Missed the Gold Trade? This Metal Could Be Next

If you missed the gold rally, don’t worry. Silver might be teeing up for its turn.

In most precious metals bull markets, gold runs first. Then silver plays catch-up … fast. With gold recently hitting all-time highs and silver trying to break above $35/oz again, we might be at that inflection point now.

And there’s one miner sitting squarely in the sweet spot, scoring a Zen Rating of A or “Strong Buy”: Coeur Mining (NYSE: CDE).

CDE just made a bold move in February by acquiring SilverCrest, which is projected to boost its annual output to 21 million ounces of silver and over 430,000 ounces of gold. That makes it one of the largest pure-play silver producers in North America — but with a nice kicker of gold exposure too.

Why does that matter? Because silver is more than just a precious metal. It’s increasingly critical to EVs, solar, semiconductors, and AI infrastructure … not to mention its role as an inflation hedge. Demand is expected to hit 1.2 billion ounces in 2025, with fabrication use (e.g. industrial) crossing 700 million for the first time ever.

In 2025, silver is also predicted to remain in a deficit of 149 million ounces despite rising production, marking the fifth consecutive year of supply shortfalls.

Meanwhile, energy input costs — a major factor in mining margins — are trending down as oil prices remain weak. That’s a double tailwind for miners like CDE: higher metal prices + lower costs = margin improvement.

Here’s where Coeur really shines:

• Rochester mine expansion and the SilverCrest acquisition will drive a projected 62% YoY increase in silver production.
• Free cash flow turned positive in 2024 and is expected to hit $75–100 million per quarter starting Q2 2025.
• CDE scores an A in both Sentiment and Growth, meaning it rates highly for margin improvement, free cash flow momentum, and more. As for Sentiment … here’s why we consider it so important to stock picking. Want to see how CDE scores across the other Zen Component Grades? Click here. 

Lastly, if you’ve followed me a while you know I like to marry technicals to fundamentals … and a quick look at the CDE chart doesn’t disappoint. It’s broken out of a ~30 year downtrend (green):

Source: TradingView

Bottom line: If silver really starts to rip, few companies are as leveraged to the move as Coeur Mining. It's already A-rated, and its operational momentum + silver's macro setup make this one of the most interesting setups in the entire metals sector.

If you missed the gold breakout, this might be your second shot.

👉 See Coeur Mining’s full rating breakdown

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