Opportunities in Precious Metals and Critical Materials in Today's Market

November 4, 2026 | (6 mins 49 secs)

Gold, silver, uranium and copper are gaining attention as shifting supply-demand dynamics and rising electricity needs reshape the investment landscape. In this interview at Schwab IMPACT 2026, Tom Quigley, Director and Senior Investment Consultant, discusses the forces driving these key metals and how investors can approach physical metals and mining equities.

Video Transcript

Jenna Dagenhart: Joining us now from Schwab IMPACT in Boston is Tom Quigley, Director and Senior Investment Consultant at Sprott Asset Management. Tom, great to have you with us today.

Tom Quigley: Thanks for having me.

Jenna Dagenhart: First, Tom, why don't you give us an overview of Sprott? What's the firm's specialty?

Tom Quigley: For those who aren't familiar with us, we're a global leader in precious metals and critical materials investments. We're publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SII. We have about $55 billion in assets under management as of the last quarter. The bulk of those assets sits within our physically backed bullion and commodity trusts, which is how many investors are familiar with us. We also have a lineup of equity-based mining ETFs, and we do a smaller part of our business in private lending to mining and natural resources companies. We operate across all sides of the mining industry's capital structure.

Jenna Dagenhart: Tom, what metals are top of mind for you right now?

Tom Quigley: For Sprott in particular, we have four metals in focus at this point: gold, silver, copper and uranium. What's really getting a lot of attention and most of the headlines is gold. We view gold through a different lens as a neutral reserve asset. There has been a lot of interest lately in our physical gold trust, as more central banks have used gold to back their reserve currencies or to reduce liabilities associated with holding U.S. Treasuries or other foreign currencies. That's a significant portion of our business, but we're also seeing strong traction in the critical materials space.

Jenna Dagenhart: Building off of that, you mentioned a lot of interest in gold these days. What about silver?

Tom Quigley: Silver is an interesting metal for us because it's a hybrid. It has historically lived in gold's shadow. Last year, we saw silver step out of gold's shadow as its industrial uses attracted greater attention. The U.S. added it to its list of critical materials in 2025. We think of silver as the hybrid metal. It has monetary characteristics, but about 59% of its use is driven by industrial applications, including photovoltaics and EVs. Silver's an interesting one. We viewed last year as a repricing from a monetary metal into an industrial metal. It plays dual roles as both a monetary asset and a critical material.

Jenna Dagenhart: What other critical materials are potentially a good investment opportunity right now, Tom?

Tom Quigley: We view the other two metals I mentioned, uranium and copper, as true critical materials. For uranium and these metals in particular, it comes down to supply-and-demand dynamics. If you're looking at uranium in particular, we're looking at a forecast through about 2045 for a billion-and-a-quarter-pound deficit, and that's based on current consumption alone. On the uranium demand side, we have seen the planned reopening of Three Mile Island, the new reactor in Georgia, the first newly constructed U.S. reactor in roughly 30 years, and many foreign governments reversing their positions on nuclear energy."

You compare the supply side with the growing demand picture driven by, one, electrification and, two, hyperscaler and data center build-out, which is really energy- and electricity-intensive. We think uranium makes for an interesting story. Then there's copper, which I think is probably the less sexy of the two metals, but it's used in essentially everything, from producing this video to making it possible for us to be on it right now. It is one of the most effective and widely used conductors of electricity.

Historically, demand for copper has doubled approximately every 25 years, but today's drivers of demand are different. Historically, it was closely tied to urbanization and city-building, and it coincided with China's economic activity. Now we're seeing it used in data centers and in grid revitalization. We think these critical materials will be important as energy demand continues to grow.

Jenna Dagenhart: Are there ways to invest in metals other than in the metals themselves? I'm sure you get this question a lot.

Tom Quigley: We do. A lot of investors start with Sprott for the physical allocation because it offers exposure that differs from exposure to equities and companies in the mining sector. But we do provide an avenue for investors to get exposure to those equities, whether it's senior miners or junior mining companies, through our list of Sprott ETFs. Some Sprott ETFs also have a physical component, but we think of it as more of a risk-off strategic allocation, whereas mining equities have operational leverage and different risks, making them more of a strategic, opportunistic, risk-on allocation.

Jenna Dagenhart: Finally, Tom, for advisors interested in gold, silver, uranium, and copper, how can they learn more?

Tom Quigley: The best way to learn more is to go to sprott.com. We also publish a podcast, Sprott Radio, available on all major podcast platforms. Those are the two best ways to learn more about us.

Jenna Dagenhart: Thanks so much for joining us today, Tom.

Tom Quigley: Thank you for having me.

Jenna Dagenhart: Thank you to everyone watching. Once again, that was Tom Quigley, Director and Senior Investment Consultant at Sprott Asset Management. I'm your host, Jenna Dagenhart, with Asset TV.