Silver prices were at $30 per oz back on April 5 in 2025. I think many were shocked by the rapid increase to $121 in late January of 2026. There was likely a lot of short covering in the futures market which drove that epic rally. $70 to $80 per oz for silver seems to be the current range for pricing. Most silver mining companies have a production cost per oz between $15 to $25. These companies are ridiculously profitable right now. Debt is being retired, dividends are increasing. Share buybacks are starting. But what is NOT happen? Most silver mining companies cannot meaningfully increase their production. There are very few big projects in the pipeline to replace mines that are being depleted. Newer mines are generally smaller, lower quality ore, more remote, more expensive. The easy and large silver deposits have been found and mostly depleted. Global production of all silver mines combined peaked at 900 million oz in 2015. Since then global production of all silver mines has declined to 820 million oz. Even with higher prices, production from mines won't increase. The trend is down. So the key in this sector is to find the companies that 1) are profitable now and 2) they can increase their production in future years. My top pick, which I have mentioned before, is Aya Gold & Silver (ticker AYASF). They are producing 6 million oz per year now at their Zgounder mine. And they are about to start building their second mine Boumadine. Boumadine is estimated to be 37 million oz of silver equivalent (combo of gold, silver, lead and zinc). So Aya will likely increase their revenue and profits by a factor of 6x to 7x by the year 2030 when Boumadine goes into production. They already have the permits to build and the funding. No share dilution at all. The profits from their Zgounder mine are able to cover the construction costs of Boumadine. I have been an investor in this stock since $3.80 per share in early 2021. It is currently $16 per share. I suspect it will be around $100 per share in 2030. And that is if silver and gold prices just stay at their current level. If silver and gold prices increase from here, then the future value of Boumadine also increases.(Wall Street Mav)