Will the Infrastructure Spending Bill Create a Golden Opportunity for Precious Metals?

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Written By Barry Lenson

If you dream about making a fortune trading in precious metals, you have probably been wondering whether a new golden age in precious metal investing could soon begin if the Infrastructure and Jobs Act (also known as H.R. 3684) becomes law. You, like us, are envisioning huge quantities of gold scrap, silver scrap, and even platinum scrap piling up in scrapyards. Pull up your pick up, load up, and be ready to become a billionaire.

The only problem is that is not about to happen. However, the infrastructure bill will still create some unique investment opportunities if it becomes law. Let’s take a look at the two biggest ones.

A Coming Boom in Scrap Copper

Okay, copper is not a precious metal. It is selling today for about $3.00/pound. But if cities start to update their systems – transit systems especially – a lot of copper is about to wash onto the market.

One example? New York City’s subway system is home to tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of pounds of copper wire. Many of the stations were built more than 100 years ago. If you peek into one of the rooms that sit just off the platforms in them, you will see a virtual museum of antique panels, all connected by heavily insulated copper wires.

Honest metal investors are not the only people who have discovered how much copper is down there. In November 2020, thieves stole about 30,000 feet of copper wire from just one of New York City’s subway lines, worth $10,000 or more. They actually went into the tunnels and pulled the wire right off the walls. Stealing copper wire from New York’s subway system is nothing new. Back in 2015, the New York subway system’s managers discovered that over the five preceding years, more than 70,000 feet of copper wire had been stolen.

Now, not every city in America has an old subway system. New York, Washington DC, Chicago, Boston come to mind, along with subway systems in Toronto, Montreal, and Mexico City. But keep following the news and start setting aside money to buy scrapped copper – if those cities do update their subways and decide to sell off their old copper wire instead of cashing in on it themselves.

A boom in copper might not sound too sexy. But if you make a fortune reclaiming and selling it, we think that is pretty sexy. Don’t you?

A Coming Boom in Thermocouple Wire

Now, this could get exciting. If cities scrap or update old buildings and facilities, a lot of the old thermocouple wire they remove from them could come onto the market. And thermocouples, depending on their use, can contain precious metals that include silver and platinum (as well as more of that copper) that are well worth collecting and recycling.

Where are thermocouples found in older buildings? In heating and air conditioning systems. For example, the wires that run from thermostats to heating and central air conditioning systems.

If your city starts to upgrade older buildings as part of its plans to modernize older systems, be on the lookout for sales of scrap.

A Smaller, But Possibly Significant, Boom in Gold that Is Found on Circuit Boards

If you do a little research online, you will find that when a city upgrades its electrical grid, transit system, and even its system of traffic lights, that means that older systems are likely to be tossed and replaced with newer computerized systems.

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you know what it means when older circuit boards are discarded. They contain gold, and that gold is worth recycling, provided you can get your hands on a large number of those devices.

So, What about That Coming Boom in Precious Metals?

Be sure to bookmark this blog and come back weekly to see what we have been covering. If booms start in precious metals, you will learn about them here. And when you collect those precious metals and are ready to make money recycling them, give us a call at 800-426-2344. You’ll enjoy a conversation that will educate you and make you money.

Barry Lenson
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