Precious Metals Weekly Round-Up: Gold On Course For Slight Gains

Both gold and silver slipped in the morning on Friday (July 6) after an upbeat US jobs report was released, but escalating US-China trade tensions resulted in a weaker greenback, setting gold on course for slight gains this week and leaving silver flat.

As of 9:02 a.m. EST on Friday, the yellow metal was trading at US$1,255.10 per ounce, still lagging behind the crucial US$1,300 mark. As for the white metal, it dipped 0.26 percent, trading at US$15.99 per ounce as of 9:06 a.m. EST.

US tariffs on US$34 billion worth of Chinese goods came into play on Friday, while China’s commerce ministry noted that it would be retaliating, meaning US$34 billion worth of imported US goods will encounter 25 percent tariffs. These tensions have resulted in a down US dollar.

“It’s mainly the dollar that’s supporting gold this week, the dollar has stopped going up and there’s hesitation before the jobs report,” said Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at FOREX.com.

Both platinum and palladium were down for the week, trading at US$838 per ounce and US$940 per ounce respectively as of 9:11 a.m. EST.

Precious metals top news stories

Our top precious metals stories this week featured out list of top TSX stocks in 2018 for both gold and silver as well Perseus Mining’s (TSX:PRU, ASX:PRU) report on its surging gold production for the second quarter of this year.

1. Best Gold Stocks of 2018 on the TSX

While Q2 2018 has seen the price of gold tumble significantly, it managed to hit a high of US$1,352.80 on April 11, but it also closed down almost 6 percent in Q2. Despite the hits that the yellow metal took during the quarter, the following five companies posted gains throughout the last three months.

• Asanko Gold (TSX:AKG)
• Corvus Gold (TSX:KOR, OTCQX:CORVF)
• Wesdome Gold Mines (TSX:WDO)
• Teranga Gold (TSX:TGZ,OTCQX:TGCDF)
• Gran Colombia Gold (TSX:GCM)

The best gold stocks list was generated on July 4, 2018 using the Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSX-listed silver companies that have seen the biggest share price gains year-to-date. Only companies with market caps above US$50 million as of that date are included.

2. Best Silver Stocks of 2018 on the TSX

The silver price struggled to find a strong footing in the second quarter of the year. While it managed to hit a high of US$17.22 on April 19, it closed down 1.96 percent in Q2. Despite the downtick, these five silver-focused companies managed to make gains by the end of the second quarter.

• Endeavour Silver (TSX:EDR)
• Pan American Silver (TSX:PAAS, NASDAQ:PAAS)
• SSR Mining (TSX:SSRM)
• First Majestic Silver (TSX:FR)
• Sierra Metals (TSX:SMT)

The best silver stocks list was generated on July 3, 2018 using the Globe and Mail’s market data filter, and it shows the TSX-listed silver companies that have seen the biggest share price gains year-to-date. Only companies with market caps above $50 million as of that date are included.

3. Perseus Mining’s Gold Production Surges in Q2

Perseus Mining’s (TSX:PRU, ASX:PRU) gold production soared in the second quarter with a record output of 83,881 ounces amounting in a 31 percent increase from Q1.

Of the 83,881 ounces, 57,861 of them came from the Edikan gold mine in Ghana and 26,020 ounces was produced at the recently commissioned Sissingué gold mine in Côte d’Ivoire. Perseus’s Q2 production increased by 63 percent versus the corresponding quarter in 2017.

“Over the last 18 months, Perseus has been steadily improving its production performance at Edikan and with our second mine, Sissingué, successfully coming on stream earlier this year, we have been able to move our production to another level, allowing us to achieve a number of production records and strong operating cash flows this quarter,” said Perseus’s CEO and managing director, Jeff Quartermaine.

Also in the news

Also making news this week was Eurasia Mining (LSE:EUA), which announced the approval of the Monchetundra mine permit application by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development (MOED).

The permit is for the 80 percent-owned two-million-ounce platinum-group metals (PGM) reserve and resource, which is now awaiting sign off at the Ministry of Natural Resources before progressing to the office of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev for final approval.

Newcrest Mining (ASX:NCM) was also in the news this week for signing a farm-in agreement with Prodigy Gold (ASX:PRX) over its Euro project in the Northern Territory.

Under the terms of the agreement, Newcrest could earn an initial 51-percent interest in the project by spending AU$6-million on exploration over a period of four years.

Finally, Acacia Mining (LSE:ACA) announced that its production plummeted again in the second quarter of the year as the ongoing dispute with the government of Tanzania over taxes continues to slash at the company’s bottom line.

Acacia, which is majority owned by Barrick Gold (TSX:ABX, NYSE:ABX), said gold production for Q2 2018 dropped 36 percent to 133,778 ounces as operations at two its three mines, Bulyanhulu and Buzwagi, were scaled back.

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