Silver prices surged to levels not seen in decades on Monday, setting off a blistering rally in US-listed mining shares as a supply crunch in London deepened into what traders are calling one of the most extreme squeezes in living memory.
Spot silver jumped as much as 3.7% to above $52 an ounce, briefly topping last week’s highs and closing in on the $52.50 record first set in 1980. The move extended this year’s relentless climb, with silver now up more than 70% since January.
Gold also continued its winning streak, holding near $4,100 an ounce after eight consecutive weeks of gains, while platinum and palladium both advanced over 4% amid signs of stress spreading across the broader precious metals complex.
The dislocation in London’s bullion market has become so acute that some traders are reportedly flying silver bars across the Atlantic to exploit record price gaps between London and New York.
The premium on London silver reached about $1.60 an ounce, and one-month lease rates, the cost of borrowing metal, have spiked above 30%, forcing short sellers to pay dearly to roll their positions.
Equity investors rushed into silver miners. Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) surged 11.6% after announcing a $200 million deal to sell its Crown and Sterling assets, while Hecla Mining Company (NYSE:HL) rose 11.6% as sentiment across the sector strengthened.
Pan American Silver Corp. (TSX:PAA, NASDAQ:PAAS) gained around 7%, and SSR Mining added 4.6% as the rally in underlying prices bolstered confidence in producers’ near-term earnings outlooks.
Silver’s ascent has been underpinned by a combination of speculative momentum, tightening physical supply, and growing haven demand amid renewed trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
The latest escalation, President Donald Trump’s threat of 100% tariffs on Chinese imports, briefly rattled markets on Friday, but his more conciliatory remarks over the weekend steadied risk appetite and fuelled fresh buying of hard assets.
Bank of America analysts raised their silver price target for the end of 2026 to $65 an ounce, up from $44, citing persistent market deficits, fiscal expansion, and an increasingly dovish interest-rate environment.
They warned, however, that silver’s smaller and less liquid market, roughly one-ninth the size of gold’s, leaves it prone to sharp corrections if investment inflows falter.
For now, though, the bulls are firmly in control. With liquidity tightening, freight costs soaring, and speculative shorts under growing pressure, the market’s squeeze shows little sign of loosening.
After years in gold’s shadow, silver is enjoying its most dazzling moment in decades, but few in the trade are betting it will stay calm for long.