Industry Notes

Industry Notes / Global mining: the metal map / Chapter 2 of 12 · Side-by-side

Two extreme markets in 2026

Precious metals peaked and crashed; copper squeezed in August

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January: precious metals

  • Gold peaked near $5,627/oz all-time high
  • Worst quarter since 2013; trough near $3,955 at end-June
  • Silver drawdown from the peak about half
  • Central-bank bid intact, but peak prices are not a valuation anchor

August: copper

  • LME available stocks down ~75% from mid-April to early August
  • Cash over 3M once ~$544/t
  • LME emergency measures on 14 Aug
  • Western cash tightness; rising Shanghai stocks are the counter-check

Left: the January precious-metal spike and drawdown. Right: August copper inventories and spreads. Two pricing logics in one year.

Source：LME / 现货公开价与公开报道时间线（截至 2026-08-18）

Research notes, not investment advice.