Silver’s 2026 rally cracks from record highs, Andean Precious Metals plunges 36% YTD - Seeking Alpha

Andean's 36% drop tells the real story here. Mining equities are getting hammered while silver itself sits at $73. This is textbook behavior during volatile precious metals cycles. Miners carry operational risk, debt loads, and jurisdiction headaches that physical doesn't touch. When uncertainty hits, the market punishes paper first. Meanwhile, central banks keep accumulating physical gold, industrial silver demand stays robust, and the gold-silver ratio remains historically wide. Smart stackers ignore the mining stock noise. Physical silver at these levels still offers upside when the ratio normalizes back toward 60:1. The disconnect between paper and physical always resolves in favor of the metal.