Could 2024 be the year silver prices really take off? Well, we don’t know for sure but it’s entirely possible as fears of a U.S. debt crisis and the underlying uncertainties in the financial markets have been looming for some time. As a financial asset, silver should serve to protect investors, if not provide upside in uncertain times.
With just over one month of 2024 under our belts, it is anticipated that the white metal could reach as high as US$34.70 per ounce, according to some experts – which is up significantly from its current price of around $22 per ounce – as it is expected that financing conditions in the U.S. markets will tighten up and a surge in unemployment will contribute to a sharp economic slowdown.
Backed against this is that silver demand is projected to jump to over 1.2 billion ounces in 2024, which is expected to be the second-highest level ever recorded. Fueling the demand for silver are factors such as industrial demand for high-tech and green applications, as well as a recovery in jewelry and silverware demand.
Against the backdrop of the rising demand for silver – and particularly the metal’s use for industrial demand – are companies like Silver North Resources (TSXV:SNAG), which is focused on ramping up its efforts at its silver discoveries in the Keno Hill Silver District of the Yukon, at its Haldane Project as well as the Tim silver property in southern Yukon.
Surging silver prices on debt ceiling
In 2024, however, silver prices are expected to increase and will benefit from at least two things: the continued demand for silver in industrial use cases and green energies thanks to its use in solar panels and electric vehicles.
Similarly, silver prices will also likely see support as recession fears continue to loom in the conversation mix and as debt levels in the U.S. and the continued debt-ceiling arguments lead to signs of a silver price surge.
Image credit: Silver North Resources
Putting that into perspective, precious metals such as silver and gold tend to fare well during times of economic and political upheaval. In the same vein, how well these metals perform is tied to the performance of the U.S. dollar.
With that in mind, with concerns of a debt default looming it’s safe to say that the prices of gold and silver will undoubtedly go up.
As it currently stands, The Treasury Department reached its debt ceiling of $31.4 trillion in early 2023, while in June of that year it was voted on by lawmakers the ceiling would be suspended until January 2025.
Until then, it’s safe to assume that a default is possible, and if investors are of the same mind, perhaps silver investing is the way to go.
Industrial demand for silver
Throughout 2023, the price of silver hovered between $20 and $26 per ounce as fears of a recession across North America loomed throughout the year.
Regardless of whether or not the potential exists for a recession or a debt ceiling, the demand for silver driven by the green energy transition and solar panel demand continues to drive silver prices up.
Silver is the lifeline to our everyday lives thanks to its use in almost everything we do such as the Internet of Things, nuclear power, medical technology, hydrogen fuel cells and more.
As such industrial demand for silver is expected to reach new highs in 2024 and it is anticipated demand is only going to skyrocket from here on out.
Putting that into perspective, in 2023 industrial silver demand doubled over the year from 4 per cent to 8 per cent thanks to the metal’s use in solar panels. Since 2013, silver industrial demand has increased to 60 per cent of overall demand, up from 30 per cent just over a decade ago.
Within that industrial demand, solar energy demand was 30 per cent in 2023 compared to 25 per cent in 2022. With 2024 underway, it is expected that 50 per cent of solar panels made in 2024 will use new solar panel technologies that are more heavily dependent on silver.
Further driving silver demand is the current deficit. With supply having peaked in 2016, by 2023 supply was down by 18 per cent compared to 2022 and it is anticipated supply will remain flat going forward.
Image credit: Suissegold.eu
As industrial silver demand is on pace to rise by 8 per cent to a record 632 million ounces, Silver North Resources is in a prime position to benefit.
The Silver North Resources advantage
As 2024 marches forward, Silver North will be ramping up its efforts to meet the growing demand for silver from the industrial sector thanks to its Haldane Silver Project and the Tim silver property, both in the Yukon.
Image credit: Silver North Resources
The company owns 100 per cent interest in the Haldane Property, ideally located in Yukon’s famous Keno Hill District which has been heralded as one of the highest-grade silver districts in the world.
The property spans 8,163 hectares and remains underexplored for high-grade silver, with only 28 drillholes ever drilled from surface on the property.
Most recent drilling at the Haldane property includes a new discovery at the company’s West Fault target, where high-grade silver veins have intersected over a 100 m strike and 90 m of depth so far. Highlights of the West Fault drilling include impressive results such as 3.14 m averaging 1,351 g/t Ag, 2.43% Pb, 2.91%.
Looking ahead, Silver North Resources is preparing for a drill program that will happen sometime in late spring or early summer 2024 depending on weather.
“We’ll wait until we’ve got a good working environment at Haldane with good access and much of the snow gone, to start a drill program that we envision going most of the summer,” Jason Weber, CEO of Silver North Resources, previously told The Market Online. “If we feel we want to drill later into the year, we can properly set up for winter programs.”
In addition to its Haldane property, Silver North also has a partnership with Coeur Mining for the Tim Property in the Yukon. The Tim Property includes 72 mineral claims located 72 kilometres west of Watson Lake and 19 kilometres northeast of the Silvertip deposit.
The company revealed in December 2023 that it and Coeur Mining amended their previous exploration agreement that will see Coeur Mining undertaking drilling at the property in 2024.
Now with a 5-year Class 3 Land Use Permit in hand, Coeur can carry out exploration drilling that will test the high-grade silver mineralization encountered in trenches including 4m @ 468.1 g/t Ag, 21.1% Pb and 0.3% Zn.
Exploration at Tim will target high-grade silver-lead-zinc Carbonate Replacement Mineralization which could potentially be similar to that at Coeur’s Silvertip project in northern British Columbia.
The investment corner
It could be a big year for silver prices and its use case in the industrial sector, and Silver North Resources is in the thick of it.
As it gears up for drilling at Haldane this year, investors will be keenly watching for results and just how the company will impact the industrial sector in the coming years.
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