Silver on Sale, AI on Fire: Silver-Tin Project Drills Into Metals AI Runs On

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• Matthew Piepenburg of Von Greyerz sees silver's selloff as a buying opportunity while what he calls an AI bubble draws money away from metals.
• Silver trades about 59% below its January record of US$121.62 an ounce, but the Silver Institute still expects 2026 to be the sixth straight year of structural deficit.
• Eloro Resources Ltd.’s Iska Iska project in Bolivia hosts both silver and tin, the solder metal the International Tin Association calls “the glue” of the world’s electronics, though its tin-dominant resources are so far classified as Inferred.
• In October 7 results, hole DSB-96 returned 87.1 meters of 73.26 grams per tonne (g/t) silver and 0.18% tin. The hole is part of a 40,000-meter program to grow and upgrade the resource ahead of a planned Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA).
• Eloro’s Hong Kong subsidiary, Eloro Resources (Asia) Ltd., serves as a hub for project development, concentrate sales, and investor outreach across Asia-Pacific.
• Cantor Fitzgerald kept its Speculative Buy rating and CA$5.00 target.

Investors are dumping silver at a discount while piling into AI stocks near their peak. That's the argument Matthew Piepenburg, partner at Swiss precious metals firm Von Greyerz, makes in a recent interview with Jesse Day of Commodity Culture.

Silver has fallen sharply this year, and gold slipped back below US$4,000 an ounce in late October. Piepenburg sees the drop as an opening, not a warning.

"I think silver wins either way," he said. "And the end game ahead of us is currency debasement."

The money leaving metals, he said, is flowing into what he considers a far riskier trade. "The siren-like attraction in AI-related stocks and even more dangerously AI-related bonds is tempting money into the greatest misallocation of capital and credit and equity bubble that I've ever seen," Piepenburg said. "For now, the fast and speculative money is whipping straight past silver into an AI bubble."

Piepenburg gave several reasons for silver's slide this year. One is rising interest rates, which he said are "provisionally very hard on silver in particular, as this less powerful precious metal is more sensitive to rising rates than its mama metal gold." Another is the hedge funds and trend-following funds that trade silver on momentum.

"These fund managers really don't see silver as a monetary metal or wealth preservation asset," he said. "To them, it's just another unemotional momentum trade."

He predicted that central banks will change course by 2027 and start cutting rates and printing money. "I really strongly believe we're going to see a pivot from high rates and yields to desperate rate cuts and money printing by 2027," he said. "So once those liquidity measures come in, and they will, silver is going to rip again."

Piepenburg, a long-term holder rather than a trader, said he views the selloff as a chance to buy. "We see the fire sale right now in silver ... as an amazing gift, as an amazing buying opportunity," he said. "We're simply waiting for all-time highs of January to be surpassed by multiples in the years ahead."

On gold, he pointed to the world's central banks. "We have the highest pace of central bank gold stacking in history," he said. "The big boys are literally building their golden ark before the rain ... They want to buy before the price doubles and triples in the years ahead."

Silver hit a record of approximately US$121.62 an ounce on January 29, then roughly halved through the first half of the year as a more hawkish Federal Reserve revived bets on rate hikes, according to MetalCharts. Selling resumed in October. Silver fell about 18% for the month and fell below US$50 on October 30 for the first time since November 2025, Mining.com reported, as a tech-stock selloff forced investors to sell metals to cover losses. 

Technical indicators suggest the metal is oversold. Silver was about 25% below its 200-day moving average on October 28, The Free Press Journal reported.

The selloff hasn't changed silver's supply picture. The Silver Institute expects 2026 to be the metal's sixth straight year of structural deficit, with a preliminary estimate of 67 million ounces, Mining.com reported on February 10. The institute also forecast that industrial demand would dip 2% this year, to 650 million ounces, as solar panel makers use less silver. It expects investment demand to keep the market in deficit.

Gold has been pulled down with silver, but central banks keep buying. They added a net 39 tonnes in August, bringing reported purchases this year to 170 tonnes, according to the World Gold Council. In September, Goldman Sachs kept its end-2027 gold target at US$5,400 an ounce. It said rate hikes have shifted the timing of the rally, not its destination, investingLive reported.

One company sits where both halves of Piepenburg's argument meet. Eloro Resources Ltd. (ELO:TSX; ELRRF:OTCQX; P2QM:FSE) is exploring Iska Iska, a silver-tin polymetallic project in Bolivia's Potosí Department. Silver is the out-of-favor monetary metal Piepenburg says is on sale. Tin is the metal that holds AI's hardware together.

"Tin is the glue which holds together all of the world's electronics as solder," Tom Langston of the International Tin Association said at LME Week in October, Fastmarkets reported. He said the London Metal Exchange tin price has more than doubled since 2024 as semiconductor sales reach record highs. "Significant investment in new supply will be needed to avoid structural deficits in the next decade," Langston said.

Eloro’s April 2026 updated mineral resource estimate splits Iska Iska into two levels of geological confidence, according to its April 22 release. The higher-confidence Indicated resource, 85.17 million tonnes grading 40 grams per tonne (g/t) silver, or 109.53 million ounces, comes primarily from the silver-lead-zinc polymetallic domain. The much larger Inferred resource totals 945.43 million tonnes at 8.5 g/t silver, or 248.6 million ounces. The tin-dominant resources are classified as Inferred, including 31.01 million tonnes grading 0.20% tin in the tin-dominant domain and 61.92 million tonnes grading 27 g/t silver and 0.06% tin in the silver-dominant domain.

The company is now drilling a 40,000-meter expansion program to grow and upgrade that resource ahead of a planned Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA). Drilling is expected to continue well into 2027, and the company expects to release the PEA in the second quarter of 2027.

In its first expansion results, released October 7, hole DSB-96 returned 87.1 meters grading 73.26 g/t silver and 0.18% tin from 40.4 meters, within a broader 126.1 meters of 54.92 g/t silver. Closer to surface, the same hole hit 17.9 meters of 190.5 g/t silver and 0.45% tin.

Eloro reported results from three expansion holes on October 7. Besides the DSB-96 intercepts, hole DSB-94 returned 42 meters of 38.98 g/t silver within 79.5 meters of 30.83 g/t silver, plus 43.5 meters of 0.16% tin deeper in the hole. Hole DSB-95 cut 6 meters of 42.5 g/t silver with 1.15 g/t gold, 8.07% zinc, and 1.23% lead. Eloro says true widths are about 80% of core length.

The company is also building a presence in Asia. On September 17, Eloro said it was forming a wholly owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Eloro Resources (Asia) Ltd., according to its release.

Cantor kept its Speculative Buy rating and CA$5.00 target price.

The unit, which now has an office in Hong Kong, serves as a regional hub for project development, concentrate sales and marketing, investor relations, and capital-markets outreach across the Asia-Pacific region. Jean-Sébastien Jacquetin, Eloro’s managing director for Asia-Pacific and managing partner of Cavendish Investment Capital, oversees it.

"Asia is an increasingly important market for precious and critical-minerals investment," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Tom Larsen.

Larsen presented at Red Cloud's Fall Mining Showcase in Toronto on October 28, the company said.

Earlier this year, on January 29, Eloro finished its option payments on Iska Iska. That gave Eloro's Bolivian subsidiary, Minera Tupiza SRL, a 99% joint venture interest in Iska Iska, along with 100% economic participation and full operational control of the project, the company said.

In an October 16 update, Sphene Capital's Peter Thilo Hasler kept his Buy rating and CA$18.00 target. He wrote that the DSB-96 silver grades are well above the 40 g/t of the Indicated resource, which suggests the project's value could come from selectively developing higher-grade zones.

In an earlier October 7 research note, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Matthew O'Keefe said the latest drilling news from the company was positive. He called the DSB-96 intercepts "exceptional results for Iska Iska" and said DSB-94 "was also good."

O'Keefe described Eloro as "well-funded" to keep advancing the project through more drilling and metallurgical work. He said the company aims to deliver a resource update and a PEA in 2027, focused on a higher-grade, silver-rich starter pit area. Eloro is budgeted and financed for the full 40,000-meter program, he wrote. Eloro said it currently has about CA$19 million in cash.

Cantor kept its Speculative Buy rating and CA$5.00 target price. That implied a 209% return from the CA$1.62 share price at the time of the note. The firm values Eloro at US$1.50 per ounce of silver equivalent for the Indicated resource and US$1.00 per ounce of silver equivalent for the Ag Dominant domain of the Inferred resource.

Institutions hold about 32.00% of Eloro Resources, while management and insiders own approximately 17.00%, with retail investors accounting for the balance.

The largest disclosed holder is Crescat Portfolio Management LLC at about 12.90%.

The company has roughly 119.67 million shares outstanding, a market capitalization of about CA$146 million, and a 52-week trading range of approximately CA$1.15 to CA$3.42.

Insiders were net buyers over the last six months, purchasing about 8,000 shares and selling about 200 shares.

Eight series of warrants remain outstanding. Public records show 4 historical share restructures.

Why does Matthew Piepenburg see silver as a buying opportunity?

Piepenburg calls this year's selloff "an amazing buying opportunity." He predicts central banks will pivot to rate cuts and money printing by 2027, and he believes silver will "rip again" once that liquidity arrives. He sees currency debasement as the end game.

Why has silver fallen this year?

After its record on January 29, silver roughly halved as a more hawkish Federal Reserve revived bets on rate hikes, according to MetalCharts. Piepenburg also blames momentum-trading hedge funds. Silver fell about 18% in October as a tech-stock selloff forced investors to sell metals to cover losses, Mining.com reported.

What is Eloro Resources exploring?

Eloro is exploring Iska Iska, a silver-tin polymetallic project in Bolivia’s Potosí Department. Its April 2026 resource estimate outlined 109.53 million ounces of silver Indicated, primarily in the silver-lead-zinc polymetallic domain. It also outlined 248.6 million ounces Inferred, a lower-confidence category that includes the project’s tin-dominant resources. Its Bolivian subsidiary holds a 99% joint venture interest and full operational control.

What did the latest drill results show?

On October 7, Eloro reported results from three expansion holes. The highlight, hole DSB-96, returned 87.1 meters of 73.26 g/t silver and 0.18% tin, including 17.9 meters of 190.5 g/t silver and 0.45% tin closer to surface. Cantor Fitzgerald called the DSB-96 intercepts "exceptional results for Iska Iska."

What's next for Eloro?

Drilling on the 40,000-meter program is expected to continue well into 2027. The company expects to release a PEA in the second quarter of 2027, focused on a higher-grade, silver-rich starter pit area.