Should the Dow Jones to gold ratio retrace to 1:1, that it has on a number of activities in the past, the gold price might go up to $15,000 to $20,000 an ounce assuming the metal catches up to the Dow, based on Pierre Lassonde, chair emeritus of Franco-Nevada.
Lassonde retired from the board of Franco Nevada this year, but is still actively active in the mining sector. Because of the expansion of gold prices this year, fused with falling electricity prices, margins in the trade have not been better, he noted.
“As the gold price goes up, that difference [in gold price and energy prices] will go straight into the margins and you’re noticing margin expansion. The gold miners have never had it extremely beneficial. The margins they’re creating are actually the fattest, the very best, the complete incredible margins they have previously had,” Lassonde told Kitco News.
The stock and margin expansions price rally that the mining industry has noticed the year shouldn’t dissuade new investors from entering the room, Lassonde said.
“You haven’t missed the boat at all, even though the gold stocks are up double from the bottom level. At the bottom, six months to a season past, the stocks had been very low-cost that no one was curious. It is the same old story in the area of ours. At the bottom of the sector, there is not sufficient money, and also at the top, there is always way too much, and we are slightly off of the bottom level at this stage on time, and there’s a great deal to go before we achieve the top,” he said.
The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) 47 % season to day.
More exploration task is actually expected from junior miners, Lassonde believed.
“I would point out that by next summer time, I wouldn’t be surprised if we were to see exploration budgets in place by anywhere from twenty five % to thirty % and also the season after, I do believe the budgets will be up much more likely by fifty % to seventy five %. I do believe there’s likely to be a major surge in exploration budgets with the next 2 years,” he mentioned.