Silver is primarily a byproduct of refining base metals - zinc, copper & lead. If market demand for those is flat, a #silver price spike can barely move the needle.

In that way, silver mining is very similar to #Bitcoin hashing power's dependence on ASICs made by a small number of giant chip foundries in China.

#Gold, though? Gold mining and refining can ramp up and down quickly on price signals, using commonly available equipment. It is very like #Monero.