That silver is still around. It just isn't in bullion bars.
A lot of silver is subject to inelastic demand.
For example, let's say that each iPhone ($700) contains 20 cents worth of silver.
Next, let's say that the price of silver goes up by 10 times. (After which, each iPhone contains 2 dollars worth of silver.)
Will Apple stop purchasing silver? No. They will keep purchasing the same amount of silver even if the price goes up 10 times. After all, what is $2 to them, when the iPhone sells for $700?
Much of the industry that consumes silver is subject to this sort of inelastic demand.
And once the silver is consumed into devices like this, it's not economical to ever recycle it.
It might as well just be gone forever.
Another example is certain medical cloth, which contain tiny amounts of silver due to its antibacterial properties.
Mirrors, etc.
90% of the silver that has ever been mined, that has been sitting in vaults for the past 5000 years, has been consumed in the last 100 years.
There is more gold bullion above ground right now, than silver bullion.
