Steve St. Angelo: Exponential Debt Cycle is Past the Point of no Return
What this covers
Tom welcomes back Steve St. Angelo of the SRSrocco Report for a discussion on the record-high prices of gold and silver. St. Angelo suggests these levels for silver could be a new floor as they've historically returned to production costs following price spikes. The average cost of primary silver production is around $26 an ounce, taking taxes and developmental costs into account.
St. Angelo stresses the importance of distinguishing investment demand from industrial demand when analyzing the silver market dynamics. A decade ago, there was a significant silver surplus due to decreased industrial demand which has since reversed with increased investment demand. Industrial demand is expected to consume all available supply, making additional investment demand potentially price-volatile.
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Steve explores the impact of energy scarcity and continued money printing on production costs, driving up gold and silver prices due to inflationary pressures. They discuss the possibility of a market correction offering the last chance to buy silver at present rates.
Steve and Tom delve into the relationship between expanding money supply, debt, federal funds rate, and silver price. Looking towards the period leading up to 2025, a market correction is anticipated due to increasing unemployment and possible employment data revisions. Economic weakness could lead to reduced interest rates and more money printing, instigating inflation and purchasing power reduction. However, Commitment of Traders reports may not accurately reflect demand.
The global silver mine supply and output have been declining since 2015, necessitating existing inventories to bridge the deficit. This imbalance could lead to a substantial correction when prices significantly surpass production costs. Concerns about marginal silver supply include transparent and non-transparent inventories, solar industry demand, and copper prices as indicators of industrial demand and potential recession.
Steve discusses the shift from LBMA to ETF silver inventories. Pre-pandemic, there was significant physical buying leading to expanded ETF inventories. However, in 2022, overall LBMA inventories decreased due to Indian purchasing and ETF withdrawals.
Finally, Steve discusses the merits of assets such as Bitcoin, gold, and silver. While some view Bitcoin as a digital counterpart to gold, Steve contends that saving in Bitcoin is not the same as saving in precious metals. This is due to Bitcoin mining causing considerable share dilution and due to the energy costs.
Steve advocates understanding asset worth based on economic progress versus past activity, emphasizing energy's role in asset value, and preparing for future energy realities.
Talking Points From This Episode - Silver's new floor could be around average production cost ($26/oz). - Industrial demand vs investment demand crucial in analyzing silver market dynamics. - Economic instability, the energy cliff, inflation, and supply concerns may lead to significant price volatility.
Time Stamp References: 0:00 - Introduction 1:22 - New Silver Price Floor 3:30 - Miners & All-In Costs 5:55 - Energy & Money Supply 8:44 - Types of Metal Demand 11:35 - Money Printing & Silver 15:13 - Purchasing Power & Rates 17:06 - Fed Cuts & Corrections 21:37 - Utility of COT Reports 23:52 - Mine Supply & Output 28:44 - Silver & Manufacturing 31:54 - Grid Stability & Solar 34:40 - LBMA Silver Trends 37:06 - Miner Production & Shares 40:35 - Dedollarization & Gold 47:50 - Dr. Copper & Economy 51:34 - Energy & Volatile Mkts. 54:13 - Energy, GDP, & Debt 55:20 - Federal Deficits Chart 57:10 - Trends & Collapse 1:00:48 - U.S. Spending & Budget 1:02:50 - Bitcoin & Precious Metals 1:06:10 - Energy Store of Value 1:09:25 - Wrap Up
Guest Links: Website: https://srsroccoreport.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/SRSroccoReport YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCED7G7CZfqdSV9zttlr1M_g
Independent researcher Steve St. Angelo (SRSrocco) started to invest in precious metals in 2002. Later on, in 2008, he began researching areas of the gold and silver market that, curiously, most of the precious metal analyst community have left unexplored. These areas include how energy and the falling EROI "Energy Returned On Invested" stand to impact the mining industry, precious metals, paper assets, and the overall economy.
Steve considers studying the impacts of EROI one of the most important aspects of his energy research. For the past several years, he has written scholarly articles on some of the top precious metals and financial websites.
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St. Angelo argues that gold and silver prices are fundamentally anchored to the cost of production, which is rising due to energy inflation and money printing, and that a major market correction is coming despite near-term upside, after which precious metals will reach much higher levels as investors flee to physical assets as real collateral when financial assets collapse.
- Silver cost of production has risen to $26/oz from $14-19 due to energy and monetary inflation, establishing a new price floor
- Financial assets are vastly overvalued claims on future growth that cannot be sustained as energy returns diminish; gold and silver derive value from past economic activity stored in physical form
- An imminent market correction will precede a long-term bull market in precious metals as the financial system recognizes the energy debt that underpins the current collateral system
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St. Angelo's final message is that the most misunderstood aspect of asset valuation is that energy (in all forms and stages) fundamentally determines what gives assets their value
“the most misunderstood thing that uh gives an asset its value is energy in all forms and stages and the market doesn't understand that why because most of them are in financial assets”
Europe has added substantial solar and wind but can balance intermittency because natural gas provides flexible balancing power (capable of ramping up and down quickly)
“Europe has added a lot of solar and wind they use a lot of n gas to generate power so they have the ability to fluctuate because natural gas is a good balancing power”
The silver price over a 50-year historical chart (going back to the 1970s) shows a pattern where price spikes occur but afterward the silver price reverts to the cost of production, and this same pattern holds for gold and copper
“I have a chart and this is my analysis people can disagree with me and I haven't really found anybody Tom who can look at this chart it's a 50-year chart of silver it goes back to uh 19 the 1970s and as you can see we we get some tremendous spikes in the silver price but after these spikes happen the silver price comes back down to the cost of production and this is similar with gold it's the same thing with copper basically the majority of the market is what something cost to produce it”
The all-in sustaining cost (AISC) metric used by miners has a fundamental flaw: it excludes developmental and expansionary capital expenditures, which represents a significant and artificially conceals the true cost of production
“there's a lot of things this one of them is is like there's taxes also the Allin sustaining cost what they've done is they have uh separated sustaining capital and developmental or expansionary the problem is most of the miners are are are are deducting their developmental or expansionary Capital so they don't include that in their cost in their all and sustaining cost but that could be a significant amount”
The world has added roughly triple the amount of debt in the last 20 years, and this debt expansion is specifically used to offset falling energy return on investment (EROI) and maintain economic growth as energy becomes less efficient
“the amount of debt we have added in in the world it's it's almost tripled in the last 20 years so that to me is an indication that's trying to offset the falling energy return and investment of energy even though we're bringing on a lot more volume of it of natural gas and of oil liquids petroleum liquids the the world is adding a lot of debt to offset this”
When a nurse gets paid from Medicare and spends the money, that creates secondary income for others (hair stylists, etc.), so cutting Medicare not only eliminates the nurse's income but cascades through the economy in multiplier effects
“when a nurse gets paid because Medicare she goes and gets her hair done she buys this well you now you cut Medicare that nurse may get laid off it's a it's going to be a compounding cascading effect”
The global collateral system is based on US Treasuries (IOUs/debt), not on gold or silver, but when energy gets into trouble, the market will need to reevaluate what constitutes real collateral versus energy debt
“now think about this a US Treasury is an IOU it's a debt you can borrow that is the foundation of the collateral system in the world is the US Treasury it's a debt I think when energy really gets into trouble the market is going to have to reer understand what is real collateral what is the foundation of collateral and that's really gold and silver because you don't you it's not a debt it's not an energy debt”
Gold and silver are based on an 'energy store value'—they represent past economic activity and productive capacity stored in physical form—unlike financial assets which are claims on future earnings
“gold and silver are based on an energy store value in that gold and silver coin it's a totally different Market that the market doesn't seem to understand so that that is going to be I think a a very big realization in the future as investors waking up to protect wealth”
Historically, societies have assumed infinite energy growth, but this assumption is now ending as energy production peaks, and most people do not yet realize the implications of this shift
“because we we assume that energy is going to grow in infinitely forever and and that's not the case and it's never been the case we we're just we're just beginning to realize that now”
There are transparent inventories held on COMEX, LBMA, and in ETFs, but there are also significant off-balance-sheet inventories privately held (and possibly in government reserves) whose size is unknown
“we know some transparent inventories on the comics and the lbma and and and exchanges and even in ETFs but there there is off balance sheet that we don't know about there are there is silver in China and elsewhere that we don't know about”
The shift to very expensive unconventional oil (shale, deepwater, tar sands) has replaced the one-time benefit of abundant cheap conventional oil, and this transition is permanent and cannot be reversed
“and then on the money printing side obviously that is just you know dilution of purchasing power which you know in turn means inflation which obviously in turn means the the cost of anything not just the energy needed but also the equipment all of the inputs into the equipment the the labor all of that going up everything goes up”
Energy cliff scenarios can proceed in two ways: managed decline (orderly reduction of consumption and living standards) or chaotic decline (unmanaged); based on current political dysfunction, St. Angelo believes the chaotic path is more likely, with implications for volatility and wealth destruction
“you either manage Peak energy Plateau energy than declines you say okay we're we're humans we're smart we're you know in inventive we can manage this... either we can manage this or it can be chaotic and unfortunately the way I look at what's happening in American politics looking at what's happening worldwide we don't have a good way of working things out together so it looks like it's going to be chaotic unfortunately”
Central banks will be forced to continue printing money because the alternative is depression from which the economy cannot escape—it is a structural 'print or die' scenario with no solution other than continued monetary expansion
“this is a conundrum this is a pred predicament there's no solution to this it's either print or die and unfortunately I think they're going to have to print and that's why we're going to see much higher inflation and much higher energy prices as well as metal prices”
Unlike gold or silver, Bitcoin cannot be melted down into something useful—it is purely a digital representation of asset value, making it dependent on a functioning high-technology ecosystem and electricity supply
“you can't meltdown a Bitcoin into something useful it's a digital representation of an asset value and that only functions if you have a very high functioning internet and system that allows Bitcoin to trade people are more than welcome to invest and speculating Bitcoin I think the mid to long-term fundamentals for assets like digital assets I would be worried that it's going to be difficult for you to be able to transact in that where gold and silver you don't have have to worry about you don't need energy to to to sell a gold or silver you do need energy to transact in Bitcoin”
China's solar utilization rate is only 14%, while the United States achieves 25% solar utilization, and China's nuclear plants achieve 95% utilization, showing that intermittent renewables are much less efficient at capacity utilization
“China's solar last year was 14% utilization 14% in the United States we were 25% that just goes to show you how much lower China's utilization rate of their solar is and if they continue to add even more that's going to drop more and so the problem is the sun only comes on a certain time time of the day well at night people need a lot of um Power it doesn't work so you need batteries or something so you could get a huge spike in solar power”
Even the Fed's 500 basis point rate cut and $2 trillion in government debt added in 2008-2010 did not stop the 2008-2010 recession, proving that monetary and fiscal stimulus have limits in preventing business cycle corrections
“they they they dropped the uh the FED funds rate all the way down to what was it they dropped it 500 basis points the issue is and guess what the US government added in two years in 2008 and N or nine to 10 they added two trillion in debt this was a big number back then guess what lowering the interest rates adding all that debt it didn't stop the recession”
When conventional oil production peaked in 2006, two years later oil hit $145/barrel, then remained at $100 for three years, and the US had to bring on shale oil to increase supply
“we we saw the first thing happen we saw the First Energy Cliff uh when conventional peaked in 2006 two years later we hit $145 oil then we hit $100 for three years Tom and we brought on we started bringing on Shale”
The photovoltaic/solar industry is a major consumer of silver, and China produces nearly 90% of solar cells and 80%+ of solar panels globally
“and you know obviously the the solar industry or the photovoltaic industry is one of the the big pieces of demand and China produces almost 90% of all the the solar cells and 80 plus% of the panels”
China added 270 gigawatts (GW) of solar to its grid last year, and added 102 GW in the first half of 2024, but this rapid expansion is becoming problematic because the grid cannot efficiently absorb and utilize the power
“China added so much solar last year to their grid I think it was 270 gws Tom this year first half of 2020 24 102 GW do you know that I think is becoming disabling to their grid”
Cumulative US deficits in 2010-2019 decade were $8.2-8.3 trillion (equivalent to M2 money supply growth); in 2020-2024 first 5 years, deficits reached $10.8 trillion, representing $2.6 trillion above the entire prior decade—showing acceleration in deficit spending that will continue exponentially
“we had what 8.2 8.3 trillion in deficits which is M2 money supply that's where that's where it happens in just the first five years because include 2020 it's it's right now it's 10.8 trillion we're 2.6 trillion above the 2010 decade”
Unlike the US which has energy to 'back up' its monetary expansion, China must import 14 million barrels per day of energy, making China's currency less secure and more vulnerable if it engages in excessive money printing
“well China's got to import they're importing 14 million barrels a day of energy so we need to put it into perspective yes the dollar we're printing a lot of dollars China's printing a lot of you on uh you know and so we need to understand that as we hit this energy cliff”
The US cannot achieve another 13-13.5 million barrel per day increase from shale oil and natural gas (like it did in the 2000s-2010s) because there is no 'Shale 2.0,' so future energy growth will be modest (adding only a few million barrels)
“I think we're going to be in a plateau but we're never going to get that huge 13 13.5 million Barrel a day increase of the from the US Shell oil and natural gas liquids that's not going to happen again there's no 2.0”
Switching to a gold standard would not solve the problem; instead, it would cause a depression from which the economy could never escape, as the constraint would prevent monetary response to shocks
“a lot of people think if they stop printing we can go to a gold currency and and then everything's going to be fine no I think you you get into a depression that you never get out of unfortunately that's all due to the energy Tom”
Historical data shows that about six months after the Fed begins cutting rates, the economy enters a recession, and current unemployment data showing weakness suggests a recession is likely coming
“when you look at the Fred uh the Fred charts uh Federal Reserve charts you could see this um that when about six months after they start cutting rates is when we head into a recession”
Copper is the key commodity to monitor for economic weakness because it is primarily used in industrial applications and represents 'the king commodity'
“this is the key commodity this is the industrial copper is the king copper”
If shareholder dilution from mining companies issuing shares to fund expansion is included in total costs, the true cost to produce silver and gold becomes even higher than St. Angelo's already-elevated cost calculations
“when you include all the cost I go by the adjusted net income approach my break even and then I look at the free cash flow and they tend to confirm each other and so when you look at the total costs and this is really not the total cost time because I'm not including a lot of share delution uh and you know unfortunately shareholders were diluted shares to continue bringing on um more projects”
Inflation hit 9% then came back down, and the pattern will repeat: prices will go back up again but it may take time, as the system cycles through periods of high and low inflation
“we had that huge inflation 9% right and then it came all the way back down well it'll it'll go back up again but that may take time for that to happen”
While St. Angelo does not see massive dollarization currently, he believes de-dollarization will likely increase over time but will take considerable time to materialize
“we are definitely seeing that but I don't think we're seeing a massive dollarization happening currently we are seeing some that will likely uh increase in the future but it'll take time before the world”
The copper inventory buildup and China's weak demand signals indicate that China is in economic trouble, which explains why China implemented a major stimulus package
“I really think it's it's telling us that something's wrong with China I think I think China's in trouble which is why they did the big stimulus package I think China is in trouble”
Bitcoin mining is not actually helping Bitcoin achieve its stated goal of being decentralized; instead, miners are engaging in massive shareholder dilution by printing new shares to finance mining operations
“the interesting thing about the Bitcoin market and we could do a whole interview on this is how the Bitcoin mining industry is functioning the whole idea of getting into Bitcoin is to get be is to be decentralized and to protect your wealth right protect your money the Bitcoin mining industry is doing massive share delution they're printing money by destroying shareholder value in an obnoxious amount to produce Bitcoin”
Even though China has sold some Treasuries, it has been investing in US agency bonds (Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac securities) because the US government now backstops the entire real estate market, making these agency bonds attractive alternatives to direct Treasuries
“I've heard that China has been investing in now US agency bonds which are Fanny May bonds and so even though they may be getting out of treasuries or hiding what their their dollar denominated assets are they may they they're getting into other dollar denom dollar denominated assets because the US government is now backstopping the entire real estate market”
Indian physical silver buying of approximately 9,200 metric tons in 2022 was responsible for the sharp decline in LBMA inventories that year
“that was a lot of that was due to Indian buying I think it was 9,200 metric tons in 2022 and then there was just a lot of buying there was a lot of physical buying”
Low-cost gold miners like Agnico Eagle and Alamos Gold have performed much better than higher-cost producers like Newmont and Barrick, demonstrating that lower production costs translate to better stock performance
“well we know this is the case because um of two of the larger gold miners like Alamos gold and ago Eagle they have the low costs of the group I look at and they have their stock prices been doing very well Newmont and baric they've gone up but they they have they don't look they haven't really performed as well compared to ago and or Alamos gold”
Global silver mine supply peaked around 900 million ounces in 2015-2016 and has since declined to approximately 830 million ounces (70 million ounce reduction)
“we've had declines it peaked about 900 million ounces in 20156 and it's uh I think meal's Focus says that it's going to decline a bit this year some other agencies consultancy says it'll increase a bit in 20124 we are bringing on a few more projects but it's about 70 million ounces less than it was 830 million oun plus or minus”
Even major primary miners like Fresnillo are showing that their non-Wanoppio mines will decline in the next several years, confirming structural supply pressure
“even frilo is going they're showing that their minds besides wanio they're going to decline in the next several years”
The SLV ETF (and other European silver ETFs) experienced huge inflows during the 2020 pandemic, with much of this demand coming from institutional investors moving metal from private holdings to ETF holdings
“so we see that big increase in the SLV or the inventories in the gray line but then look what look what happened in 2022 you see waterfall decline in the inventories overall and that was a lot of that was due to Indian buying I think it was 9,200 metric tons in 2022”
China produces the most gold in the world and does not export it, so if domestic demand is insufficient, the Chinese central bank will buy the domestic production as 'unofficial' central bank gold rather than official purchases
“China produces a lot of gold they produce most of the gold in the world they don't export that gold so if there isn't enough demand the central bank will buy that gold but it may not become official Central Bank buying it's unofficial Central Bank buying you see”
Base metal miners like KGHM (a Polish copper miner) that produce 40 million ounces of silver as a byproduct are barely profitable, meaning they are not selling their silver for nothing and require the revenue from silver to remain profitable overall
“when you look at some of the big base metal miners like kgm PESA in Poland they're a big copper Miner they produce uh 40 million ounces of silver a year that they're barely they're making a little bit of money so they're not they're not selling their silver for nothing they all that money that they get from their revenue from Silver they need that to keep profitable”
The two primary factors that will push the cost of production (and thus the price floor) for precious metals higher are energy costs and money printing
“well it's going to be energy and money printing that's what's going to do it uh those two factors are are likely going to continue to to push the floor”
Investment demand is setting prices at the margin because it represents unforeseen demand that must come from whatever inventory float exists, making it the price-determining factor despite being relatively small compared to total demand
“if you get a lot of investment demand it starts eating into the inventories wherever these inventories are and we we've been seeing that and so this is now in a different ballpark especially as green energy has been ramped up so I think investment demand is going to be a major factor pushing the price of silver going forward because that really operates let's say on the on the margins right the pric is usually set on the margins because that's where that let's say unforeseen demand ends up coming from right”
After the 2011 gold peak at $1,923, the price fell all the way back to $1,300, though the new production cost floor is now $1,900, so a similar correction would not go as low as 2011
“well right now with $800 it's about a 42% profit margin 44% profit margin so yes gold could go to 28 it could go to 3,000 because it went up to 1923 with a 64% profit margin so the but the thing is in a year or two later it came down it it came all the way down to uh 1300 so I'm not saying that it's going to come down to 1300 but the cost floor now is 1,900 so I think investors Metals investors need to understand that Dynamic can can happen again”
In 2019, LBMA silver inventories were 67% in the 'Other' category and 33% in ETFs, but by 2024, ETFs comprise 63% of total inventories and 'Other' has declined to 37%
“prior to the 2020 pandemic shutdown and you know demand for Metals is the fear there was not only a lot of physical buying of metal coins and bars there was investors got into the ETFs and we could see that right here so what's interesting like in 2019 when you look at the lbma silver Holdings 67% 2third was in the other category and 33% was in ETFs then you had the pandemic shutdown”
In Q2 2024, jewelry demand for gold fell 20% due to higher gold prices, central bank gold demand declined from the prior quarter, and investment demand also declined, suggesting real dollarization (broad-based demand) is not yet occurring
“when you're seeing massive uh demand for gold in all sectors Tom do you know in the second quarter 2024 jewelry demand was down 20% because the go the price of gold went up uh Central Bank demand had declined from the Year from the quarter before even investment demand had declined”
Top primary silver miners like Fresnillo, which produces 50 million ounces per year, now have a full cost of production over $26 per ounce, establishing this as the new floor for silver prices
“now for my analysis my full cost this isn't the all and sustaining cost but we're talking the top primary silver miners even Fresnillo that produces 50 million ounces a year it's now over 26”
Despite the recent rally in gold and silver, St. Angelo expects a significant market correction to occur when a US recession and global recession finally hits, and he believes this will be the last opportunity for investors to buy precious metals at low prices
“I still think we're going to get a market correction when the when the US recession Global recession finally hits so I I don't think we've seen we can see higher Highs but I think we're going to see a correction and when we get that correction Tom I think that's going to be the last time you'll be able to get silver or gold at that low price I really do”
Despite China's reported reduction in Treasury holdings ($52 billion sold in last year), a corresponding increase in Luxembourg's Treasury holdings ($53 billion) suggests a 'cat and mouse game' where assets are moved between holdings to obscure true exposure
“the while China has definitely sold off some of its treasuries I think it's like 52 billion in the last year there's been kind of a cat cat and mouse game going on because there was a 53 billion increase in treasuries in luxenburg and I can tell you luxenburg isn't buying those treasuries”
The Commitment of Traders (COT) reports provide useful signals about precious metals markets: when commercial net short positions are low (near zero or negative), metals tend to be at lows; as prices rise, commercial short positions increase as normal business activity
“when the uh commercial net Shore position in gold and silver get to a low when they have a low uh amount like almost I think silver got to basically it was flat it was a zero or negative commercial natural position you saw silver was at a low so as the price of gold goes up and silver goes up we we see a larger and larger and larger commercial Nal position and that's business as usual”
When the Fed lowered rates starting in August 2007, the Dow Jones and silver prices both continued higher until October, with the real correction not starting until December (six months later), suggesting Fed rate cuts trigger asset inflation before the underlying weakness emerges
“I did a post on this and if you go back it's interesting you go back to uh 2007 the FED start lowering rates in August and as the FED lowered rates guess what the Dow Jones continued higher to October and so did the silver price the Dow really didn't start to correct Tom until about December uh and so six months later we started getting the correction in the Dow”
St. Angelo expects many Bitcoin mining companies to become penny stocks as they deteriorate financially from unprofitable operations
“I think soon you're going to see shareholders start leaving as I think a lot of these these these Bitcoin miners are heading to Penny Stock heaven now”
In 2011 when silver hit $50, commercial net short positions did not increase for 6-8 months (unlike recent behavior), but now in 2024, commercial shorts are increasing significantly as prices rise, suggesting the current rally is different from the 2011 spike
“in 2011 it was different Tom we did not see when the price of silver hit 30 uh 50 in May 2011 we did not see the commercial net short position increase for like about 6 eight months since 2010 but we're seeing that now so if we were going to see a $50 silver we wouldn't added 7,000 commercial in that short position”
Global silver supply will be flat or in slight decline over the next 5 years, which is not good for meeting increasing demand
“so I think we're going to be flat or slightly decline in the next uh five years and so this is not good for demand that I think is going to increase considerably”
Saudi Arabia bought about $10 billion in gold over two years but added $30 billion in US treasuries in the last year alone, suggesting Saudi Arabia is not truly de-dollarizing but is accumulating dollar assets
“they they bought about $10 billion in gold in two years well guess what they've added 30 billion in Us treasuries in the last year so we don't see Saudi Arabia if they were really dollariz why would they add three times the amount of treasuries compared to one time the amount of gold”
Balancing the federal budget would require cutting a massive amount of government spending ($2 trillion+ in deficits annually), which would kill GDP growth through cascading economic contraction as government workers and contractors lose income
“I looked since 2017 the US has added 13 trillion deficits the the GDP has increased 10 trillion you stop doing those deficit spending and people think a lot of that money is going to regular people whether it's a whether it's efficient or not Medicare it's it's it's a it's income security people are getting money to and that money is being spent in the economy you cut that off you you it was I think it's 8% two trillion this year of deficits is 8% of our GDP you cut that off you just cut you just cut the GDP”
Top US Bitcoin miners (Marathon, Riot, Cleanpark) have held 97% of their Bitcoin production in Q2 2024 (selling only 3%), betting that Bitcoin will double, whereas gold miners sold 97% of production, showing very different confidence levels
“the top Bitcoin miners in the United States which is Marathon Riot platforms clean spark that they're not selling their Bitcoin do you know in the last three months they've sold 3% of their Bitcoin Supply in the in the first in the second quarter of 2024 the gold miners sold 97% of their gold and guess what the gold price continue higher can you imagine they've held on to 97% of the Bitcoin because the idea we're going to get that Bitcoin doubling”
Even with efficiency improvements, solar will remain a strong source of silver demand, and some analysts believe it could double or even consume all of global mine supply, though St. Angelo does not believe this will happen
“even though there we're going to see a high amount of silver consumed for solar this year what's going to happen going forward that's going to continue even though it will remain elevated and strong some analysts are saying it's going to be double or could consume all of mine Supply I don't see that happening but it's going to still remain very strong”
Oil remained at $1.80 per barrel for the entire decade of the 1960s because of abundant conventional oil supply brought on from the Middle East, demonstrating the historic relationship between cheap conventional oil and stable energy prices
“there was no coincidence that the price of oil United States remained at A180 barrel for the entire decade in the 1960s because there was so much conventional oil brought on from the Middle East”
Copper inventories have increased significantly: from approximately 300,000 metric tons in August 2023 to nearly 600,000 metric tons in August 2024 (a tripling), with the majority of the increase coming from London Metal Exchange (LME) inventories
“if you look at August go all the way across almost 600,000 metric tons now if you go back August of 23 august2 yeah yeah it it's three times so what's happened in just the last several months and you could see it's really built up since the beginning of January especially the el el um lme the London Metal Exchange look how much theirs have increased they're 320,000”
Some mines that had shut down (like Tahoe's Guatemala mine, now owned by Pan American Silver) are being restarted, but even these restarts cannot offset overall depletion in the industry
“there have been a few mines like there was the Tahoe mine Tahoe uh uh mine in Guatemala that they shut down uh and so that's now owned by panamerican silver and they're trying to get that back up and running”
Gold has hit a new all-time high today and silver was above $32.50, which represents the highest level in 13 years for silver
“we've seen that the metals hit uh gold hit a new high today this morning silver was above 32 and a half”
Tom Bodick hosts Palisades Gold Radio and is leading this interview about precious metals markets
“welcome to Palisades Gold radio I'm your host Tom bodik”
Steve St. Angelo runs the SRS Rocco Report
“for anybody that doesn't already follow Steve all of his stuff is available at SRS rocor report 2 C's rockport.com and of course on Twitter as well SRS Roco report”