u/Then_Marionberry_259

Kitco News) - Abaxx Technologies announced Friday that trading has officially commenced in its Silver Singapore (SSP) futures contract, marking the latest step in the company’s effort to position Singapore as a major global hub for precious metals trading and price discovery.

The new contract is designed to bridge what Abaxx describes as a growing disconnect between traditional global silver benchmarks and the evolving physical requirements of industrial users across Asia.

Abaxx executives have argued that the traditional North American and London-centric silver market structure is becoming less aligned with the realities of global industrial demand. The company has emphasized that higher-purity “four-nines” silver products are becoming increasingly important for advanced manufacturing applications, particularly in Asia’s technology supply chain.

https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2026-05-22/trading-abaxxs-silver-singapore-futures-kicks

What are the most sought after 5oz silver coins?

Vault: REGISTERED: 81.7M (NO CHANGE); ELIGIBLE: 232.2 (-795K), TOTAL: 313.9 (-795K)

• https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/Silver_stocks.xls

Open Interest: MAY: 744 (-38); JUN: 2,845 (-44); JUL: 72,173 (-241)

• https://www.cmegroup.com/markets/metals/precious/silver.volume.html

Also for your reading pleasure:

• https://www.cmegroup.com/delivery_reports/MetalsIssuesAndStopsReport.pdf

The market spent years treating copper like a boring industrial metal.

That narrative is breaking apart very fast.

AI infrastructure alone is forcing massive expansion in data centers, electrical systems and power grids. Every one of those projects consumes huge amounts of copper through transformers, cables, busbars, switchgear and cooling systems. Then you add silver connectors, rare-earth magnets, gallium semiconductors and germanium fiber optics on top of it.

That is why copper holding around $14,131/t feels important psychologically.

Investors are beginning to realize future supply may become one of the biggest bottlenecks in the entire AI and electrification cycle.

And supply is not easy to increase quickly. New mines can take a decade to permit, finance and build. Existing producers are already dealing with declining grades while major miners spend billions extending aging operations.

That backdrop creates a much stronger environment for exploration companies.

NovaRed Mining, NRED / NREDF, keeps showing up on my radar because Wilmac already has meaningful scale for a junior explorer at roughly 16,078 hectares in BC’s Quesnel porphyry belt, around 6 miles west of Copper Mountain.

North Lamont recently returned copper values up to 379 ppm Cu, while the broader Lamont system and historical 3DIP-AMT interpretation discussed values reaching as high as 1,125 ppm Cu.

Still high-risk, obviously.

But the macro timing around the story feels increasingly strong:
AI infrastructure growth, strategic-mineral security, copper deficits, inflation fears and long-term supply constraints are all colliding at once.

And honestly, the market still feels early in understanding how important future copper supply could become.

Anyone heard of them, done biz with them? My FB page has ads for 20 coins tubes - pick a year! - for $1,449. Legit looking website, non legit price.

It’s earnings season for the world’s small clutch of silver mining companies. And the first batch of Q1 results suggest that 2026 will be a breakout year, marked by historically high profits.  Plus, they show that most miners have at least doubled their net incomes, compared to the same quarter last year (see the table below).

As a long-time retail investor in mining stocks, my theory is that these stocks will be worthy of a re-rating by year’s end due to a significant year-on-year increase in revenues and net incomes when compared to 2025. In other words, if they can continue to deliver on their proposed production numbers for 2026, their net incomes should climb higher and their share prices should trend higher.

This theory of mine is all predicated on a continuation of buoyant silver prices – with a number of major investment banks suggesting a trading range for 2026 of between $60 and $80, though Goldman Sachs is the outlier that is predicting $100 an ounce by year’s end.

These banks cite structural supply deficits, surging industrial demand, very low inventory levels, and significant investment demand as key drivers for a continuation of historically high prices.

With the year almost half over already, its seems that they are correct so far, meaning that the current elevated trading range is holding steady. So, it looks like revenues and profits are going to remain similar to Q1 for the Q2 reporting period – which is a good thing. As for H2, it’s anyone’s guess. But another big breakout seems unlikely – unless Goldman Sachs proves more prescient than everyone else.

On a particularly upbeat note, what no-one appears to be predicting is a retreat in silver prices back to early 2025 levels. Instead, investors are wondering how much more profitable these silver miners can get in 2026. It sure is something to look forward to for those of us who own one or more of these stocks.        

Among those companies, most are active in silver’s heartland -- Mexico. So, I’m focusing on the ones that have just released their Q1 2026 financial results and which have mostly seen net incomes at least double over Q1 of 2025. Here they are in no particular order -- but First Majestic has to come first due to its four digits increase in net income:

First Majestic Silver

Revenues of $476.7m (+96% YoY from $243.9 m)

Net Income of $128.1m (+1,964% YoY from $6.2 m)

Impact Silver

Revenues of $31.2m (+191% YoY from $10.7 m)

Net income of $11.3m (vs $100K loss Q1, 2025)

Avino Silver and Gold Mines

Revenues of $39m (+107% YoY from $18.8m)

Net Income of $15.9m (+184% YoY from $5.6m)

Sierra Madre Gold and Silver

Revenues of $10.1m (+109% YoY from $4.84m)

Net Income of $2.8m (+155% YoY from $1.1m)

GoGold Resources

Revenues of $31.3m (+64% YoY from $19.1m)

Net income of $13.3m (vs $136k loss for Q1, 2025)

Fortuna Silver

Revenues of $342.5m (+53% YoY from $224m)

Net Income of $111m (+ 80% YoY from $61.7m)

Pan American Silver

Revenues of $1.15 bn (+47% YoY from $780 m)

Net Income of $396 m (+134% YoY from $169m)

Guanajuato Silver

(not reported yet)

Everyone talks about Nvidia, semis, power demand and data centers.

Fair.

But the AI buildout does not happen without the physical supply chain underneath it.

Data centers need copper wiring, silver connectors, rare earth magnets, gallium power chips, lithium backup batteries, germanium fiber optics and a lot of specialty materials most people never look at.

So I’m starting to look at AI less like only a software/semis trade and more like a metals + power + grid + geopolitics trade.

The themes that seem most interesting to me:

Rare earths - MP, NEO
Copper - FCX, HBM, NRED
Silver - PAAS, AG
Gallium/germanium - NEO, RIO, TECK, VNP
Lithium/nickel/cobalt - ALB, LAC, VALE, WPM

Not saying all of these are buys. Some are pure producers, some are downstream materials names, and some are speculative juniors.

But if AI infrastructure keeps scaling, the physical bottlenecks could matter more than people think.

What metals or mining names are you watching for the AI buildout?