Demand drivers such as central bank purchasing trends, the U.S. dollar exchange rate, interest rates, and inflation tend to hold sway over gold and silver markets, often overshadowing supply-side dynamics that can be equally vital to price discovery. In recent years, the mining supply for both metals has stagnated or declined even as investment demand has surged. Gold mining supply peaked in 2017 at 106 million troy ounces and has since declined by nearly 10% to 96.8 million troy ounces (Figure 1). Likewise, silver mining production peaked in 2016 at 873.3 million troy ounces and has since dropped to 797.7 million ... (full story)