by SilverWars
Silver Seek
In 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) released its Navy Budget Estimates report. It stated that due to silver scarcity, the program for creating sonobuoys which was previously sourcing silver at $3.97 per troy ounce through the DLA was now procuring silver at a market rate of $30 per troy ounce.
The average price of silver at the time this report was published was $21.80 per troy ounce, suggesting Uncle Sam had to pay an 8-fold premium to source what it needed from the open market.
The reason for the incredibly low previous price from the DLA was due to recycling efforts throughout the DoD. This was the DLA’s cost of recovery and refinement from the Precious Metals Recovery Program (PMRP); however, the report noted that this cheap silver source has dried up.