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VIDEO - Australia’s 2019: Exploration Hotspots and Commodities on the Rise

Australia Investing

VIDEO - Australia’s 2019: Exploration Hotspots and Commodities on the Rise

By Olivia Da SilvaMar 25, 2019 06:15PM

Olivia Da Silva

A graduate of Durham College's broadcast journalism program, Olivia has a passion for all things newsworthy. She got her start writing about esports (competitive video games), where she specialized in professional Call of Duty coverage. Since then, Olivia has transitioned into business writing for INN where her beats have included Australian mining and base metals.

What does Australia’s resource sector have lined up for 2019? INN caught up with experts from down under to find out.

With a new year comes new opportunities, and Australia’s resource sector is no exception.

While the country is still committed to staple commodities like gold and to exploring known hotspots like Western Australia, blossoming partnerships and evolving markets could shape the continent’s future.

At the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention in Toronto, Canada, the Investing News Network (INN) caught up with experts from down under on what 2019 could have in store for Australia, including members of Geoscience Australia and exploration company executives.

For all of INN’s PDAC coverage, check out our PDAC 2019 playlist.

Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time news updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Olivia Da Silva, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.

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Platinum Investing

Editor's Picks: Platinum Hits 11 Year High, Expert Touts Silver's Bullish Future

By Charlotte McLeodJun 27, 2025

Charlotte McLeod

With an eye for detail and over a decade of experience covering the mining and metals sector, Charlotte is passionate about bringing investors accurate and insightful information that can help them make informed decisions.

She leads the Investing News Network's video and event coverage, and guides a team of writers reporting on niche investment markets.

It was a week of downward momentum for the gold price.

The yellow metal neared the US$3,400 per ounce level on Monday (June 23) as investors reacted to the weekend's escalation in tensions in the Middle East, but sank to just above US$3,300 the next day.

The decline came as US President Donald Trump announced that Israel and Iran had agreed to a ceasefire. While the ceasefire has not gone entirely smoothly, with Trump expressing displeasure about violations, the news appeared to calm investors.

Gold's safe-haven appeal took another hit toward the end of the week, when Trump said late on Thursday (June 26) that the US had signed a trade deal with China. Although details remain scarce — China's commerce ministry confirmed the arrangement, but said little else — the gold price dropped on the news, closing Friday (June 27) at about US$3,274.

It was a different story for other precious metals this week.

Silver enjoyed an uptick, rising as high as US$36.79 per ounce before pulling back to the US$36 level. Whether it can continue breaking higher remains to be seen, but many experts are optimistic.

In fact, Randy Smallwood of Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM,NYSE:WPM) said that right now he's perhaps more excited about silver than he is about gold. Here's how he explained it:

There's not a lot of new production coming on stream, just because most silver comes as a by-product from lead, zinc and copper mines — more than half of silver. And we're just not seeing the investment into the base metals space that we need to sustain that production and grow that production.

As excited as I am about gold, I think silver's got a few more fundamentals behind it that make it a pretty exciting time to be watching silver ... silver's got some catching up to do with respect to what gold's done over the last few years."

Watch the full interview with Smallwood for more on silver, as well as gold and platinum.

Speaking of platinum, it was also on the move this week, rising above US$1,400 per ounce.

The move has turned heads — despite a persistent supply deficit, platinum has spent years trading in a fairly tight range, and it hasn't crossed US$1,400 since 2014.

Recent trends supporting platinum's move include a shift toward platinum jewelry due to the high cost of gold, as well as larger platinum imports to the US earlier this year when tariff uncertainty was heating up. At the same time, miners have faced challenges.

"This has led to tight forward market conditions," said Jonathan Butler of Mitsubishi (TSE:8058), "with a deep backwardation across the curve." In his view, these conditions will continue providing support for the precious metal in the coming weeks.

Bullet briefing — Gold repatriation, Rule Symposium

Germany, Italy to repatriate gold?

Germany and Italy are facing calls to bring home gold stored in the US.

According to the Financial Times, politicians and economists in the two countries are pushing for repatriation as a result of global geopolitical uncertainty, as well as concerns about Trump's potential influence on the Federal Reserve as he continues to criticize Chair Jerome Powell.

"We are very concerned about Trump tampering with the Federal Reserve Bank’s independence. Our recommendation is to bring the (German and Italian) gold home to ensure European central banks have unlimited control over it at any given point in time" — Michael Jäger, Taxpayers Association of Europe

The news outlet calculates that German and Italian gold held in the US has a total value of about US$245 billion. Market participants agree that it would be a blow to relations with America if the countries were to bring their gold home at this time.

At least for now they seem unlikely to do so — although Italy's central bank hasn't commented, Germany's Bundesbank said it sees the New York Fed as "trustworthy and reliable."

Send your questions for the Rule Symposium

The Rule Symposium runs in Boca Raton, Florida, from July 7 to 11, and I'll be heading there to interview Rick Rule, as well as Adrian Day, Lobo Tiggre, Andy Schectman, Dr. Nomi Prins and more.

If you have any questions or topics you'd like to see covered, email me at cmcleod@investingnews.com. And if you'd like to sign up to attend virtually, click here.

Want more YouTube content? Check out our expert market commentary playlist, which features interviews with key figures in the resource space. If there's someone you'd like to see us interview, please send an email to cmcleod@investingnews.com.

And don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.

Affiliate Disclosure: The Investing News Network may earn commission from qualifying purchases or actions made through the links or advertisements on this page.

Uranium Investing

John Ciampaglia: Uranium Turnaround? Spot Price Pop, Stocks and SPUT Raise

By Charlotte McLeodJun 26, 2025

Charlotte McLeod

With an eye for detail and over a decade of experience covering the mining and metals sector, Charlotte is passionate about bringing investors accurate and insightful information that can help them make informed decisions.

She leads the Investing News Network's video and event coverage, and guides a team of writers reporting on niche investment markets.

John Ciampaglia, CEO of Sprott Asset Management, discusses uranium supply, demand and pricing, also sharing details on the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust's (TSX:U.U,OTCQX:SRUUF) recently closed US$200 million bought-deal financing.

"It's clearly acted as a very positive catalyst — the spot price has popped, a lot of the equities have popped on this," he said about the agreement.

Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Randy Smallwood: Silver Set for Bull Run, Gold Wakeup in the West

By Charlotte McLeodJun 25, 2025

Charlotte McLeod

With an eye for detail and over a decade of experience covering the mining and metals sector, Charlotte is passionate about bringing investors accurate and insightful information that can help them make informed decisions.

She leads the Investing News Network's video and event coverage, and guides a team of writers reporting on niche investment markets.

Randy Smallwood, president and CEO of Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM,NYSE:WPM), shares his updated thoughts on the gold and silver markets.

He also discusses Wheaton's project pipeline and the company's hunt for more assets.

Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Chris Temple: Gold, Uranium the Best Stories Now; Plus Silver Outlook

By Charlotte McLeodJun 24, 2025

Charlotte McLeod

With an eye for detail and over a decade of experience covering the mining and metals sector, Charlotte is passionate about bringing investors accurate and insightful information that can help them make informed decisions.

She leads the Investing News Network's video and event coverage, and guides a team of writers reporting on niche investment markets.

Chris Temple, founder, editor and publisher of the National Investor, discusses the factors moving gold and the gold stock gains still to come.

Temple also shares his outlook for uranium and silver.

Don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Silver Investing

Editor's Picks: Silver Price Hits 13 Year High, Gold Takes a Breather

By Charlotte McLeodJun 20, 2025

Charlotte McLeod

With an eye for detail and over a decade of experience covering the mining and metals sector, Charlotte is passionate about bringing investors accurate and insightful information that can help them make informed decisions.

She leads the Investing News Network's video and event coverage, and guides a team of writers reporting on niche investment markets.

Gold was on the decline this week, closing just below US$3,370 per ounce, after tensions in the Middle East pushed it past the US$3,430 level toward the end of last week.

All eyes were on the US Federal Reserve, which in a widely expected move left interest rates unchanged on Wednesday (June 18) following its two day meeting. The central bank cut rates in December 2024, but has kept them steady for its last four gatherings.

US President Donald Trump wasn't pleased, calling Powell "too late" in a Thursday (June 19) post on Truth Social. While speculation that Trump will fire Powell has died down, the president did recently say he intends to announce his next pick for the Fed leader position "very soon."

Of course, Fed meetings are never just about rate decisions — experts often look to Powell's post-meeting commentary to read between the lines of what's said (and not said).

Tariffs were definitely in focus this time around, with Powell emphasizing that it's still soon to tell how much of an impact they will have and how the Fed should react.

"We have to learn more about tariffs. I don’t know what the right way for us to react will be. I think it’s hard to know with any confidence how we should react until we see the size of the effects" — Jerome Powell, US Federal Reserve

Chris Temple of the National Investor, who offered another perspective on Powell's comments.

He noted that while Powell didn't say the Fed is going to abandon its 2 percent inflation target, it may be leaning in that direction. This is what he said:

The consensus still — although it was extremely close — is barely still for two 25 basis point rate cuts in the balance of 2025. Whether we get them or not, who knows, (but) that's the current snapshot, which may well change. But that's against a backdrop of admitting for the second SEP, summary of economic projections ... in a row that inflation is going to continue to move back higher — that we've seen the best numbers for inflation — at the same time that GDP slows a bit.

So okay, you just told us that your favored inflation number, which is a lot of smoke and mirrors to begin with, is going to go back up to north of 3 percent, which is what they said yesterday. And yet you still — the consensus is you're going to lower interest rates twice in 2025? So he did everything but come right out and admit that the 2 percent inflation target isn't going to be reached.

Stay tuned to our YouTube channel for the full interview with Temple.

Bullet briefing — Silver hits 13 year high, SPUT raising US$200 million

Is silver's price rise real?

Gold has stolen the precious metals spotlight in 2025, but this month silver is shining.

The white metal has been on the rise since the beginning of June, and this week it broke the US$37 per ounce mark for the first time in 13 years.

While silver is known to lag behind gold before playing catch up, it's also known for its volatility. Its move has created excitement, but market participants are also wary of a correction.

When asked what factors are driving silver, Peter Krauth of Silver Stock Investor he said he sees a "perfect storm" emerging. Here's how he explained it:

You've got the macroeconomic picture that is I think certainly bullish for silver, like it is for gold and a lot of the other commodities. But I think at the same time you've got the market kind of coming to terms with the fact that silver is in a deficit, (and) it's unlikely to be able to rectify that deficit for several years — in fact, the Silver Institute thinks we're going to see record deficits at some point over the next five years.

And silver supply is unable to grow. We saw a peak 10 years ago in mined silver, and overall silver supply is essentially flat.

So flat supply, growing demand — demand that's nearly 20 percent above supply — and our ability to meet those deficits is shrinking because we're tapping into these aboveground stockpiles that have shrunk by about 800 million ounces in the last four years, which is the equivalent of an entire year's mine supply. So it's the perfect storm, it's really all coming together. And I think that the market's realizing that.

But does that necessarily mean silver is ready for a big breakout? Krauth has a target of US$40 by the end of 2025, but said silver could potentially go 10 percent above that.

For his part, Jeffrey Christian of CPM Group attributes the silver price boost to increased demand from investors, especially when it comes to exchange-traded funds and wholesale products.

He's projecting a bumpier path forward for the metal:

You also have — the last time I looked it was like 490 million ounces of open interest in the July Comex futures contract. And that's two weeks from first delivery. So most of the people (who) have those shorts - those are hedges of their physical inventories. They keep those hedges in place, but they roll them forward. So they'll be buying back their Julys and selling September futures to keep that hedge in place with the next active futures contract. That buying back of the Julys could push silver prices higher.

So if you really want to talk granular prices, we wouldn't be surprised to see the price of silver fall to US$33, US$34 an ounce, and go up to US$40 an ounce and then back to US$33 an ounce over the next four weeks.

Click the links above to watch the interviews with Krauth and Christian.

SPUT raising US$200 million

The uranium spot price made moves this week after the Sprott Physical Uranium Trust (TSX:U.U,OTCQX:SRUUF) announced a US$100 million bought-deal financing on Monday (June 16).

It was bumped up to US$200 million the same day due to strong demand.

Spot uranium has been in a consolidation phase since hitting triple-digit levels in early 2024, creating frustration among those who are waiting for the industry's strong long-term fundamentals to be better expressed. This week's move past US$75 per pound has helped reinvigorate investors.

Want more YouTube content? Check out our expert market commentary playlist, which features interviews with key figures in the resource space. If there's someone you'd like to see us interview, please send an email to cmcleod@investingnews.com.

And don't forget to follow us @INN_Resource for real-time updates!

Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.

Olivia Da Silva

Olivia Da Silva

A graduate of Durham College's broadcast journalism program, Olivia has a passion for all things newsworthy. She got her start writing about esports (competitive video games), where she specialized in professional Call of Duty coverage. Since then, Olivia has transitioned into business writing for INN where her beats have included Australian mining and base metals.