Coronavirus Round-Up: Worries of Slower Economic Recovery Increase

As more countries ease lockdown measures and return to a new state of normal, fears are increasing that it will take longer than expected to recover from the coronavirus-led downturn.

Last week, US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that a recovery “may take some time to gather momentum.” On Friday (May 15), US data showed that layoffs jumped to a record high in March.

More than 4.48 million people have been infected, with the COVID-19 death toll reaching over 300,700 as of last Thursday (May 14). Of the more than 1.98 million closed cases, over 1.68 million have recovered.

To keep investors up to date with what’s been going on in the mining industry related to COVID-19, we’ve put together a round-up of the Investing News Network’s (INN) top stories last week on the pandemic. All information and data were current as of last Thursday.

INN’s COVID-19 coverage: Top stories this week

1. EB Tucker: Gold Will Take Out its Old High in 2020 — Here’s How

Gold’s rise to US$1,500 per ounce last year was unexpected for some market participants, but for EB Tucker, the yellow metal’s price increase came as no surprise.

Tucker, who is a director at Metalla Royalty & Streaming (TSXV:MTA,NYSEAMERICAN:MTA), accurately called that move, and last fall he predicted that the yellow metal will take out its old high in 2020.

Since then, the case for gold has only grown stronger — in a year where many asset classes have faced coronavirus-related headwinds, the metal has been a bright spot for those who have it in their portfolios

2. Brien Lundin: New Metals Bull Market Ahead, Gold to Maintain Momentum

As the world and the global economy enter another phase of the COVID-19 outbreak, there’s little doubt that the virus has hit markets hard around the world.

For Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter, as terrible as the coronavirus pandemic is and has been, it has created an economic situation that is extremely compelling for precious metals.

Giving a presentation at a webinar together with members of the Discovery Group, Lundin said a new metals bull market is coming fast and hard, spurred on by COVID-19.

3. The Uranium Market is Heating Up — Is it Time to Get In?

After years of sluggish growth and persistently constrained price activity, the uranium sector is finally starting to heat up, raising the hopes of sector bulls.

The spot price of the energy fuel has been rocketing higher since bottoming out in the US$24 per pound range from late December 2019 to mid-March of this year.

Currently trading for US$33.50, the U3O8 spot price has climbed by 36 percent since January, steadily moving higher as diverse factors impact near- and long-term supply and demand trends.

INN’s COVID-19 coverage: The bright side

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump said the country will invest in all the top coronavirus vaccine candidates, with 14 promising possibilities shortlisted and a plan to narrow the list further.

“I hope that we will all collectively find a way to produce this at high volume to get it all across the world and make sure that every citizen that needs access to a vaccine can get it as quickly as possible,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview earlier in the week.

In commodities, gold was set to end the week above US$1,750, with silver touching US$16.50 per ounce. In base metals, copper was holding on above US$5,000 per tonne as hopes that demand will bounce back increased and lockdown measures started to ease around the world.

Aside from coronavirus-related news, the mining space saw a slew of M&A activity last week. On Monday (May 11), Vancouver-based SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM,NASDAQ:SSRM) announced a no-premium, all-stock “merger of equals” with Denver-based Alacer Gold (TSX:ASR,ASX:ASR); the same day Gran Colombia Gold (TSX:GCM,OTCQX:TPRFF) said it has proposed to merge with Guyana Goldfields (TSX:GUY,OTC Pink:GUYFF) and Gold X Mining (TSX:GLDX,OTCQX:SSPXF).

Meanwhile, Adriatic Metals (ASX:ADT,LSE:ADT1) announced its intention to purchase Tethyan Resource (TSXV:TETH) to establish a base and precious metals developer.

More COVID-19 coverage from INN

Click the links below for more of INN’s commodity-specific coverage of COVID-19:

• Gold and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• Silver and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• Platinum, Palladium and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• South African Economy Uncertain as COVID-19 Closes Mines
• Copper and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• COVID-19: Copper Mines Impacted by Coronavirus Measures
• Zinc and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• Lithium and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• Cobalt and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?
• Diamonds and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How? 
• Potash and COVID-19: Who’s Reacting and How?

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

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