West faces $500 billion critical minerals financing test — report
The West needs about US$500 billion in new mining investment by 2040 to meet mineral demand under current policy settings — but the public institutions
July 28, 2026
Gold and silver remain two of the world’s most important precious metals, supported by geopolitical uncertainty, inflation concerns and strong investment demand. Central-bank buying continues to underpin gold, while silver benefits from expanding use in solar energy, electronics, electric vehicles and data centres.
Gold and silver are precious metals valued for their rarity, durability, physical properties and long history as stores of wealth.
Gold (Au), atomic number 79, is a dense, yellow metal that resists corrosion and can be shaped into extremely thin sheets and wires. It is used in jewellery, investment products, central-bank reserves, electronics and specialist technologies.
Silver (Ag), atomic number 47, is a brilliant white metal with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity of any metal. It combines a long-standing monetary role with extensive industrial use in solar panels, electronics, vehicles, electrical equipment and chemical production.
Both metals are mined underground and from open pits, refined to high purity and recovered through recycling. Their markets overlap, but their demand profiles differ: gold is driven primarily by jewellery, investment and official reserves, while silver has much greater exposure to industrial activity.
Gold and silver have served as money, jewellery and symbols of wealth for thousands of years. Their durability, divisibility and relative scarcity helped make them foundations of early monetary systems.
Neither metal now circulates widely as everyday currency, but both remain part of the global financial system. Gold is held by central banks and investors, while gold and silver bars, coins and exchange-traded products provide market exposure.
Their physical properties also make them technologically valuable. Gold’s resistance to corrosion supports reliable electronic connections, while silver’s unmatched conductivity makes it important across electrical and energy technologies.
Gold is widely used as a store of value and portfolio diversifier.
Central banks hold gold as part of their official reserves because it is liquid, globally recognised and carries no direct credit risk. It is not issued by a government or dependent on another institution’s promise to pay.
Investors may turn to gold during periods of:
Gold is often described as a safe-haven asset or inflation hedge, but its performance is not guaranteed. The price can decline during periods of stress, and its relationship with inflation varies across different time horizons.
Unlike a bond or dividend-paying share, physical gold does not generate income. Its investment return depends primarily on changes in price and, where relevant, currency movements and ownership costs.
Jewellery is one of the largest and most established sources of gold demand.
Gold jewellery is purchased for adornment, gifting, weddings, religious traditions and wealth preservation. Demand is particularly significant in markets where jewellery can function as both a consumer product and a form of household savings.
Jewellery demand is affected by:
When gold prices rise, consumers may buy lighter products, reduce purchases or exchange existing jewellery for new pieces. High prices can also encourage owners to sell old jewellery into the recycling market.
Gold conducts electricity, resists oxidation and forms reliable connections at very small scales.
These properties make it useful in:
Only small quantities are typically used in each device. However, gold may be difficult to replace where long-term reliability is more important than material cost.
Its resistance to corrosion is particularly valuable in aerospace, defence and other systems that must operate reliably in harsh environments.
Silver has been used as money for thousands of years and remains an investment asset.
Investors can gain exposure through bars, coins, exchange-traded products, futures and shares in silver-producing companies. Like gold, silver may attract demand during periods of monetary or geopolitical uncertainty.
Silver’s smaller market and greater dependence on industrial demand can make its price more volatile than gold. It may rise or fall more sharply as investor positioning, manufacturing activity and physical supply conditions change.
Silver therefore combines characteristics of both a precious metal and an industrial commodity.
Silver paste is used to create conductive contacts on many photovoltaic cells, allowing electricity generated inside the cell to be collected and transferred.
Growth in solar manufacturing has made photovoltaics an important source of silver demand. The amount of silver used per cell is not fixed, however.
Manufacturers continually work to reduce silver use through:
Total demand therefore depends on the balance between growth in solar installations and reductions in silver intensity per panel.
Silver’s electrical and thermal conductivity make it valuable in switches, contacts, solders, conductive pastes and circuit components.
It is used in:
The quantity used in an individual product may be small, but silver often performs a critical function. Substitutes such as copper can be used in some applications, although they may not offer the same conductivity, reliability or resistance to oxidation.
Modern vehicles use silver in electrical contacts, switches, sensors, infotainment systems, safety equipment and power electronics.
Electric vehicles can create additional demand through larger electrical systems, battery-management equipment and power-control components. Charging stations and supporting electricity infrastructure also contain silver-bearing electronic equipment.
Vehicle design and ongoing efforts to reduce material use will determine how demand develops.
Silver has a broad range of industrial, chemical and medical applications.
These include:
Silver’s catalytic properties are especially important in the production of chemicals such as ethylene oxide and formaldehyde.
Gold and silver can occur in dedicated deposits, together in the same orebody or alongside other metals.
Ore is mined, crushed and processed to separate the valuable metals from surrounding rock. Processing methods depend on mineralogy and may include gravity separation, flotation, leaching, smelting and refining.
Gold production often comes from mines developed primarily for gold.
A significant portion of silver, by contrast, is produced as a by-product or co-product of mining lead, zinc, copper and gold. This means silver supply does not respond only to the silver price. Production decisions may be driven by the economics of the host metal.
Both gold and silver are refined into bars, grains or other high-purity forms before being fabricated into investment products, jewellery or industrial materials.
The principal sources of gold demand include:
The balance between these sectors changes over time. Investment can dominate during periods of financial stress, while jewellery and technology demand may be more closely linked to prices and economic activity.
The principal sources of silver demand include:
Silver demand can therefore respond to both investment sentiment and the industrial cycle.
Mine production, recycling and inventory movements determine the availability of gold and silver.
New mines can take many years to discover, permit, finance and construct. Projects may face challenges involving:
Higher prices can support exploration and mine development, but they do not create an immediate supply response.
Silver’s by-product supply adds another complication. A stronger silver price may have limited influence on output from a mine whose economics are dominated by copper, lead, zinc or gold.
Gold and silver can be recycled without losing their essential properties.
Gold recycling comes mainly from jewellery, investment products and manufacturing scrap. Because gold is valuable and rarely discarded, much of the metal mined throughout history remains in some form above ground.
Silver is recovered from industrial scrap, jewellery, silverware, electronics, catalysts and photographic materials. Recycling can be more difficult when only a very small amount of silver is dispersed across a product.
High metal prices generally encourage recycling, although the response depends on collection systems, ownership patterns and the cost of recovering the material.
Recycled supply acts as an important buffer when mine production is insufficient to meet demand.
Gold and silver mining can have significant environmental and social effects.
Potential issues include:
Responsible production depends on mine design, regulation, operational standards, transparent sourcing and effective closure planning.
Gold supply chains also face risks involving conflict financing, illegal mining and mercury use in parts of the artisanal sector. Traceability and formalisation initiatives seek to reduce these risks while recognising the economic importance of small-scale mining to local communities.
The gold-to-silver ratio measures how many ounces of silver are needed to equal the price of one ounce of gold.
For example, a ratio of 80 means one ounce of gold is worth the same as 80 ounces of silver.
Investors use the ratio to compare relative price movements, but it does not provide a reliable standalone valuation signal. There is no fixed level to which the ratio must return.
Its historical range changes with:
A high ratio does not necessarily mean silver is undervalued, just as a low ratio does not guarantee gold will outperform.
Gold prices are influenced by a combination of financial, monetary and physical-market factors.
Important drivers include:
Gold does not respond consistently to any single variable. Different drivers can dominate at different points in the economic cycle.
Silver prices are influenced by many of the same monetary factors as gold, as well as industrial conditions.
Important drivers include:
Silver’s dual role can amplify volatility. Industrial weakness may weigh on demand even when monetary uncertainty supports precious metals, while strong manufacturing and investor demand can reinforce each other.
Gold and silver sit at the intersection of monetary policy, geopolitics, technology and resource supply.
Key trends to watch include:
Gold and silver share a long monetary history, but they occupy different positions in the modern economy.
Gold is primarily a financial, reserve and jewellery asset with a smaller but important technology market. Silver is both a precious metal and a major industrial material, giving it greater exposure to manufacturing, solar energy and electrification.
For investors, manufacturers and policymakers, the central question is not simply whether demand will grow. It is how monetary conditions, industrial technology, mine supply and recycling will interact across two very different precious-metal markets.
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Gold is used in jewellery, investment bars and coins, central-bank reserves, electronics, semiconductors, aerospace equipment and selected medical and dental applications.
Silver is used in solar cells, electronics, vehicles, electrical contacts, chemical catalysts, brazing alloys, jewellery, silverware, medical products and investment bars and coins.
Gold demand is driven mainly by jewellery, investment and central-bank reserves. Silver has a larger industrial role and is more exposed to solar manufacturing, electronics and economic activity.
Gold is widely treated as a safe-haven and portfolio-diversification asset. Silver can also attract investment during periods of uncertainty, but its industrial exposure and smaller market often make it more volatile. Neither metal is guaranteed to rise during a crisis.
Yes. Both metals can be recycled repeatedly without losing their fundamental properties. Gold has particularly high recovery incentives because of its value, while silver can be more difficult to recover when dispersed in small quantities.
Silver has a smaller and less liquid market, greater industrial exposure and significant by-product supply. Changes in investment flows or manufacturing demand can therefore produce larger percentage price movements.
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