Sorry but this statement is only half-true and very miss-leading.

The is more PURE gold on the surface of the earth then there is PURE silver. This much is true. If you account for all the sterling and alloyed silver, jewelry, silverware and the like the global inventory of silver is in the tens of billions of oz.

Whats really important to understand here is the energy factors. Silver (and gold) are produced as a byproduct of mining other metals like tin. Currently it costs about 4$/OZ to refine silver from such a waste stream. Extracting it from copper-cathode sludge is just a little more. Industrial demand for silver puts it at 12-15$/oz during 'good' economic times. The rest of the 'value' is speculative investment factors.

Similarly it costs about 2$/bbl to pump crude oil out of the ground. Oil is trading at ~90$/bbl, the whole rest of that 'value' is speculation. e.g. GS runs and exchange traded note(ETN) backed by imaginary barrels of oil. Just as there are funds backed by imaginary oz of metal.

And BTW 'the coming rush already happened' You should have been buying at 4$/oz, I stopped buying at ~20$. I believe that its entirely possible for silver (and other metals) to crash significantly on lack of demand/growth.

I'm not saying you shouldn't hold some precious metals, everyone should have some. But don't get caught up in this cyclical hype over the supposed rarity of silver. The secret about 'rare earths' is they aren't that rare, it's all about the energy require to extract and refine said earths.

Consider that gold and oil never flow in the same direction in international trade. Consider that for the past twenty years the USA has been trading gold for oil at about the cost of production on both ends. Since 9/11 this has gone completely out of whack, and with the USA projected to become the worlds largest oil /and/ natural gas producer in the world within 20-25 years, the gold and metals will start coming back to us.

If you really want to invest in something, invest in your-self. In your own physical body, buy healthy food and water, buy quality clothes, learn new skills, and don't get caught up in the bullshit. Your millage may vary.