Once upon a time I enjoyed a subscription to a science magazine called, “Gizmag” which got captured by narrative enforcing agencies, renamed, and became a propaganda rag for the usual nonsense, blaming every event that could be framed as bad on Global warming from American and Western CO2 production.
But one of the themes that constantly floated by in every 3rd or 4th edition was some new battery tech breakthrough that would revolutionize everything.
This was of course, a damned half truth.
Yes a new battery tech breakthrough would indeed revolutionize a lot of things. Not just an incremental improvement, but at worst, an increment so large decisions at the day to day level would change, and at best, a genuine revolution in terms of things being better, less costly, more available and with less waste.
But none of these breakthroughs ever manifested into something real.
The idea is that if you can store a meaningful amount of power in a small space, suddenly crap ideas like solar panels and windmills actually become just that little bit more practical because at least you can store a little power for when the sun don’t shine and the wind don’t blow. To put it in terms of a blues song.
It means most of my objections, not all but a lot to electric vehicles no longer apply.
There are many more practical, and even far more important implications to a significant leap in energy storage tech, not all of which spring to mind right now. But it will mean a more convenient, less wired, quieter and cleaner world.
Enter Samsung and their announcement of a new battery tech with TWICE the energy density of the best LiPo batteries currently used in cars, without exploding, can be charged more times, which means less disposal issues and in all ways represents a true breakthrough in battery tech.
The thing is, these batteries need silver as one of the critical materials for their manufacture, and nothing else will do.
So I asked Chat GPT about this new tech and it gave me the following summary. And for those interested in exactly how much silver will be needed to make these new batteries, this article gives the amount needed for current global electric vehicle batteries alone, if only TWENTY PERCENT of current EV production adopts these new batteries, it means an annual demand of 16,000 metric tons of silver, which is a large fraction of the current global production of 25,000 tons annually.
Below the full post by Chat GPT. And for those that are just looking to know if it is still worth buying PHYSICAL silver and hanging on to it…
Yes.It is.
Chat GPT: Samsung has been developing a new battery technology that incorporates silver, and it’s tied to their work on next-generation solid-state batteries, not a standard lithium-ion battery upgrade. Discovery Alert
Here’s the key about it:
? Is Samsung using silver in batteries?
Samsung (specifically Samsung SDI) is working on solid-state battery designs that include a silver-carbon (Ag-C) composite material — typically in the anode region. Rather than a traditional graphite or lithium-metal anode, the silver-carbon layer helps with ion transport, stability, and safety in solid-state structures. Discovery Alert
? Why silver — what does it do?
Silver isn’t there just because it’s a precious metal — it has very high electrical conductivity and mechanical durability. In these prototypes it can:
-
Improve internal conductivity so electrons move more efficiently Discovery Alert
-
Help reduce dendrite growth (a common failure mode in metal anodes) Discovery Alert
-
Enable thinner, lighter battery layouts with higher energy density — prototypes suggest potential performance around 500 Wh/kg, roughly double what many current EV lithium-ion cells offer. Discovery Alert
That’s why silver is being discussed in significant quantities (estimates around grams of Ag per cell and ~1 kg per EV pack), and why analysts talk about its demand rising. Metals and Miners
? Benefits vs. cost
Using silver is expensive — silver costs are much higher per kilogram than typical battery materials — but the proposed advantages are significant enough that it might be worth it in premium applications:
Potential benefits:
-
Higher energy density ? longer range for EVs
-
Faster charging
-
Better cycle life / durability
-
Improved safety (solid electrolyte means fewer fire risks) Discovery Alert
Cost trade-offs:
-
Silver is much more expensive than graphite or copper traditionally used in batteries
-
Higher material costs mean initial adoption likely in high-end or limited segments
-
Scaling production and cost reduction are still big engineering challenges Discovery Alert
? Bottom line
Samsung’s silver-enhanced solid-state battery approach is real and is part of broader next-gen battery research; the silver isn’t a gimmick, it’s there to solve specific materials science challenges that could justify higher cost by delivering significantly better performance metrics (energy density, fast charging, lifespan, safety). Discovery Alert
A paragraph or two from the link above on the reality of this tech and its effects on Silver:
And when you add in the demand from the military, from the A.I. and robotics revolutions, and from the rising consumer class in Asia, you have a recipe for a supply crisis of epic proportions.
The question is not whether the price of silver will rise. The question is how high it will go. And the answer is that it will go much, much higher.
The world is about to discover that silver is not just a precious metal; it is the most indispensable metal on the planet. And the price is about to reflect that reality.
The Solid-State Battery Breakthrough: A Game-Changer for Silver Demand
Samsung has developed a new solid-state battery that is set to revolutionize the electric vehicle industry. This new battery offers a 600-mile range, a 20-year lifespan, and a 9-minute charge time. It is a game-changer for the EV industry, and it is a game-changer for the silver market.
Special thanks to JU for his consistent thoughts on metals and its relationship to economics.
The U.S. government’s recent designation of Ag as a critical asset is also a data point that precluded this announcement by mere weeks, so it was no doubt known to the PT admin. Canada, of course, turned its back on precious metals in the first week of Herr Trudeau’s sad run as PM. Perhaps Herr Carney will click his heels and outlaw all metals ownership while nationalizing mines like the good commie/Fascist he is.
There are many other data points to say that silver’s days may be numbered in terms of private ownership. I understand the nose cone of a cruise missile takes 500 ounces. The world mines about 800 million ounces per year–running a massive shortfall (a few hundred million ounces)–vis-a-vis demand. There currently are about 300 paper claims to every ounce of physical silver in existance. It takes 10 to 15 years to start a new silver mine, so production will not increase overnight. Recycling the new battery technology will not become meaningful for 10-15 years when these batteries go kaput.
Markets now see more frequent backwardation conditions as opposed to the normal contango condition. This is when spot price is higher than the futures price, signaling a supply shortage.
This past Thanksgiving saw the Comex shut down in Chicago. They blamed a failed cooling unit rather than blaming the truth, which was that there wasn’t enough physical available to cover the short positions that were losing their shirts.
These events and conditions are only the tip of the iceberg because retail investors, lulled to financial mentacide by generations of Keynesian brainwashing, have not discovered that fiat is debt, not real money.
It is said God’s ratio of gold to silver is 1:7. This reflects the abundance of gold to silver in the ground. Man’s ratio is 1:16, which accounts, literally, for the difference in carrying costs in the old days, and in market dynamics. This ratio is considered closer to the historical mean than where we sit today. The current gold to silver ratio is 1:65. It takes 65 ounces of silver to buy one ounce of gold. Not long ago it was 1:120. Billionaires become so by respecting reversion to historical means.
Readers of this site are more educated on this subject than 99.5 percent of the population, which means only .5% of the populations own precious metals. The mean in this regard is historically about 3%, which is to say that retail awakening, alone, may cause a 6-fold increase in the USD price. Protecting against accelerating currency debasement is paramount.
And now for some fun trivia:
https://youtu.be/ekBuzkvB9sc?si=Wnan4dJe012dOx2R
On the Cross of Gold speech:
https://youtu.be/HeTkT5-w5RA?si=MqrTlELGIuE5tvDc
Readers?
On the sorry state of Canada’s capital:
https://youtu.be/ZgrA5D-FnAU?si=TVwiH9KSpFA5bA9k