The Tech Stack Powering the Gold and Silver Rush

Author

Noah Zelvis
January 30, 2026

When precious metals go full main-character mode, miners do two things at once: they chase new deposits, and they get weirdly serious about efficiency.

Because digging is expensive, permitting is slow, and nobody wants to explain a cost blowout on an earnings call.

So the winners around a metals boom are often the companies selling the tools that help miners find ore faster, move it safer, and upgrade rock into money with less waste.

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Consumer Hardware

Apple Buys Its Way Deeper Into AI Hardware With Q.ai

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has acquired Q.ai, an Israeli AI startup focused on advanced audio and imaging intelligence.

The move sharpens Apple’s push into sensory AI, where understanding speech, sound, and subtle human signals matters more than raw text generation.

Q.ai’s technology helps devices interpret whispered speech and isolate voices in noisy environments.

That capability fits neatly into Apple’s expanding work on AirPods, Vision Pro, and spatial computing.

Why Audio AI Matters More Than Chatbots

As AI assistants mature, the real challenge shifts from answering questions to understanding people in real-world conditions.

Audio is one of the messiest inputs in computing, filled with background noise, accents, movement, and incomplete signals.

By pulling Q.ai in-house, Apple strengthens its ability to process sound locally, reliably, and with low latency.

That advantage supports Apple’s broader strategy of on-device intelligence rather than a cloud-first approach to AI.

Hardware-First AI Is Apple’s Differentiator

Apple’s rivals are racing to win AI through scale and models, but Apple is focusing on sensors, chips, and tightly integrated hardware.

Q.ai adds another layer to that stack, alongside Apple Silicon, neural engines, and custom audio pipelines.

The acquisition also reinforces Apple’s long-term bet that the next AI breakthroughs will live inside everyday devices.

In that future, hearing better may matter just as much as thinking faster.

Streaming

Spotify Builds A Private Social Layer Around Streaming

Spotify (NYSE: SPOT) has rolled out group chats, letting users talk, react, and share what they are listening to with up to ten people inside the app.

The feature extends Spotify’s messaging push from one-to-one conversations into small, private social circles built around audio.

Group chats are not open-ended or viral by design.

You can only start a chat with people you already collaborate with through playlists, Jams, or Blends, keeping the experience grounded in existing listening relationships.

Why Spotify Is Leaning Into Social Audio

Streaming has become table stakes, and Spotify is now competing on engagement, not just catalog depth.

Group chats give Spotify a way to keep discovery, discussion, and reaction inside its own ecosystem instead of leaking out to messaging apps.

This shift turns listening into an active, shared behavior rather than a solo one.

The more time people spend talking about content inside Spotify, the harder it becomes to leave the platform.

Private By Design, But Not Fully Locked Down

Messages in Spotify group chats are encrypted at rest and in transit, signaling a baseline focus on security.

However, the lack of end-to-end encryption shows Spotify is prioritizing usability and moderation over maximum privacy.

Technically, the feature lays the groundwork for richer social layers in the future.

Spotify is steadily transforming from a streaming app into a lightweight social network built entirely around sound.

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Enterprise

Oracle Moves Deeper Into The Hotel Operating Stack

Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) has been approved by IHG Hotels & Resorts to power property management across hotels in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia regions.

That approval makes OPERA Cloud a first-class system choice for thousands of hotels running under one of the world’s largest hospitality brands.

This is not a small pilot or regional test.

It puts Oracle’s cloud software directly into the daily operating core of hotels, handling reservations, staff workflows, guest data, and loyalty interactions at scale.

Why OPERA Cloud Matters Technically

OPERA Cloud consolidates hotel operations onto a single cloud platform instead of fragmented local systems.

That means real-time data access, standardized processes, and continuous updates without heavy on-site IT work.

The platform is built with open APIs and integration services, allowing hotels to plug in third-party tools without breaking core systems.

It also supports fiscal and regulatory compliance across more than 200 countries and territories, which is critical for global hotel chains.

The Bigger Signal For Oracle’s Strategy

This move reinforces Oracle’s shift from back-office enterprise software into industry-specific operating platforms.

Hospitality joins healthcare, finance, and retail as verticals where Oracle is deeply embedding itself, not just selling infrastructure.

With IHG and Accor both standardizing on OPERA Cloud, Oracle is positioning itself as the default cloud backbone for large hotel groups.

That locks in long-term usage, recurring revenue, and a growing data footprint tied directly to global travel demand.

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Recent Tech Movers

Epiroc (OTC: EPOKY)
The Drill Rig That Wants a Brain
If miners are going to spend, they want ROI you can measure in weeks, not vibes.

Epiroc sits in that sweet spot: modern equipment plus automation features that can help with consistency, uptime, and productivity.

In a high-metal-price world, “more tons, fewer headaches” is basically the corporate love language.

The stock tends to act like a confidence indicator for capex cycles, so it can whip around on macro mood swings, but the long-term pitch is simple: mines are not getting easier, so the machines have to get smarter.

Samsara (NYSE: IOT)
Boring Fleet Data, Spicy Savings
This one is not a mining pure-play, which is exactly why it’s sneaky.

Mining is basically the Olympics of fleet management: huge equipment, harsh conditions, lots of fuel burn, and many ways to lose time and money.

Samsara’s lane is connecting vehicles and heavy gear to software that tracks usage, safety, idle time, maintenance signals, and operational patterns.

In a commodity boom, miners want more production, but they also want fewer incidents and less downtime.

This is the kind of software that turns “we think we’re inefficient” into “here are the three levers bleeding cash.”

Planet Labs (NYSE: PL)
Satellites: The Ultimate Mine Site Receipt
Exploration and operations both love visibility. Planet sells frequent imagery that can help monitor land use, infrastructure buildouts, and changes over time.

Again, not a miner, but a “map the world constantly” business that can be useful when projects expand, new sites get evaluated, or supply chains need watching.

The trade-off is it’s a smaller, higher-volatility name, so it can move like a caffeinated squirrel.

But if you want out-of-the-box exposure to “more mining activity = more demand for monitoring and intelligence,” this is the type of pick that fits.

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The Long Pick

TOMRA Systems (OTC: TMRAY)
The Machine That Finds Treasure in Rock Piles
Here’s the pitch: when gold and silver are ripping, miners do not just want more acreage. They want better yield from what they already move.

That’s where ore sorting shows up like the quiet MVP.

TOMRA’s sorting tech is used to separate valuable ore from waste earlier in the process, which can mean higher grades, less energy spent downstream, and potentially lower costs per unit produced.

This is the kind of company that benefits from a very human mining behavior: when metals are expensive, “marginal” material suddenly looks interesting again.

Sorting tech can help make lower-grade deposits more workable, or help operations upgrade feed before expensive processing.

It’s basically the difference between bringing home groceries and bringing home groceries plus the receipt, the coupons, and the cashback points.

Scorecard You Can Use

  • Efficiency lever: Sorting is about getting more metal per ton, not just moving more rock.

  • Capex-lite appeal: Compared with building brand-new capacity, optimization tools can feel like a faster win.

  • Sustainability tailwind: Less waste and less processing intensity can matter as scrutiny rises.

Why the Tape Cares

  • Boom cycles reward throughput: When prices are high, every bottleneck hurts more.

  • Mines want payback math: Tools that show measurable savings get budget love.

  • More projects, more upgrades: Expansion and new development usually pull tech spending along with it.

What Could Spook It

  • Commodity mood swings: If metals cool off, miners suddenly “get disciplined” again.

  • Project delays: Mining timelines slip for a million reasons, and suppliers feel it.

  • Valuation sensitivity: Niche quality names can still get whacked if risk-off hits.

What To Watch Next

  • Miner capex tone: Are operators talking growth or caution?

  • Adoption momentum: Any signs sorting tech is moving from nice-to-have to default tool.

  • Margins and backlog: The cleanest tell for demand staying real.

Actionable Take

  • Builders: Think of this as picks-and-shovels for a metals cycle, but with a tech twist. Add on pullbacks, size it like a long-term compounder, not a lottery ticket.

  • Traders: Respect commodity sentiment. When metals are hot, these names can trend. When metals cool, they can drop fast. Use levels, not hope.

  • Bottom Line: If gold and silver are going to keep dragging the mining world into “do more with less” mode, the unsexy efficiency tech can be where the quiet winners hide.

Everything Else

  • 🪙 Senators are sounding oddly upbeat that crypto rules might finally crawl out of the Senate Agriculture committee, which is not usually where fun goes to live.

  • 🏗️ Databricks just grabbed fresh debt ahead of an IPO, basically doing a financial warm-up lap before stepping onto the public market treadmill.

  • 🧢 A new rumor cycle has crypto Twitter doing cartwheels over the idea of a pardon for Binance’s founder, because nothing says stability like “maybe the plot twist is bullish.”

  • 🔍 The UK is taking a closer look at whether Meta is playing nice with WhatsApp requests, aka the regulatory version of “show your work.”

  • 🏭 Pegatron says its U.S. plant should be done by end of March, which is great news for anyone tracking the slow-motion saga of supply chain reshoring one concrete pour at a time.

That's our coverage for today; thanks for reading! Reply to this email with feedback or any tech stocks you want me to check out.

Best Regards,
—Noah Zelvis
Tech Stock Insider