(Washington, D.C. – February 10, 2026) After posting its strongest annual performance since 1979 last year, silver prices continued to set new highs in 2026, fueled by rising investor interest.

Despite recent outflows, expert says decade-long gold surge still has legs.

SMM Morning Meeting Minutes: On Friday evening, LME copper opened at $12,857.5/mt, fluctuated downward initially to touch a low of $12,817/mt, then fluctuated upward, with copper prices gradually rising to touch a high of $13,065/mt, before consolidating and finally closing at $13,060/mt, up 1.59%, with trading volume reaching 25,600 lots and open interest reaching 325,000 lots, overall showing bulls increasing positions. On Friday evening, the most-traded SHFE copper contract 2603 opened at 101,000 yuan/mt, fluctuated downward initially to touch a low of 100,340 yuan/mt, then the center of copper prices rose straight to touch a high of 101,820 yuan/mt, before fluctuating rangebound and finally closing at 101,490 yuan/mt, up 1.49%, with trading volume reaching 79,400 lots and open interest reaching 170,000 lots, overall showing bears closing positions.

Canadian mining giant Capstone Copper said on Friday that the largest union at its Mantoverde copper-gold mine in Chile had approved a new three-year labor contract, ending a strike that began on January 2 and paving the way for a return to normal production. Previously affected by the strike, the mine's production had fallen to about 55% of normal levels.

The largest union at Capstone Copper's Mantoverde copper and gold mine in Chile has approved a new three-year labor contract, ending the strike that began on January 2 and paving the way for normal production to resume.

The escalation of conflicts between Israel and Iran has strengthened the market's demand for safe-haven assets. Silver, as a precious metal with both safe-haven and industrial attributes, has become an alternative choice for capital to seek refuge amid the backdrop of gold's trend being suppressed by the rebound of the US dollar index on June 17. At the end of May, the gold-silver ratio once broke through the historical extreme of 1:100, far exceeding the previous long-term average of 60-80, indicating that silver was severely undervalued. The demand for silver's valuation repair has supported its price. The long-term trend of the global silver supply-demand gap provides underlying support for silver prices. As the most-traded SHFE silver contract technically broke through the round-number threshold of 9,000 yuan/kg, it attracted more market capital inflows, pushing silver prices to repeatedly hit new highs. As of around 15:19 on June 18, the most-traded SHFE silver contract rose by 2.35%, closing at 9,045 yuan/kg, and refreshing its historical high since listing to 9,075 yuan/kg...