Last year saw silver break out, with the metal surging by more than 140%, marking its best annual performance in 46 years.

Often dubbed the poor cousin of gold, silver largely sat on the sidelines as gold surged in the first half of 2025.

But the precious commodity started to catch up in recent months, surpassing US$50 an ounce for the first time in October. Little did we know that was only the start.

Aside from investment demand, silver is supported by weak supply.

2025 marked the fifth consecutive year of deficits, with demand improving due to silver’s use in industrial applications including solar panels and electrification.

“Constrained mine supply and strong industrial demand have been keeping the market undersupplied since 2021,” ANZ Research said last month.

“Industrial demand from electronics, solar, EVs and data centres continues to provide a solid base for industrial demand.

“The structural market deficit will likely continue in 2026, further drawing on inventories and keeping the market sensitive to supply or demand shocks.”

Silver is already making a play for the hottest commodity of 2026, though it faces stiff competition from the likes of gold, copper and lithium.

Spot prices have already surpassed US$100/oz this year, running as high as a record US$120/oz. It has since dropped to US$85/oz after the announcement of hawk Kevin Warsh as the next US Fed chair.

Goldman Sachs Research analyst Lina Thomas in January had warned silver investors to brace for volatility.

She said there had been a drawdown on silver stocks in London due to the potential for US tariffs on silver.

“We still see US tariffs on silver as unlikely,” Thomas said, but suggested there was a good chance traders would keep their silver holdings in New York after the same happened to gold last year.

While it appears a new level of support for silver has been set, Thomas warned it likely wouldn’t be a smooth ride.

“We expect extreme price swings to persist both up and down and advise volatility-averse clients to remain cautious,” she said. 

But that does little to change the constructive fundamental backdrop and silver projects now look like very attractive investment propositions.

The company has increased its resource base by 155% since the second half of 2024 to 232 million ounces of silver equivalent, comprising 126Moz of silver and 605,000oz of gold.

Unico managing director Todd Williams told Stockhead the company was aiming to have its first economic study out in the current half, in line with Argentina’s RIGI investment framework, which provides incentives for new developers.

“Essentially, what we're trying to do is position the project as being Argentina's next silver mine,” he said.

“Obviously, the financial metrics of the project are wildly better under the RIGI than outside of the RIGI, so one of our key corporate focuses is to make sure that we can put forward a very robust and defendable feasibility study which shows a pathway forward for the projects.”

Unico’s other focus will be continuing to grow the resource.

The company raised $40 million in November and has five rigs on the ground, which will result in plenty of upcoming news flow including a resource update.

“Really, the big catalyst for us is moving from being an explorer with a very large global resource to a very defendable maiden reserve, and once you get to that point, you obviously start getting valued on a far greater multiple per reserve ounce than all of your peers who are exploring,” Williams said.

“That's really the goal for us – show the scale of the project, obviously show the development bona fides, move into that more elevated peer group, and then obviously continue to grow out the resource and hopefully expand the scale of the project.”

For just US$18 million, almost half of which is deferred, Black Bear picked up an advanced asset with an estimated US$150 million of infrastructure already in place.

The project produced 134,557oz of silver in 2012-2013 but closed due to a fall in silver prices.

“With Shafter previously sidelined by pricing below US$18/oz, the project’s outlook has been transformed by a new era where silver has breached all-time highs, waiting for the right development partner to realise Shafter’s inherent value,” Black Bear CEO Dennis Lindgren told Stockhead.

Shafter has an existing foreign mineral resource (NI 43-101) resource of 1.88 million tonnes at 289g/t silver for 17.57Moz of silver and Black Bear is finalising its conversion into a JORC-standard resource.

The company also started drilling last month, focusing on the MacDaniel Trend and a 2.4km strike extension, as well as other growth targets after surface sampling returned up to 3100g/t silver, with assays expected imminently.

Lindgren said the company would also conduct historic underground and core sampling, and surveying as previous mining was hampered by applied constraints.

“Historical mining at Shafter was exceptionally selective, often bypassing material below 500g/t silver,” he said.

“We believe significant mineralisation remains in the walls, pillars and floors of the old stopes, as well as growth step-outs from the existing resource.”

Black Bear has appointed Ausenco to undertake an operational restart assessment, dilapidation studies and capital estimates by the end of this quarter.

“In the current geopolitical climate, we’re seeing unprecedented bilateral support for critical mineral projects from both Australia and the United States,” Lindgren said.

“Black Bear Minerals is moving aggressively to finalise these reports so we can engage with key stakeholders and government partners on the best path forward for this strategic US domestic asset.”

Kempfield already has a resource of 63.7Mt at 69.75 g/t AgEq for 142.8Moz of AgEq, containing of 65.8Moz of silver, 125,192oz of gold, 207,402t of lead and 420,373t of zinc.

Last week, Argent reported the discovery of a new shallow lode with high-grade interval of 31m at 103.47g/t AgEq from surface, including 9m at 178.33g/t AgEq at Kempfield NW.

Drilling restarted this week with around 10 holes for 1880m planned to test vertical terrain electromagnetic targets and extend the resource.

“We're trying to expand the whole mineralised footprint of the actual VMS area, because these VMS zones, historically, have never been really systematically drilled at depth or along strike,” Argent managing director and CEO Pedro Kastellorizos told Stockhead.

“We're looking outside of the historic box where 56,000m of drilling was basically concentrated, and in the last 12-18 months that's what we've been doing through systematic rock chipping, sampling, obviously drilling, and that's what we will be continuing through 2026.”

Alongside aggressive drilling, Argent is also conducting metallurgical testwork to improve recoveries since the last program in 2017.

“We're also completing heap leach test work on the oxide transitional ore as well, and that would potentially give us a shorter pathway into production,” Kastellorizos said.

“Obviously heap leach operations are a lot cheaper as opposed to a full-blown CIL plant, so by us looking at the heap leach potential there, it's a very low-cost entry into mining, but also we become an actual producer of silver.”

The met testwork, which is expected by May, will feed into a resource upgrade and a scoping study.

“If the scoping study comes back very favourable, then we’ll move straight to a DFS,” Kastellorizos said.

“We’re in the process where we're amalgamating all the various requirements to submit to the New South Wales Government a mining lease proposal.”

RCM managing director Byron Miles told Stockhead the combined high-grade resource of 67Moz of AgEq at circa 350g/t AgEq set it apart from its peers.

“It's approximately three times higher than anyone else in Australia, so that's a really big point of difference,” he said.

“We'd like to think, at the moment, the 67Moz at circa 350g/t is comparable to approximately 1Moz of gold at 5-6g/t.”

As well as the acquisitions, RCM also raised $24 million, pegged further ground and completed 2000m of drilling.

The program resulted in the discovery of a new parallel silver lode at Webbs, around 120m west of the existing Main Lode system, intercepting 2.6m at 136g/t AgEq from 297m. Other recent results included 2.24m at 1115g/t AgEq within a broader intersection of 13.6m at 291g/t AgEq from 39.1m; and 17.4m at 275g/t AgEq from 115.8m.

Further results are imminent.

"We've achieved a great deal in our first six months, reflecting our commitment to establishing Rapid Critical Metals as Australia's most exciting silver company." Miles said.

The next step is a 15,000m drilling program, aimed at expanding the resource towards 100Moz, and a scoping study, which kicked off this week.

RCM is well-funded with roughly $15 million in cash and liquid investments and has a strong register for a junior.

Canadian billionaire Eric Sprott, Jupiter Asset Management and Tribeca Investment Partners are all substantial holders, while SG Hiscock & Company, Chris Judd’s Cerutty Macro Fund and the Flannery family also sit on the register.

RCM also recently welcomed veteran investment banker John Poynton AO as independent chairman.

“Obviously, to get him on a company of this size is pretty phenomenal,” Miles said.