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Gold and Silver

Barrick gets go ahead for Goldrush mine ramp-up – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – December 11, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Canada’s Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX) (NYSE: GOLD) said on Monday that the US Bureau of Land Management has approved the company’s plan of operations for its Goldrush underground mine at the Cortez Complex near Beowawe, Nevada.

The gold operation, run by Barrick’s JV with Newmont (NYSE: NEM) Nevada Gold Mines (NGM), is expected to start ramping up production in 2024 after the commissioning of the initial project infrastructure. The mine is expected to generate 130,000 ounces of gold in 2024 and grow to about 400,000 ounces of the precious metal per annum by 2028.

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‘A decade of free money’ is why the price of gold has continued to rise, says Mark Bristow – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – December 11, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Barrick CEO expects the demand for gold to continue increasing

The recent rise of gold to a record US$2,135 per ounce has led to much discussion of the reasons behind the metal’s positive run during the past few years, from central banks investing more in bullion to expectations of rate cuts next year.

Mark Bristow, chief executive of Barrick Gold Corp., the world’s second-largest gold producer, expects the demand for gold to continue increasing, so he’s been looking to expand the company’s reserves. But, according to him, a “decade of free money” is a key reason why the price of gold has continued to rise over the past five years.

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The gold market has a big hill to climb as prices lose 3% after hitting all-time highs – by Neils Christensen (Kitco News – December 08, 2023)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – According to some analysts, next week will be an important test for the gold market as a hawkish Fed could put downward pressure on a market that is already sensitive following Monday’s blow-off top.

After hitting a record high around $2,150 an ounce at the start of the week, gold prices are heading into the weekend down more than 3%, testing critical support just above $2,010 an ounce. With a $141 swing this week, the gold market saw the most volatility since mid-August 2020, just after gold established its previous record high.

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News Release – G2 Goldfields’ Statement on Regional Geopolitical Affairs (December 8, 2023)

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A message to our shareholders regarding the recent actions by the Government of Venezuela

TORONTO, Dec. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — G2 Goldfields Inc. (“G2” or the “Company”) (TSXV: GTWO; OTCQX: GUYGF) wishes to provide context and comments regarding the recent actions of the Venezuelan Government with respect to Guyana’s Essequibo District. G2 is developing its high grade OKO gold project in Guyana and has been operating in Guyana since 2019.

Additionally, the management team of G2 have led the discovery, construction, and development of the $225 million USD Aurora Gold Project in Guyana, now one of South America’s largest operating gold mines, and have been active investors in Guyana since 1996.

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Newmont pours 8,000th gold bar at Musselwhite mine – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – December 6, 2023)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

The world’s largest gold miner, Newmont has announced another milestone at its Musselwhite mine, in Ontario – 5 million ounces of precious metal production

The world’s largest gold miner, Newmont (NYSE: NEM; TSX: NGT), has announced another milestone at its Musselwhite mine, in Ontario, where it has poured the 8,000th gold doré bar since the operation started with commercial production in 1997.

The mine, one of the world’s largest producers of the metal in Canada and globally, has churned out more than five-million ounces of gold in the last 25 years.

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‘Gold is about fear, not greed’: Why the yellow metal is up 40% in four years – by Naimul Karim (Financial Post – December 6, 2023)

https://financialpost.com/

Gold hit its highest price ever this week, but observers say it’s what lies ahead that’s most interesting

Gold has dominated headlines this week after the precious metal surged to its highest ever price — US$2,135 per ounce — for a brief period on Dec. 3, but observers will tell you they are more interested in the days ahead as opposed to the record itself.

“I am not getting into something that happened in 90 seconds,” said David Rosenberg, an economist and founder of the firm Rosenberg Research & Associates Inc., referring to the record-setting price. “It was nothing fundamental and nothing worth talking about. What’s more important is the direction for the gold price from here now that we are flirting with the all-time high.”

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Gold, silver down as bulls run out of gas – by Jim Wyckoff (Kitco News – December 5, 2023)

https://www.kitco.com/

(Kitco News) – Gold and silver prices are lower in midday U.S. trading Tuesday, on follow-through technical selling following big losses suffered Monday. On Monday gold spiked to a new record high of $2,152.30, basis February Comex futures.

Silver hit a seven-month high Monday. Monday’s price action in gold and silver suggests the bulls quickly became exhausted and that near-term market peaks are in place. February gold was last down $9.30 at $2,032.90. March silver was last down $0.492 at $24.41.

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Gold soars past $2,100 to new record — and analysts don’t expect it to stop there – by Lee Ying Shan (CNBC.com – December 3, 2023)

https://www.cnbc.com/

Gold prices notched a new record on Monday for a second day in a row — with spot prices touching $2,100 as the global rush for bullion appears set to continue. Gold prices are on course to hit fresh highs next year and could remain above $2,000 levels, analysts said, citing geopolitical uncertainty, a likely weaker U.S. dollar and possible interest rate cuts.

Prices of the yellow metal have risen for two consecutive months with the Israel-Palestinian conflict boosting demand for the safe-haven asset, while expectations of interest rate cuts have provided further support. Gold tends to perform well during periods of economic and geopolitical uncertainty due to its status as a reliable store of value.

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Cat Lake First Nation is ready to take on Doug Ford’s government over unsustainable mining development – by Matteo Cimellaro (National Observer – November 27, 2023)

https://www.nationalobserver.com/

When the chief of Cat Lake First Nation gave a button to Ontario’s minister of Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, he apologized. “This is what the activities up until now have amounted to,” said Chief Russell Wesley to Greg Rickford. “I told him: ‘It’s on. I’m sorry, but it had to come to this and here’s a button.’”

The button, presented by Wesley to Rickford, was displayed Wednesday in a Cat Lake First Nation press release. It shows lynx standing tall over a caricature of Ontario Premier Doug Ford on a bulldozer. The art is a dig at Ford’s promise to develop mining in the North, even if he had to “hop on a bulldozer myself.”

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Australians confident in the future of idled White River gold mine – by Staff (Northern Ontario Business – November 27, 2023)

https://www.northernontariobusiness.com/

More gold, more mines to be discovered at Sugar Zone, says Silver Lake Resources

Australian miner Silver Lake Resources is keeping the faith in its idled Sugar Zone gold mine, north of White River.

At its Nov. 25 AGM, the company regards Sugar Zone to be in its relative infancy and believes there’s “significant runway” to prove up more gold while they take a year of down time to tune up the mine’s performance.

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Soft China and India may undermine gold’s rally hopes – by Clyde Russell (Reuters – November 28, 2023)

https://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, Nov 28 (Reuters) – The spot price of gold has climbed to a six-month high, buoyed by hopes that monetary tightening in western countries is largely done and dusted.

While signs that the U.S. Federal Reserve and other western central banks have finished increasing interest rates are a definite positive for the precious metal, they’re not the only factor. China and India make up more than 50% of the physical gold market, giving the two Asian heavyweights a major influence on the likely price trajectory.

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Ecuador-focused Adventus and Luminex to merge – by Cecilia Jamasmie (Mining.com – November 22, 2023)

https://www.mining.com/

Canadian juniors Adventus Mining (TSX-V: ADZN) (OTCQX: ADVZF) and Luminex Resources (TSX-V: LR) (OTCQX: LUMIF) are merging to create an Ecuador-focused copper-gold development company.

The transaction will see Adventus acquire Luminex, with Luminex shareholders receiving 0.67 of an Adventus share for each held. The combined company will continue to trade under Adventus’ name and ticker. The new firm will lead the advancement towards production of two main projects and consolidate a large exploration portfolio in the South American country.

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Nunavut review board says Rankin Inlet mine expansion should not go forward – by Emma Tranter (CBC News Canada North – November 20, 2023)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/

Agnico Eagle “surprised and disappointed” by board’s decision

The Nunavut Impact Review Board (NIRB) says a proposal to extend Agnico Eagle’s Meliadine gold mine should not be allowed to proceed. Agnico Eagle’s proposal would have extended the mine’s life by 11 years, to 2043, and built an 11-turbine wind farm to power the mine.

In a 255-page document released late Friday, the NIRB said the mine, which opened in 2015 and is 25 kilometres from Rankin Inlet, should not expand at this time, “due to the considerable uncertainty of the potential for the proposal to have negative, lasting effects on caribou, and the uncertainty of cumulative effects.”

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Air Canada rejects blame in $24M gold theft as it faces Brink’s lawsuit – by Christopher Reynolds (Canadian Press/Toronto Star – November 20, 2023)

https://www.thestar.com/

Air Canada says it bears no blame in gold theft

MONTREAL – Air Canada has fired back in a lawsuit by security firm Brink’s, saying the airline bears no responsibility for the daring theft of $23.8 million in gold and cash from its facilities at Toronto’s Pearson airport earlier this year.

A thief walked walked away with the costly cargo after presenting a phoney document at an Air Canada warehouse on April 17, according to the Brink’s filing last month. In a Nov. 8 statement of defence, Air Canada rejected “each and every allegation” in the Brink’s suit, saying it fulfilled its carriage contracts and denying any improper or “careless” conduct.

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Who was Skookum Jim? – by John Sandlos (Canadian Mining Journal – November 1, 2023)

https://www.canadianminingjournal.com/

John Sandlos is a professor in the History Department at Memorial University of Newfoundland and the co-author (with Arn Keeling) of “Mining Country: A History of Canada’s Mines and Miners,” published by James Lorimer and Co. in 2021.

Among the thousands of people who searched for gold amid the rivers and creeks of the Klondike in the late 1890s, Skookum Jim stands out as one of the most famous, but also perhaps the most enigmatic. The basics of Jim’s life story, and his role in the gold rush, are well-known. He was born among the Tagish people near Bennett Lake in 1854 (perhaps 1855), and his real name was Keish.

By 1885, the first small groups of prospectors had arrived in Dyea, Alaska, and Keish and his nephew Kaa Goox (also knowns as Dawson or Tagish Charlie) found work as packers and guides, ferrying supplies up over the notorious steep and rocky slope of the Chilkoot Pass. It was there that Keish first met a 24-year-old prospector from California, George Carmack, who eventually married Jim’s sister, Shaaw Tlaa (or Kate Carmack).

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