Welcome back to our weekly update. I'm Charlotte Mloud with investingnews.com and we're going to run through a few of the week's biggest stories in the mining industry. If you enjoyed this video, don't forget to hit the like button, subscribe to our channel, and of course, leave us a comment below. Let's get into it. Gold and silver prices experienced declines early in the week, but look set to finish on par with levels seen at the beginning of the period. The yellow metal was trading close to 5,000 per


ounce at the time of this recording. Meanwhile, silver was close to the 78 per ounce level. February 18th brought the release of the US Federal Reserve's latest meeting minutes, which show that although officials largely agreed with the January decision to hold interest rates steady, they aren't aligned about the path forward as 2026 continues. What's received more attention this week is the Lunar New Year holiday. Most Asian markets are closed for the occasion and will reopen next week. I


asked Ola Hansen of Saxo Bank about the significance of the closure and he said that in his view the more important question is what will happen when they're back in business next week. Here's how he explained it. >> There was probably some profit taking coming into the market ahead of the uh the close. So who who wants to maintain a position for for 8 days when when you can't get in or out when the markets are shut? Um that that's probably that's a bit of a tall order for for some


traders. So we probably saw some profit taking before the uh the holiday. The question is really how they how would they respond when they when they come back and I think if we are if they come back to more or less unchanged prices they will see that as probably as a buying opportunity simply the and while they probably hope that they might be able to pick it up cheaper while in their absence but if we can manage to hold these levels then then there could be a positive story building as we as we


see China reopen. What do you >> Ola is bullish on gold this year, saying that he sees it reaching 6,000 in the next 12 months, but interestingly, he has a different take on silver. He thinks the white metal's upside could be limited by demand side factors like substitution and higher supply from scrap material. >> Gold over time can go to 10,000, can go to 20,000. It's it's a monetary metal which doesn't really depends on on on demand from some or from areas where demand suddenly could be negatively


impacted with the price. Silver hasn't got that luxury and that basically means if silver gold moves towards 6,000. I would believe that I would think that silver at some point will struggle to keep up and we'll see basically gold relatively outperform silver. But u when that point when that time comes I I can't see it again it's it's very unclear especially given the demand for the fe the the speculative demand which can carry on for for a while longer. I also heard this week from Christopher


Aaron of Igold Advisor and Elite Private Placements who has a much brighter outlook for silver. He said given that the metal has just broken out of a 45- year consolidation period, it still has much further to go. Now that whole process the the 45 year consolidation breakout and now coming back that is for for a number of people here that is going to be a once-ina-lifetime breakout. We're talking a multi-generational breakout happening in silver right now. And it's really important to I mean the bottom line is


this Charlotte after 45 years of consolidation a market doesn't end with just 2 months after a breakout and then kind of withering and petering out for the next 45 years. Again, that's not how 45 year breakouts happen. >> Ultimately, Christopher sees 250 to 350 as a reasonable price level for silver. I always think it's interesting to hear these different perspectives and I'm curious to know what you think as well. Let me know your thoughts on silver in the comments. The latest TSX Venture 50 list was


released on February 18th with Gold and Silver Juniors dominating. In fact, of the companies included, only three fall outside the mining sector. The list ranks TSXV company's annual performance by market cap growth, share price performance, and Canadian consolidated trading value. Taking the top spot this time around was Santa Cruz Silver Mining with an impressive share price increase of over,00%. As a group, the companies on the list delivered a share price increase of 431%. We'll have to wait and see whether these


types of gains are repeated or exceeded in 2026, but the list definitely underscores the strength in gold and silver prices and shows that their momentum is boosting not just the majors but also the juniors. On the M&A side, BHP has entered into a long-term streaming agreement with Weaten Precious Metals. Under the deal, which was signed by subsidiaries of BHB and Wheaten, BHB will receive an upfront payment of 4.3 billion in exchange for the delivery of silver from the Peru-based Antaminomine, plus ongoing


payments when metal is delivered. According to BHP, this is the most valuable streaming transaction to date based on upfront consideration received. Antamina is a joint venture between BHP, Glenor, Tech Resources, and Mitsubishi, and Weaten already has a silver stream in place with Glenor. Once the BHP arrangement closes, Weaten will receive a combined 67.5% of the mind's silver. I'll be speaking with Wheaten's Randy Smallwood in a couple of weeks at PDAC. So, drop a comment below if you have any


questions for him. Smallwood who co-founded the company will soon transition to the role of non-executive board chair with Hayam Hodley taking the reigns as president and CEO. Thank you for watching. If you like this video, make sure you hit the like button and subscribe to our channel. We'd also love to hear your thoughts, so leave us a comment below.