipped below US$113,000 at the start of the week.
Yet analysts at Deutsche Bank highlight that its 30 day volatility hit historic lows even during record-breaking price runs, a sign that Bitcoin may be decoupling from its speculative reputation.
That adoption is evident in corporate balance sheets as well.
More than 180 companies have added Bitcoin or other crypto assets to their holdings, often modeling their strategy on Strategy’s (NASDAQ:MSTR) high-profile accumulation, led by Executive Chairman Michael Saylor.
Prominent public figures have also lent support. Eric Trump told Yahoo Finance ahead of last week’s interest rate cut from the US Federal Reserve that a reduction could help crypto “skyrocket,” framing digital assets as a key hedge.
While Deutsche Bank’s analysts acknowledge the risks tied to Bitcoin’s sudden swings, they said regulation and shifting macroeconomic conditions could accelerate its path to legitimacy.
The bank draws parallels between Bitcoin’s trajectory today and gold’s rise in the 20th century, suggesting that skepticism could eventually give way to acceptance. While the writers admit that neither asset is likely to dethrone the dollar, gold and Bitcoin could serve as complementary tools for monetary authorities seeking diversification.
Overall 2025 has been “excellent” for both gold and Bitcoin even if their price movements diverge.
“So long as we are human, Bitcoin and other alternative assets will likely continue to compete for our attention,” the Deutsche Bank note concludes.
Securities Disclosure: I, Giann Liguid, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Gareth Soloway of VerifiedInvesting.com shares price targets for gold, silver and Bitcoin.
He also discusses the health of the US economy and shares concerns about the stock market.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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Questcorp Mining Inc. (CSE: QQQ,OTC:QQCMF) (OTCQB: QQCMF) (FSE: D910) (the ‘Company’ or ‘Questcorp’) is pleased to announce that it’s Maiden drilling program at the La Union gold and silver Project in Sonora, Mexico, is progressing on track and on budget, with three of the five main targets now having some initial drilling and work continuing toward completion of the current program. This update follows the Company’s August 6, 2025 announcement marking the start of the program and August 19 and September 10 news releases chronicling the progress of the program.
Saf Dhillon, President and Chief Executive Officer, states: ‘The maiden drill program has been indicating consistency with past mining, and targets are progressing with positive exploration drilling so far. The drilling is intersecting more quartzite than expected which is favorable for fracture-controlled mineralization. The property Operator, Riverside operations team is handling the current exploration program working with the local rancher and the drilling company to efficiently complete the first phase of this exploration program.’
The first hole at the Union Mine target was drilled southeast beneath historic workings, cutting through the Clemente and Caborca formations-both key host units for past mining at Union as described in the filed NI 43-101 report on SEDAR+ by Questcorp Mining (https://www.sedarplus.ca/csa-party/records/document.html?id=48299afdea2a73385e0513ce830753e11ddf957ee61888b81d46e76fa281ac17).
The hole ended in the Caborca Formation, encountering the distinctive microconglomeratic carbonate unit that historically hosted mineralization at the bottom of the Union Mine. Samples from this hole have been delivered to Bureau Veritas in Hermosillo, Sonora, for gold fire assay, with pulps to be sent to Vancouver, Canada, for ICP-MS analysis with 4-acid digestion to determine silver, base metal, and multi-element values. This consistent analytical approach has been applied since the outset of the Union program to ensure comparability across results.
Drilling then moved to the northern part of the project, testing two target areas: the El Cobre Mine area and the North Union Mine area. Here, holes were oriented perpendicular to stratigraphy and toward interpreted feeder zones along pre-mineral fault structures, primarily within the Clemente Formation. Drilling in these areas has intersected more quartzite than initially modeled, with extensive hematitic oxides-an encouraging sign for potential gold mineralization, possibly linked to sulfides that have been oxidized through supergene weathering. Historic mining in the district targeted oxides only, leaving sulfide zones untested. Riverside plans to evaluate this potential beneath past workings across four target areas: Union Mine, El Cobre, North Union, and Famosa.
The program has now moved south to the Famosa target, where two initial holes are planned to test beneath and along strike from historic workings toward a steeply west-dipping, north-south-trending fault structure, as well as into host rocks on either side of this major structural feature. Famosa produced gold historically, with reported grades exceeding ½ oz/ton Au in archived records referenced in the NI 43-101 report. The Company is encouraged by the target’s potential and is eager to advance drilling here.
Once this initial campaign is completed, follow-up work will integrate assay results, ongoing surface programs, additional induced polarization (IP) surveys, and refined geological interpretations based on stratigraphy and structure observed in drilling. The greater-than-expected quartzite content in the Clemente Formation supports the evolving model of fracture- and quartz-pyrite veinlet-hosted gold mineralization, which will help sharpen targeting at the Union Project. Core from all drilling has been logged, saw-cut, and half-core samples sent for assay, with remaining halves retained for reference and cataloging.
The Company looks forward to completing the Famosa drilling, receiving the pending assay results, and providing further updates as this program progresses.
Figure 1. Geologic map with the tenure of the Union internal concession shown in pink. Manto and chimney type CRD targets are shown as red polygons. Riverside now controls all mineral tenures on this map. The drill program will focus on the Union Mine and areas north of the Union Mine with the initial drill work.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10197/267723_25b092fc440cbaba_001full.jpg
Figure 2. Cross section looking west with conceptual drill targets and schematic drillhole traces. Assays from Riverside’s sampling of rock dump materials from the two mine areas are labeled in black. Red areas are interpreted as manto and chimney target bodies that are now well defined and drill ready. Assays shown on figures 1 and 2 have been previously released and disclosed as summarized below the geochemical QA/QC and in published NI 43-101 Report that Questcorp published 2025 on SEDAR+.
To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:
https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10197/267723_25b092fc440cbaba_002full.jpg
Qualified Person & QA/QC:
The technical content of this news release has been reviewed and approved by R. Tim Henneberry’, P. Geo (BC) a Director of the Company and a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101.
Rock samples from previous exploration programs discussed above at the Project were taken to the Bureau Veritas Laboratories in Hermosillo, Mexico for fire assaying for gold. The rejects remained with Bureau Veritas in Mexico while the pulps were transported to Bureau Veritas laboratory in Vancouver, BC, Canada for 45 element ICP/ES-MS analysis using 4-acid digestion methods. A QA/QC program was implemented as part of the sampling procedures for the exploration program. Standards were randomly inserted into the sample stream prior to being sent to the laboratory.
About Questcorp Mining Inc.
Questcorp Mining is engaged in the business of the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties in North America, with the objective of locating and developing economic precious and base metals properties of merit. The company holds an option to acquire an undivided 100-per-cent interest in and to mineral claims totalling 1,168.09 hectares comprising the North Island copper property, on Vancouver Island, B.C., subject to a royalty obligation. The company also holds an option to acquire an undivided 100-per-cent interest in and to mineral claims totalling 2,520.2 hectares comprising the La Union project located in Sonora, Mexico, subject to a royalty obligation.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS,
Saf Dhillon
President & CEO
Questcorp Mining Inc.
saf@questcorpmining.ca
Tel. (604-484-3031)
Suite 550, 800 West Pender Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6C 2V6.
Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management regarding completion of survey work at the North Island Copper project. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. No assurance can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if they do occur, what benefits the Company will obtain from them. Except as required by the securities disclosure laws and regulations applicable to the Company, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management’s beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.
To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/267723
News Provided by Newsfile via QuoteMedia
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