It’s not just the paranoia of Fed-bashing, hard money zealots who build bunkers in their backyards. Precious metals really do make a lot of sense now, for all types of investors.

As the Omicron variant of the coronavirus pandemic gives investors the jitters, gold and silver are showing considerable luster. Amid the alarming rise of COVID-19 cases, you can expect further price appreciation of precious metals.

Every portfolio should hold gold. But don’t forget about silver. The “white metal” is a time-proven crisis hedge that often gets overshadowed by its yellow counterpart.

If you’re concerned about stock market volatility, both gold and silver warrant your attention. As you position your portfolio for 2022, now’s a good time to conduct a deep dive into the details of silver investing.

The versatility of silver…

Industrial demand plays a key role in silver’s bullish story. Both gold and silver are used in several industrial processes and consumer products, but silver is far more prevalent and crucial.

Silver is a superb conductor of heat and electricity, making it an integral component in medicine, electronics, automobiles, food processing, solar energy, textiles, and radiography, to cite only a few industries.

Silver is found in computers, televisions, batteries, smartphones, calculators, cameras, conventional and electric vehicles, rockets, airplanes, watches, clocks, microwave ovens… the list goes on.

As the following chart shows, industrial applications account for 51% of the annual global demand for silver (for 2021, as of December):

The unstoppable momentum of solar energy is a particularly powerful tailwind for silver, because the metal is vital for the production of photovoltaic cells. Another boost for the white metal is demand for silver-zinc batteries, which are widely used in missile, space launch, and electric vehicle applications.

These indispensable uses for silver will continue increasing, especially as governments around the world boost spending on renewable energy and infrastructure. Overall silver demand is recession and pandemic resistant because without this versatile metal, many processes or products couldn’t exist.

Read This Story: Don’t Ignore Gold’s Cousin, Silver

Gold and silver are traditional safe havens during times of market anxiety. But when gold prices rise, silver tends to rise even higher. Silver is considerably cheaper per ounce than gold. As gold climbs in price, traders perceive a bigger bang for their buck with silver.

Case in point: during the gold bull market of June 2001 to August 2011, gold jumped from $270 an ounce to $1,889 an ounce, for a 600% gain. That’s pretty darn good. But over the same period, silver soared from $4 to over $43, for a 975% gain.

Silver currently hovers at $23 per ounce. In 2018, the average price for silver stood at $15.7/oz.

How high can silver go? Predictions are all over the map. But consider this: during the uncertain 1970s, the price of silver rose more than 3,600% from its November 1971 low to its January 1980 high. A precedent exists for massive gains in silver.

The supply and demand equation…

Fueling the expected rise in silver prices is a growing shortage that resulted from cutbacks in production among miners in recent years, as the price of the metal slipped.

It doesn’t take a genius in economics to figure it out: when demand for a commodity increases but supply has dwindled, prices will soar.

The Omicron outbreak, political strife in Washington, geopolitical tensions (e.g., in the Ukraine), and rising inflation all add up to bullish conditions for silver and gold.

During the pandemic era, we’ve witnessed historic swings in the major stock market indices, with unprecedented moves in some sectors. Volatility is here to stay into the foreseeable future. Despite the emergence of promising vaccines, the deadly virus is far from contained.

The stock market in 2021 has enjoyed a strong rally. I expect the bull market to continue into 2022. However, over the near term, it would only take a whiff of bad news to send stocks reeling. Are you prepared?

Conventional wisdom dictates that portfolios should contain at least 5% to 10% of precious metal assets as protection against economic downturns and market corrections.

As a hedge, your portfolio’s precious metals sleeve should contain roughly equal proportions of gold and silver.

The Arctic bonanza…

The best way to gain exposure to precious metals is by purchasing shares of mining companies, which use operating leverage to exponentially benefit from rising metals prices.

Read This Story: The Midas Method: Why Gold Shines Now

In fact, our investment experts have pinpointed a precious metals mining play…in the remote Arctic Circle, of all places…that’s ready to hand investors outsized returns.

Amid the polar ice caps of the Northern Hemisphere, warming temperatures are melting the frozen tundra and unearthing a massive mineral deposit. It’s possibly one of the largest treasure troves of precious metals ever discovered. And one that geologists and precious metals experts estimate is worth $100 billion or more.

Early investors in this mineral bonanza stand to make a fortune. There’s a small-cap miner, in particular, that’s poised for explosive gains. To get in on the action, click here for details.

John Persinos is the editorial director of Investing Daily. Questions about precious metals investing? Drop him a line: mailbag@investingdaily.com. To subscribe to his video channel, follow this link.