Silver Amount, Reserve, Life

      If you pay attention to the table below, you will find data on reserve amount, production costs and how many years of silver reserves remain in the earth's crust.

It is estimated that the amount of silver those had been mined since the beginning of history is roughly 1.74 million tons. However, silver is a metal that is lost to a great extent due to reasons such as corrosion and because it is not considered worth recycling. Therefore, it is estimated that there are around 770 thousand tons of silver in existence today.

The cube on the side, which is 55 meters on each side, represents a value of 1.74 million tons because the density of silver is 10.5 grams per centimeter.

According to the expected demand amounts for 2024, the largest demand for silver comes from industry with 58%, followed by jewelry and silverware with 21% and investment use with 17%.

Annual silver production is only 25,830 tons. There is a gap of 12,088 tons with demand. This is a very high figure. The four-month strike in Mexico was the main factor in this gap. Last year, part of the difference was covered by recycling efforts, and the other part was covered by the stocks of mining companies.

It is also understood from the high industrial demand; the demand for silver has been in a steady upward trend in recent years - as can be seen in both graphs. As a result of both this development and the fact that silver production remains below demand, it is impossible for the price of silver not to increase in the coming years.

     Silver production costs are also increasing along with silver demand, reaching $17.18 per ounce by 2023. The market value of silver is currently 77% higher than this cost.

     The world's proven silver reserves are around 550,000 tonnes. This means that if current production figures are maintained and no new reserves are found, the silver in the earth's crust will be depleted within 21 years.

     I have also shared the Rare Minerals Table in our gold publication. I would like to use it here only to compare silver and gold. Gold is 18.75 times rarer than silver.