Silver inventories at COMEX and London have fallen sharply from pandemic-era peaks – COMEX registered stocks are down more than 75% to about 79.9 million oz., while LBMA vaults hold 27,454 tonnes (≈883 million oz.), 20% below their 2021 record – yet analysts argue this does not prove a structural shortage. The World Silver Survey 2026 projects a 46.3 million oz. deficit and estimates 762 million oz. drawn from above-ground stocks since 2021, but CPM Group stresses that investment flows, working inventories and scrap – including “billions of ounces” in jewellery and electronics – can rapidly re-enter the market.

Depletion of high-grade deposits, declining ore grades and sustained high commodity prices are pushing miners towards frontier resources in the Arctic, on abyssal plains and eventually in space. Capital is already moving into Arctic projects targeting onshore and offshore deposits in ice-affected conditions, while proposed deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules on abyssal plains faces an intensifying regulatory battle at the International Seabed Authority. Asteroid mining remains a long-dated, largely conceptual option, but is shaping early research into in-situ resource utilisation, autonomous extraction systems and ultra-remote operations.

Hertha Metals will break ground this summer on a Conroe, Texas plant to produce 10,000 tonnes per year of high-purity iron for neodymium-iron-boron magnets, using its FLEXHERS (Flexible Fuel Hydrogen Electric Reduction Smelting) process that couples an electric arc furnace with natural gas or hydrogen. The startup already runs a one-tonne-per-day pilot using Minnesota ore and plans to scale to roughly 500,000 tonnes per year within four to five years, targeting both magnet and electrical steel markets. With 90% of current high-purity iron output in China and a US DoD ban on Chinese-origin rare earth magnets taking effect on 1 January 2027, the project directly targets a looming supply-chain gap.