Silver & Gold Amounts

I know that platinum is the rarest precious metal. I would not doubt that silver, which usually has to be hard rock mined is by far scarcer on the surface than gold which generally can be found in alluvial placers as well as below the surface. There are both types of mining operations for gold (hard rock mining and surface dredging as well as open pit mines). I am a recreational gold prospector here in California and Arizona and have never found silver in the sluice box or pan but have found platinum with the gold.

The keyword is SURFACE gold - there is absolutely nothing mentioned about underground gold and silver. The reason why gold is found in alluvial placers is simply because of the erosion of rocks that contained gold ores over time. Because gold is heavy, they cannot be deposited over a long distance.

What most people who aren't in the mining industry presume that anything that's underground can be mined and extracted at a maximum recovery rate. Unfortunately, there are way too many variables which make the industry very complex. For instance, what kind of minerals are there initially? Heavy metals, silica, sulfides and so on are NOT favorable conditions. What is the stratigraphy of the deposit like? How does a mining company deal with environment consequences and compensate communities that happen to live around the mine? The list goes on.

What people should be looking at is not the amount of natural resources that are available underground but how much of that can be mined economically and how viable the project is.

In regards to vermontensium's comments, I have to disagree that platinum is the rarest precious metal. Rhodium and iridium ,possibly ruthenium by far are much scarcer than platinum and most of them are mined in South Africa - if I remember right, it is as high as 80%. On the other hand, Russia supplies at least 20% of the world's platinum and 60% palladium.

I think one thing that is missing is that when silver is used, it is usually expended. I don't know much about Rhodium or iridium, but silver has commercial use and when it is used... often it is gone.

Smart man I have some gold and even a small amount of platinum as a hedge because I do believe the dollar will continue to lose value with inflationary concerns and uncertainty. Most of my metal holdings is in silver as well. $100 an ounce, well, IMO that is wishful thinking. I can see another round of maybe $30-35 per ounce. Check out this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0i4sJqHPUk
It's a 13 part video but well worth it.

there are gold IRAs. I believe APMEX has info on them. So, instead of cashing out your IRA adn taking the penalty, you just transfer your holdings from mutuals or CDs to gold - which is held in a bank. I was thinking about this myself, but never made the jump.

I am a silver guy myself, but mainly because I really can't afford gold. If I did have the money, I would still invest in silver as I have read the pro-silver arguments and foudn them compelling. I guess the golden rule is diversity.

What most people forget is the statistics quoted about the % of anything on or in the Earth's surface or even well below that are statistics based on what has been found so far. And not really so far either since no one really knows how much Gold, Platinum, Silver, etc was mined, tooled into something, buried by ancient peoples. And too there are possibly mines full of some of those substances that are not being publicized due to keeping the prices as they are.
Diamonds are like that. It is a well known fact that today Diamonds could be placed out into the market and flood it to the point of making the cost trivial. This is even compounded by the ability to manufacturer Diamonds. Similarly a super rich vein of Silver, Gold, etc of any precious metal would be best kept to a minimum of public awareness.
Considering previous finds, usages reburied precious metals, not made public what is or isn't available, any % is just a guess.