Silver, Copper, and the Coming Squeeze

Silver hit a 14 year record high today, just getting started…

 In August 2025, the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey proposed adding silver and copper to the official list of critical minerals. This move signals that the federal government views both metals as vital to national security and economic resilience. It also validates Rick Rule’s long-standing thesis that silver is more than a precious metal — it is a strategic industrial material facing structural supply constraints.

 Silver and copper were added alongside potash, silicon, lead, and rhenium to the draft 2025 Critical Minerals List.
⚙️ The designation reflects new methodology: evaluating supply-chain risk, vulnerability to import disruption, and essential use in emerging technologies.
🏛️ Critical status can unlock streamlined permitting, government-backed loans, and strategic stockpiling programs.

🧠 Why This Proves Rick Rule Right

Rick Rule has long argued that silver’s dual role — as both a precious and industrial metal — is underappreciated. The U.S. critical-minerals designation strengthens his thesis in several ways:

1. 🚀 **Policy tailwinds reduce friction**: Federal incentives and permitting support make marginal silver and copper projects more viable.
2. 🏦 **Government stockpiling**: Strategic reserves could add baseline demand, competing with private buyers.
3. 📉 **De-risking investment**: Policy support lowers risk for investors, making capital more available for long-lead mining projects.
4. 🪙 **Tighter supply expectations**: Recognition of import vulnerability highlights the limited availability of physical silver.
5. 🔋 **Industrial demand growth**: With silver and copper essential for solar, EVs, and electronics, demand curves steepen.
6. 🔑 **Narrative shift**: Silver is reframed from speculative precious metal to strategic material — boosting institutional interest.

🌪️ The Perfect Storm Ahead

By designating silver and copper as critical, the U.S. is essentially confirming what investors like Rick Rule have said for years: supply is structurally tight, demand is rising, and policy will increasingly favor resource nationalism. In this environment, shorts betting against silver may face the very ‘religious experience’ Rule warned of. Industrial growth, speculative positioning, and government intervention could converge into the most powerful silver bull market in decades.

 Bottom Line

The U.S. critical minerals list marks a paradigm shift for silver and copper. By recognizing them as essential to economic and national security, Washington is giving implicit backing to Rick Rule’s thesis: that silver’s value is dramatically underappreciated, and that once physical demand collides with constrained supply, the short squeeze could be both inevitable and explosive.

https://khlfsn.substack.com/p/silver-copper-and-the-coming-squeeze