Will the Gold Price Hit $1,000?

The gold price has stayed fairly steady this week, trading between $1,068.60 and $1,082.30 per ounce. It peaked above the $1,080 level on Wednesday, and since then has declined — as of 4:00 p.m. EST Thursday it was trading at $1.071.70.
In terms of what’s been keeping the gold price level, MarketWatch states that its gains earlier this week came on the back of “recent weakness in the dollar compared with the euro.” The euro’s positive performance dates back to last week, when the European Central Bank cut its deposit facility to -0.3 percent from -0.2 percent, leaving its main refinancing rate steady at 0.05.
Since then, however, expectations that the US Federal Reserve will raise interest rates at its meeting next week have buoyed the dollar and dampened the gold price. The central bank has not raised rates in nearly a decade, and the consensus seems to be that any increase will hurt gold, at least initially.
“Although a U.S. rate hike should be priced in, gold’s initial reaction will be to the downside,” Commerzbank’s (ETR:CBK) Daniel Briesemann told Reuters.
Some even believe that the yellow metal may hit $1,000 if the Fed raises interest rates. “[G]iven the very poor technical position, poor sentiment in western markets and momentum … $1,000 an ounce gold seems quite possible and gold appears to be gravitating to this big round number,” Mark O’Byrne, research director at GoldCore, is quoted as saying in another MarketWatch article.
Whether or not that happens remains to be seen. For now, investors will no doubt be keeping their eyes glued to the Fed — its meeting is scheduled for December 15 to 16.

Gold company news

On Monday, Victoria Gold (TSXV:VIT) received the final water use license for the construction, operation and closure of its flagship Yukon-based Eagle gold project. According to the company, “[t]his completes the major mining permits required to advance Eagle through construction and operations.”
Wednesday, Rockhaven Resources (TSXV:RK) put out an updated mineral resource estimate for its Klaza project, also in Yukon. The project’s inferred resource now stands at 9,421,000 tonnes grading 4.48 g/t gold, 89.02 g/t silver, 0.75 percent lead and 0.95 percent zinc; that amounts to 1,358,000 ounces of gold, 26,962,000 ounces of silver, 155,417,000 pounds of lead and 197,891,000 pounds of zinc.
The next day, Almaden Minerals (TSX:AMM,NYSEMKT:AAU) released an updated preliminary economic assessment for its Ixtaca gold-silver deposit in Mexico. Highlights include a 2.6-year after-tax payback of initial capital, an after-tax NPV of $166 million at a 5-percent discount and an after-tax IRR of 30 percent. Initial capital is pegged at $100.2 million.

Drilling updates

Otis Gold (TSXV:OOO) said Monday that it’s finished drilling at its Idaho-based Kilgore gold project. The company drilled 3,200 meters across 19 reverse-circulation holes, and expects results from the program in January.
The same day, Asante Gold (CSE:ASE) announced the discovery of a significant gold mineralized system at its Betanase option in Ghana. The company has received results for 256 samples taken during a Phase 1 drill program at the option, and encouragingly, six intervals gave anomalous gold values of over 1 g/t gold.
Also on Monday, TomaGold (TSXV:LOT) began a 1,500-meter drill program at its Little Monster, Cookie Monster and Monster Island properties. It plans to complete work there before the start of the holidays.

Tuesday saw NioGold Mining (TSXV:NOX,OTCQX:NOXGF) release the final set of drill results from the recently completed definition program on the modeled open-pit shell at the Marban deposit, located at its Quebec-based Marban Block property. Highlights include 56.45 g/t gold over 1 meter in hole MB-15-534 at a vertical depth of 130 meters.
Wednesday, Integra Gold (TSXV:ICG) reported final results from infill drilling at the Parallel deposit at its Lamaque South gold project in Quebec. Highlights include 31.45 g/t gold over 1.7 meters, 21.08 g/t gold over 2.3 meters and 19.58 g/t gold over 3.3 meters.
Finally, on Thursday Dalradian Resources (TSX:DNA,LSE:DALR) released results from 43 holes completed as part of its ongoing infill drilling program at its Ireland-based Curraghinalt gold deposit. Highlights include 2.01 meters grading 33.52 g/t gold from the Slap Shot vein in hole 15-CT-253.
 
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article. 
Editorial Disclosure: Otis Gold and Asante Gold are clients of the Investing News Network. This article is not paid-for content.