Gold & Precious Metals

World’s gold miners wary of production ramp-up despite price surge

Posted by Reuters

on Monday, 14 September 2020 9:45

The world’s top gold miners are retrenching after covid-19 related shutdowns despite record prices for the yellow metal, with cost-conscious executives prioritizing investor returns over production growth.

Gold prices have jumped 30% this year to roughly $2,000 an ounce as central banks dial-up stimulus measures in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

That has fuelled a cash surge for miners, with top- and mid-tier producers holding roughly $5 billion in cash as of June 30, according to Scotiabank estimates.

But interviews with executives, analysts and fund managers show miners are hesitant to spend on pricey projects and tap marginal deposits that require sizeable capital and take years to break even.

Seven out of 10 of the global gold miners, including Newmont , the world’s biggest gold miner, Canada’s Barrick and South Africa’s Gold Fields, have cut planned output for the year by 7%, citing coronavirus-related shutdowns, regulatory filings show.

The caution is a reversal from the 2011 gold price boom, which prompted buyers to overspend on acquisitions and led to billions in impairments when prices crashed in subsequent years.

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Gold price steadies after briefly topping $2,000

Posted by Mining.com

on Thursday, 3 September 2020 9:05

Gold prices steadied on Tuesday with the dollar erasing losses and a US report adding to signs of a recovery in global manufacturing, pulling the precious metal down from a two-week high.

Spot gold dipped by less than 0.1% to $1,967.59 per ounce as of 3:30 p.m. EDT, having earlier hit its highest since August 19 at $1,992.15.

US gold futures declined 0.2% to $1,973.40 per ounce after crossing the $2,000 per ounce mark earlier in the session.

The dollar recovered on data showing US manufacturing expanded in August at the fastest pace since late 2018, reducing demand for bullion as an alternative asset.

The manufacturing report “confirms that the US economic recovery is real and hence we experienced a bounce in the dollar index,” Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at Ava Trade, said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Gold Discoveries Are Declining

Posted by Virginia Fidler

on Tuesday, 1 September 2020 10:59

There has been a significant decline in new gold discoveries over the past decade as precious metal explorers focus on known deposits.

The world has been using gold for over 5,000 years as a store of wealth. Because it has always been a finite commodity, it has always held trade value. Currently, the price of gold is nearing a historic $2,000 an ounce due to unprecdemted money printing and monetary chaos.

Now, that same finite nature is making it difficult to discover and explore new gold mines. The known major gold mines in existence are being depleted, and it has become expensive to explore for new deposits.

There have been no critical new gold discoveries for at least three years. A mere twenty-five deposits with sound economics have been discovered within the last ten years—these discoveries amount to only 154.3 million ounces or seven percent of all known gold in existence.

The major reason for this lack of new gold discoveries is that gold mining companies have placed their focus on known deposits instead of risking funds in search of unknown and new discoveries. 

Exploring for new gold deposits requires time, financial resources, and the expertise for the task. In addition, the odds of success are low. Only 10 percent of known gold deposits around the world contain the necessary amount of gold to make exploration and mining worthwhile…CLICK for complete article

Silver Bulls: Visualizing the Price of Silver

Posted by Nicholas LePan, visualcapitalist.com

on Friday, 28 August 2020 9:08

Check out this interesting infographic from visualcapitalist.com on the performance of silver over the years.

Silver Bulls: Visualizing the Price of Silver

Investors jump into gold, price up 1% as tensions between China and U.S. increase

Posted by Neils Christensen

on Wednesday, 26 August 2020 8:17

Rising geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and China are giving gold a boost late Wednesday morning as prices have pushed well off their session lows.

December gold futures last traded at $1,947 an ounce, up more than 1% on the day. The rally comes as the U.S. dollar also loses momentum, falling to a session low around 93 points.

According to media reports, the Chinese military launched two missiles, including an “aircraft-carrier killer,” into the South China Sea on Wednesday morning. According to sources close to the Chinese military, the missile launched was a clear warning to the United States.

The reports said that the Chinese government is retaliating a day after they said that a U.S. U-2 spy plane entered a no-fly zone off the country ’s north coast.

Phillip Streible, market strategist at Blue Line Futures, said that investors are laser focused on what Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will say on Thursday but the latest geopolitical development shows that gold is playing a much bigger safe-haven role….CLICK for complete article