Silver Shock: Deadly Blast at Glencore’s Kazzinc Knocks Out Millions of Ounces as Global Shortage Deepens
Roughly 70% of global silver comes as a byproduct of base‑metal mining, making dedicated primary silver producers the cleanest way to capture upside from a tightening physical market.
A deadly explosion at Glencore-owned Kazzinc, Kazakhstan’s largest producer of zinc, lead, copper, gold, and silver, has abruptly underscored just how fragile the world’s critical-minerals supply chains have become.
With two workers killed, five injured, and part of the facility collapsed, the incident hits an already strained silver market where no major new discoveries have emerged in years, aside from Aya Gold & Silver’s Boumadine project.
At the same time, the metal is trapped in a deep structural deficit: roughly 820 million ounces are mined annually versus an anticipated 1.2 billion ounces of demand, leaving a yawning shortfall that must be met by drawing down inventories and recycling.
Yet the demand side is only accelerating, driven by solar power build-out, AI and data-center infrastructure, robotics, military and aerospace systems, electric vehicles, and advanced batteries—all of which quietly depend on reliable, scalable flows of silver.
Another War. More Silver Vaporized, Never to be Recycled
Open-source tracking of the US–Israel–Iran war suggests that all sides together have likely fired on the order of 2,000–3,000 missiles and large guided munitions since February 28, 2026. If you assume an aggressive 500 ounces of silver per missile—figures circulated in precious-metals circles for Tomahawk-class weapons—that implies roughly 1–1.5 million ounces of silver vaporized in less than three months, never to be recovered or recycled. Even if only a small percentage of missiles launched were of the Tomahawk variety, silver is still used for other military functions including bombs, aircraft, communication devices, drones, high end electronics, et al.
Moreover, if the true per-missile silver load is closer to the 10–20 ounce range suggested by more conservative aerospace analyses, you are still looking at tens of thousands of ounces of silver turned into shrapnel and plasma as geopolitical tensions escalate
Silver on the Move
Silver just tore through another key resistance level, blasting above that violet trend line we flagged yesterday and confirming real underlying strength. It still has some slight hurdles ahead—most notably the April high near $83 and the March spike toward $96—but this kind of momentum is exactly what you tend to see before fresh all‑time highs. If you’re not positioned, using pullbacks to start accumulating makes sense. Long-time stackers: sit back and enjoy the ride.
We’re on board with Michael Oliver’s $300 to $500 range for 2026
On Tuesday, a little more than 2 million ounces of silver were removed from COMEX vaults.
According to the COMEX silver depository report:
600,005 ounces were withdrawn from CNT.
51,734.22 ounces were moved out of CNT’s registered category as an adjustment.
18,078 ounces were withdrawn from Delaware Depository.
639,484 ounces were withdrawn from JP Morgan.
777,164.77 ounces were withdrawn from StoneX.
As a result:
Total COMEX registered silver declined by 51,734.22 ounces to 79,541,825.245 ounces.
Total COMEX silver (all categories) fell by 2,034,732.117 ounces to 312,752,505.662 ounces
Does Anyone Trust CFTC regarding the so-called “Silver Act”
A senior U.S. commodity regulator has just openly described the silver market as “structurally broken,” marking a watershed moment for precious metals. In recent testimony, CFTC Chairman Michael Selig endorsed the proposed SILVER Act, which would force a breakup of the extreme geographic concentration of COMEX‑approved vaults clustered around New York City. Selig’s support is the first time a sitting regulator has formally acknowledged long‑standing complaints from silver investors about systemic flaws: clustered storage risk, a chronic disconnect between paper contracts and tight physical supply, and prices still stuck near 73 dollars—roughly 40% below silver’s 2011 peak—despite soaring industrial and investment demand. For “Crustacean Nation” and other physical stackers, the message is clear: when even the referee admits the game is rigged, holding real metal outside the system looks less like paranoia and more like basic risk management.
Silver Miners still undervalued by Mr. Market
Roughly 70% of global silver is produced as a byproduct of base‑metal mines—leaving supply vulnerable to copper and zinc cycles—so the smartest way to play this structural squeeze is through primary silver producers like Aya Gold & Silver (AYASF) and Andean Precious Metals (ANPMF), whose fortunes are directly tied to the metal itself.
Andean Precious Metals and Aya Gold & Silver stand out as pure-play silver producers, not byproduct passengers on copper or zinc mines—a crucial distinction as China’s sulfuric acid export ban threatens the 70% of global silver that comes as base‑metal byproduct.
With silver demand surging from AI data centers, robotics, EV batteries, military/aerospace and solar, plus the unknown upside from India’s new banking rules and a BRICS foreign ministers’ summit in New Delhi this month, structural tailwinds are firmly at their backs.
If Andean advances from $4.67 to $8.00, that’s about a 71% move in 90 days; if Aya runs from $18.00 to $27.00, that’s roughly a 50% gain—aggressive? Not really considering the fundamentals (aligned with a tightening market where primary silver miners could finally be re‑rated as strategic, not optional.)
Invest accordingly
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