{
  "id": 1952157,
  "title": "Gold, silver, miners surge as Treasury doubles buybacks",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/19/gold-silver-miners-surge-as-treasury-doubles-buybacks",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-19T12:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mining.com",
    "slug": "mining-com",
    "url": "https://www.mining.com/gold-silver-miners-surge-as-treasury-doubles-buybacks/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Gold, silver, and mining stocks experienced a surge on Wednesday following the U.S. Treasury's unexpected announcement to nearly double its purchases of long-term government debt. This decision sent yields and the dollar lower, benefiting precious metals. Spot gold reached approximately $4,484 per ounce, a 3.46% increase from the previous day's close, while silver gained 3.33% to around $65.44 per ounce. The dollar index declined by 0.78%, and the 10-year Treasury yield dropped by 1.27%, while the 30-year yield fell by 1.84%. Mining companies, which have outperformed the metal this month, saw even bigger gains. The VanEck Gold Miners ETF (GDX) rose 8.8% to about $96.88, Agnico Eagle Mines (TSX: AEM; NYSE: AEM) increased by 8.85% to roughly $282.44, and Barrick Mining (NYSE: B; TSX: ABX) climbed 7.66% to $45.33. This rally demonstrates how sensitive precious metals are to movements in the long end of the Treasury market. The lower yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold, and a weaker dollar makes the metal more affordable for international buyers. The Treasury's move to increase its liquidity support buyback operations for 10- to 30-year securities, by at least double, came as a surprise. This decision is driven by mounting pressure in the long end of the Treasury market, as evidenced by the highest financing costs for 10-year maturities since 2007 and the steepest yield since 2001 for 30-year sales. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, has emphasized that he measures his success based on the 10-year yield, which he wants to be at a \"3\" handle, below 4%. While it remains uncertain whether larger buybacks can maintain lower long-term yields, the Treasury's signal could encourage further short-covering. As a result, gold and silver investors saw an immediate effect, as Treasury intervention alleviated pressure from two of the precious metals' biggest headwinds - elevated long-term yields and a strong dollar.",
  "summary": "Falling long-term yields and a weaker dollar lifted precious metals, with leading gold miners gaining nearly 9%.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}