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Impact Minerals Limited (ASX:IPT) is pleased to announce a significant, substantial and high-grade maiden Mineral Resource Estimate (MRE) for its flagship Lake Hope High Purity Alumina (HPA) Project located about 500 km east of Perth in Western Australia. Impact has the right to earn an 80% interest in Playa One Pty Ltd, owner of the Lake Hope Project, via an incorporated joint venture (Figure 1 and ASX Release 21st March 2023).
- A maiden mineral resource of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1% alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina has been defined at the Lake Hope HPA Project in WA.
- 88% of the resource, or about 775,000 tonnes of alumina, is in the higher confidence Indicated Resource category.
- Impact aims to bring Lake Hope into production to deliver high-margin end-products into a rapidly expanding global market with current prices for benchmark 4N HPA (99.99% Al2O3) and related products of about US$20,000 per tonne.
- The unique geological properties of the Lake Hope deposit will allow for a shallow, very low-cost, free-digging operation only one to two metres deep and with offsite metallurgical processing at an established industrial site.
- Previous bench-scale metallurgical test work has produced HPA from representative lake clays via a disruptive sulphuric acid hydrometallurgical process likely to be cost- competitive with other producers and developers in Australia and globally.
- The proposed operation will have a small environmental footprint and low carbon emissions.
- Impact will continue to focus its immediate activities on completing the Scoping Study, lodgement of a Mining Lease Application in Q3 2023 and the continuation of a Pre-Feasibility Study, which includes more comprehensive metallurgical test work and baseline environmental studies.
- An initial heritage survey with the Ngadju First Nations group will commence in late June-early July.
Impact Minerals’ Managing Director, Dr Mike Jones, said, “This large and high-grade alumina resource will underpin our quest to become one of the world’s lowest-cost producers of High Purity Alumina over the next few years. This unique resource could provide multi-decade delivery of a mineral product recently added to Australia’s Critical Mineral list.
The resource allows us to now finish our Scoping Study which will demonstrate the economics of the project and be a catalyst for Impact to lodge a Mining Lease Application in the next Quarter. The Pre- Feasibility Study also continues apace with metallurgical test work, environmental baseline studies in progress, and a heritage survey with the Ngadju First Nations group to be completed in July. We continue our rapid journey to low-cost production in the quickly expanding, high-margin HPA business where current benchmark prices for 99.99% purity alumina or so-called 4N HPA, are currently in the region of US$20,000 per tonne”.
The Mineral Resource, 88% of which is in the higher confidence category of Indicated Resources, lies within a unique deposit of high-grade alumina (aluminium oxide, Al2O3) hosted by extremely fine-grained evaporite and clay minerals in the top two metres of two small dry salt lakes in the Lake Hope playa system (West Lake and East Lake, Figure 2 and ASX Release 21st March 2023).
The Mineral Resource Estimate is shown in Table 1 and is reported in accordance with the requirements of the JORC Code 2012 by resource consultants H and S Consultants Pty Ltd (H&SC) of Brisbane, Queensland. All drill hole information and assay data are provided in Appendices 1 and 2.
Table 1. Lake Hope Alumina Mineral Resources
The alumina block grade distribution for the two Mineral Resources is shown in Figure 2. The grade increases towards the centre of the lakes, and this offers an opportunity for preferential mining of the higher-grade material in the early stages of any future mine development.
Planned Production of High Purity Alumina
Playa One has developed a novel, relatively low-cost hydro-metallurgical process to convert alumina mineralisation of a type as found on Lake Hope into High Purity Alumina (HPA) with the potential to produce a purity exceeding 99.99%, (so-called 4N HPA), generally taken as the industry standard purity for product comparison. (ASX Release 21st March 2023).
Impact’s review of this novel process indicates that, together with the unique physical and chemical characteristics of the Lake Hope clays, the entire project may offer a breakthrough in the cost of HPA production and be potentially cheaper than other HPA ores such as kaolin or feldspar.
Initial and unoptimised recoveries from the bench scale test work of the process suggest that a significant proportion of the alumina resource at Lake Hope may be converted to HPA. Optimisation of the process is a key focus of the Pre-Feasibility Study currently in progress (ASX Release 6th April 2023).
Impact will also own a proportional share of the processing technology by earning an interest directly in Playa One Pty Limited via an incorporated joint venture. Further details on the joint venture are provided at the end of the report.
Other advantages of the Lake Hope Project which indicate the potential for low-cost production of HPA include (ASX Release 21st March 2023):
- The naturally occurring and homogeneous micron-sized particles in the clay, which can be mined by free-digging and will require no comminution, grinding, classification, or wet-dry screening.
- The clay can be dug up and trucked to an off-site processing facility, likely to be in either Kalgoorlie or Perth where permitting will more straightforward (Figure 1)
- A simple wash and filtration circuit is all that is required for upfront processing.
- A low-temperature sulphuric acid leach can be used which is a generally readily available and is a cheaper acid than others.
- The sulphuric acid leach also eliminates the front-end energy-intensive calcination required in the kaolin hydrochloric acid leach process, thus significantly reducing energy costs, flow sheet complexity and CO2 emissions.
Next Steps
In order to accelerate the development timeline for Lake Hope, a Scoping Study and Pre-Feasibility Study (PFS) on Lake Hope are being run in tandem. The Scoping Study, to be completed in the third Quarter of 2023, will comprise high-level assumptions about the economic potential of the project based on the new resource, mining studies, preliminary metallurgical recoveries and likely offtake prices.
The PFS, which will be completed in mid-2024 will be based on more detailed studies which are in progress (ASX Release 6th April 2023). This work includes metallurgical optimisation test work, baseline flora, fauna and groundwater surveys, and geotechnical, logistics and freight studies.
As part of the PFS, an initial cultural and heritage survey with the Ngadju First Nations group will be completed in early July. This is a key part of the process to allow Impact to lodge its first ever Mining Lease Application over Lake Hope in the next Quarter.
Click here for the full ASX Release
This article includes content from Impact Minerals, licensed for the purpose of publishing on Investing News Australia. This article does not constitute financial product advice. It is your responsibility to perform proper due diligence before acting upon any information provided here. Please refer to our full disclaimer here.
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With a mining lease application underway and a scoping study that shows excellent economics, Impact Minerals’ game-changing, advanced Lake Hope high-purity alumina project makes for a compelling investment case.
Overview
Impact Minerals (ASX:IPT) is an exploration and development mining company focused on discovering and developing new resource projects within Australia. Lake Hope, a transformational acquisition by the company and its current flagship asset, is a high-purity alumina (HPA) project in Impact’s home territory of Western Australia, a tier-one jurisdiction.
This advanced-stage project allows the company to fast-track the asset toward development, firmly establishing the company on the road to production and increasing shareholder value.
HPA is a high-value product with various uses in several industries that are key to the transition to a low-carbon world. It is mainly used in LED lighting, micro-LED screens, and ceramic-coated separators in lithium-ion batteries. Both these markets are forecast to grow dramatically over the next decade, and a looming supply shortage is predicted for 2026.
HPA is also necessary for producing synthetic sapphire and scratch-resistant glass. With these ever-widening applications for HPA, demand for this resource is expected to grow from US$3.18 billion to US$12.21 billion by 2030 with a compounded annual growth rate of about 20 percent.
Lake Hope is the company’s current focus as it moves towards production, and where a very shallow, high-grade resource of HPA precursor material has been identified in the top two meters of a dry salt lake. The deposit has unique physical and chemical properties that will allow for inexpensive digging and mining, with transportation to a processing facility off-site in an established industrial area. This will accelerate the approvals processes required to get into production.
With a mining lease application pending, Impact aims to bring Lake Hope, which contains almost 1 million tons of potential HPA, into production when the forecast average price for 4N HPA (99.99 percent Al2O3) and related products is about US$20,000 per ton. The ‘4N’ designation indicates the purity grade, making it suitable for high-tech end uses.
Outstanding economics from the latest scoping study released by the company shows Lake Hope’s potential to be the lowest-cost producer of HPA globally by up to 50 percent.
Lake Hope has a maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tons at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tons of alumina. The company also received heritage clearances for the entire Lake Hope deposit further de-risking the project and providing another critical component in the company’s application for a mining lease.
Impact completed a bulk sampling and test pits program at the Lake Hope project in December 2023, and later reached a key milestone by producing HPA greater than 99.99 percent (4N) purity from the metallurgical processing of lake clays acquired from Lake Hope.
In February 2024, a new proprietary metallurgical process for producing HPA from the lake clays was identified. Impact produced 99.99 percent (4N) Al2O3 from a low-temperature leach (LTL) process. The LTL process may lower the capital and operating costs to produce HPA compared to the sulphate process which underpinned the recent scoping study. The LTL process will be included in the ongoing pre-feasibility study in parallel with the sulphate process at marginal extra cost to determine the best processing route to HPA. The PFS is due to be completed in late 2024.
A comparison of the LTL process and the sulphate process
The company is well funded to finance the pre-feasibility study at the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina project and exploration activities at the Arkun battery minerals project.
Impact Minerals has been awarded a $2.87 million grant for the commercialisation of its innovative process to produce High Purity Alumina (HPA) from the Lake Hope deposit. The grant is under the Federal Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program which fosters short-term, industry-led research collaborations. The grant is part of an estimated $6.4 million research and development project to be completed within three years and designed to provide Impact with the relevant information required to complete a definitive feasibility. A key component of the grant funding will be to construct a pilot plant, which is a key goal for 2025, and this will provide consistent material for off-take and qualification trials.
Impact Minerals was also one of the inaugural cohort of seven companies selected to be part of the prestigious BHP Xplor program. BHP Xplor, an accelerator program introduced by BHP in August 2022, is designed to help provide participants with the opportunity to accelerate their growth and the potential to establish a long-term partnership with BHP and its global network of partners.
The BHP Xplor funding was used to identify new target areas for copper and other energy metals around the Broken Hill area in New South Wales, eastern Australia, where Impact has been quietly adding to its ground position for several years.
Additionally, the company is exploring its large Arkun battery metals project, also in Western Australia which covers nearly 2,900 square kilometres. Three new exploration licence applications were submitted recently immediately north of the Arkun project along trend from the recently discovered REE soil geochemistry anomalies at Hyperion, Swordfish and Horseshoe, and the Caligula copper anomaly. These anomalies require drill testing which will occur in 2024 and is an exciting development in the emerging mineral province of southwest WA.
A strong management team with over 50 years of combined industry experience leads the company. With a mining and exploration geology degree, Dr. Mike Jones, managing director, launched a long career consulting and leading mining organizations. Peter Unsworth, the non-executive chairman, has more than 35 years of experience in multiple financial sectors, such as securities industries and wealth management. Paul Ingram, a non-executive director, has led several mining companies since 2003. Impact Minerals has the experience and expertise to lead the company to success.
Company Highlights
- Impact Minerals is an exploration and development mining company focused on rapidly moving its flagship Lake Hope high-purity alumina (HPA) project toward production.
- The Lake Hope project has a high-grade maiden mineral resource estimate (MRE) of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3), for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina that can be converted to HPA.
- HPA is used throughout multiple industries, and the overall HPA market is projected to grow by a CAGR of 18.4 percent by 2030.
- A pre-feasibility study is currently in progress and scheduled to be completed by Q4 2024. A mining lease application for the Lake Hope High Purity Alumina (HPA) was recently lodged with the aim of being granted by 2026.
- The company’s project portfolio also includes assets with high-grade mineral deposits of a range of base, critical and precious metals.
- Impact Mineral’s 2,000-square-mile Arkun nickel-copper-PGE project in Western Australia has produced encouraging assays that motivate further exploration. Maiden drill programmes are planned for early 2025.
- The company is also exploring its Broken Hill copper project in New South Wales following a major grant under the auspices of the BHP Xplor program in 2023..
- A strong management team leads the company with experience in geology, mining and corporate finance.
Key Projects
Lake Hope HPA Project
Impact Minerals’ Lake Hope HPA project is in Western Australia, a tier-one mining jurisdiction. HPA is a crucial component in many new and emerging technologies, creating ongoing demand for high-grade sources. The Lake Hope project is the company’s flagship as it moves toward production.
Project Highlights:
- Maiden Mineral Resource Estimate: A maiden mineral resource of 3.5 million tonnes at 25.1 percent alumina (Al2O3) for a contained 880,000 tonnes of alumina has been defined at the Lake Hope HPA Project. About 88 percent of the resource, or 775,000 tonnes of alumina, is in the higher confidence indicated resource category.
- Amenable to Open-pit Mining: The Lake Hope project is a unique HPA asset amenable to shallow, open-pit mining. The deposit is soft and shallow, allowing for cheap digging and minimal infrastructure requirements. This type of deposit also lowers the environmental footprint of the operation.
- Fast-tracked to Production: A mining lease application is currently underway. Once granted, the company will begin working towards a pre-feasibility study and mini pilot plant. Impact Minerals plans to reach a complete pilot plant by 2026.
- Impressive Results of the 2023 Scoping Study: Outstanding economics show Lake Hope to potentially be the lowest-cost producer of High Purity Alumina (HPA) globally by up to 50 percent. Key outcomes from the scoping study include:
- Annual production of 10,000 tpa of 4N HPA with an initial 25-year mine life
- Annual EBITDA of A$174 million.
- 2 years construction period with 5,000 tonnes of production during the first year, 8,000 tonnes in the second year and 10,000 tonnes of production thereafter.
- US$934 million post-tax NPV8 at an IRR of 55 percent.
- Mining Lease Application: Amining lease application was lodged in mid-2024 over the West Lake resource while a miscellaneous licence application (L63/99) was lodged to cover mine infrastructure and haulage road.
The scoping study was underpinned by a sulphuric acid process allowing the company to achieve a new milestone by producing HPA with purity of more than than 99.99 percent (4N) from the metallurgical processing of lake clays acquired from Lake Hope. The company further identified a new proprietary metallurgical process for producing HPA from the lake clays. Known as the low-temperature leach (LTL) process, this also produced 99.99 percent (4N) Al2O3 and has the potential to lower even further the capital and operating costs to produce HPA compared to the sulphate process. The LTL process will be included in the ongoing pre-feasibility study along with the sulphate process to determine the best processing route to HPA. The PFS is due to be completed in late 2024.
Broken Hill Copper Project
The Broken Hill project has a significant land position of 815 square kilometers and hosts multiple targets with the potential for high-grade copper. Broken Hill is located in New South Wales, Australia, an area known for its prolific silver-lead-zinc mining operations and the giant Broken Hill deposit.
Project Highlights:
- Participant in the BHP Xplor Program: Impact was selected for the BHP Xplor program in 2023 based on its Broken Hill project. The program is designed to allow participants to accelerate growth and establish a long-term partnership with BHP.
- Potential for Additional Minerals and Deposits: As well as copper, the project has significant exploration potential for magmatic nickel-copper-PGE sulphides, and at the time the host rocks were formed, Broken Hill was located close to the world-class nickel-copper-PGE deposit of Jinchuan and the significant Lengquisheng deposit. The project area also has the potential to contain zinc-lead-silver deposits, providing even more value.
Arkun Nickel-Copper-Gold-Lithium-REE Project
The Arkun project is a 2,900-square-kilometer nickel, copper and gold project located in the emerging Ni-Cu-PGE province near the world-class Julimar Ni-Cu-PGE deposit and surrounded by Anglo American Corporation, which secured its ground holding shortly after Impact secured its asset. Anglo-American is one of the world’s top ten mining companies, and their presence in the region brings confidence in the project’s potential.
Project Highlights:
- Additional Exploration Underway: Impact plans follow-up work programs, including drilling, at its priority targets.
- Significant Targets Identified: Recent soil sampling identified two new prospects:
- Hyperion prospect - Located in the northwestern part of the project area returned with rare earth element anomalism of up to 5,880 ppm (0.59 percent) total rare earth oxide (TREO+Y) and neodymium and praseodymium (Nd+Pr) of up to 21 percent.
- Caligula prospect - Initially identified on the roadside, the Caligula prospect is a large and significant target for porphyry copper mineralisation.
- Three New Exploration Licences: Impact applied for three new exploration licences expanding Arkun project along trend from the recently discovered REE soil geochemistry anomalies at Hyperion, Swordfish and Horseshoe as well as the Caligula copper anomaly.
Management Team
Peter Unsworth - Non-executive Chairman
Peter Unsworth, formerly a chartered accountant, has over 35 years of experience in the corporate finance, investment and securities industries and a wealth of management experience with public and private companies. A former executive director with a leading Western Australian stockbroking company, Unsworth has been a director of several public exploration and mining companies. He recently completed a long time serving as chairman of the Western Australian Government-owned Gold Corporation (operator of The Perth Mint). Unsworth is the founding chairman of Impact Minerals.
Dr. Mike Jones - Managing Director
Dr. Mike Jones is the founding managing director of Impact Minerals Limited, which was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange in November 2006. Reporting to the board of directors, he is responsible for the company's performance as it moves towards production at its Lake Hope High Purity Alumina Project and also for implementing strategies to explore and maximize the value of the company's other extensive tenement holdings.
Since listing, he has helped raise more than $60 million to help fund the exploration of Impact’s projects and managed the company through significant adverse events, including the global financial crisis and the Fukushima nuclear disaster, which affected Impact’s considerable investment in the uranium sector, a five-year global downturn in the mining sector and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paul Ingram - Non-executive Director
Paul Ingram is a geologist with extensive experience managing major mineral exploration programs for several publicly listed companies and has been involved in the mining sector for over thirty years. He has designed and implemented innovative techniques for exploration in remote areas and has managed projects in countries throughout Australia and East Asia. Ingram has been a director of the following listed companies in the past three years: Polo Resources from January 2008 to January 2011; A-Cap Resources since June 2009; Consolidated Global Investments since September 2006; Caledon Resources from February 2003 to March 2008; and Australian Pacific Coal since March 2011.
Dr Frank Bierlein - Non-executive Director
Dr. Frank Bierlein is a geologist with 30 years of experience as a consultant, researcher, lecturer and industry professional. Bierlein has held exploration and generative geology management positions with QMSD Mining, Qatar Mining, Afmeco Australia and Areva NC, and consulted for, among others, Newmont Gold, Resolute Mining, Goldfields International, Freeport McMoRan, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. He is currently a non-executive director of PNX Metals. He was previously a non-executive director of Gold Australia NL and chaired the advisory board of a Luxembourg-based private equity fund between 2014 and 2021.
Developing the lowest-cost HPA project in Australia
What Was the Highest Price for Gold?
While some have posited that the gold price may break US$3,000 per ounce and carry on as high as US$4,000 or US$5,000, there are those with hopes that US$10,000 gold or even US$40,000 gold could become a reality.
These impressive price predictions have investors wondering, what is gold's all time high? In the past year, a new gold all time high (ATH) has been reached dozens of times, and we share the latest one and what has driven it to this level below. We also take a look at how the gold price has moved historically and what has driven its performance in recent years.
In this article
How is gold traded?
Before discovering what the highest gold price ever was, it’s worth looking at how the precious metal is traded. Knowing the mechanics behind gold's historical moves can help illuminate why and how its price changes.
Gold bullion is traded in dollars and cents per ounce, with activity taking place worldwide at all hours, resulting in a live price for the metal. Investors trade gold in major commodities markets such as New York, London, Tokyo and Hong Kong. London is seen as the center of physical precious metals trading, including for silver. The COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange is home to most paper trading.
There are many popular ways to invest in gold. The first is through purchasing gold bullion products such as bullion bars, bullion coins and rounds. Physical gold is sold on the spot market, meaning that buyers pay a specific price per ounce for the metal and then have it delivered. In some parts of the world, such as India, buying gold in the form of jewelry is the largest and most traditional route to investing in gold.
Another path to gold investment is paper trading, which is done through the gold futures market. Participants enter into gold futures contracts for the delivery of gold in the future at an agreed-upon price. In such contracts, two positions can be taken: a long position under which delivery of the metal is accepted or a short position to provide delivery of the metal. Paper trading as a means to invest in gold can provide investors with the flexibility to liquidate assets that aren’t available to those who possess physical gold bullion.
One significant long-term advantage of trading in the paper market is that investors can benefit from gold’s safe-haven status without needing to store it. Furthermore, gold futures trading can offer more financial leverage in that it requires less capital than trading in the physical market.
Interestingly, investors can also purchase physical gold via the futures market, but the process is complicated and lengthy and comes with a large investment and additional costs.
Aside from those options, market participants can invest in gold through exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Investing in a gold ETF is similar to trading a gold stock on an exchange, and there are numerous gold ETF options to choose from. For instance, some ETFs focus solely on physical gold bullion, while others focus on gold futures contracts. Other gold ETFs center on gold-mining stocks or follow the gold spot price.
It is important to understand that you will not own any physical gold when investing in an ETF — in general, even a gold ETF that tracks physical gold cannot be redeemed for tangible metal.
With regards to the performance of gold versus trading stocks, gold has an interesting relationship with the stock market. The two often move in sync during “risk-on periods” when investors are bullish. On the flip side, they tend to become inversely correlated in times of volatility. There are a variety of options for investing in stocks, including gold mining stocks on the TSX and ASX, gold juniors, precious metals royalty companies and gold stocks that pay dividends.
According to the World Gold Council, gold's ability to decouple from the stock market during periods of stress makes it “unique amongst most hedges in the marketplace.” It is often during these times that gold outperforms the stock market. For that reason, it is often used as a portfolio diversifier to hedge against uncertainty.
What was the highest gold price ever?
The gold price peaked at US$2,989.58, its all-time high, on March 13, 2025 at 3:38 p.m. PDT. What drove it to set this new ATH?
Gold set a new record high on March 13 as US President Donald Trump expanded his tariff war to the European Union, and continued to reiterate his sentiment that the United States may need to go through a period of economic pain to enter a new "golden age" of economic prosperity.
Gold set multiple new highs in the prior month as uncertainty continues to reign under Trump, from his announcement that he would enact extensive tariffs on North American allies Canada and Mexico, to the proposed resettlement of Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip to develop it into "the Riviera of the Middle East," (a suggestion that has been condemned globally), followed by his announcement of blanket 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.
Gold also set a previous record high on February 20 as US President Donald Trump continued tariff talks and sided with Russian President Vladimir Putin against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Elon Musk's call to audit the gold holdings in Fort Knox has also brought attention to the yellow metal.
Read our in-depth breakdown of gold's recent price performance below.
2025 gold price chart
2025 gold price chart. December 31, 2024, to March 13, 2025.
Chart via the Investing News Network.
What factors have driven the gold price in the last five years?
Despite these recent runs, gold has seen its share of both peaks and troughs over the last decade. After remaining rangebound between US$1,100 and US$1,300 from 2014 to early 2019, gold pushed above US$1,500 in the second half of 2019 on a softer US dollar, rising geopolitical issues and a slowdown in economic growth.
Gold’s first breach of the significant US$2,000 price level in mid-2020 was due in large part to economic uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. To break through that barrier and reach what was then a record high, the yellow metal added more than US$500, or 32 percent, to its value in the first eight months of 2020.
The gold price surpassed that level again in early 2022 as Russia's invasion of Ukraine collided with rising inflation around the world, increasing the allure of safe-haven assets and pulling the yellow metal up to a price of US$2,074.60 on March 8, 2022. However, it fell throughout the rest of 2022, dropping below US$1,650 in October.
Five year gold price chart. March 12, 2020, to March 13, 2025.
Chart via the Investing News Network.
Although it didn't quite reach the level of volatility as the previous year, the gold price experienced drastic price changes in 2023 on the back of banking instability, high interest rates and the breakout of war in the Middle East.
After central bank buying pushed the gold price up to the US$1,950.17 mark by the end of January, the US Federal Reserve’s 0.25 percent rate hike on February 1 sparked a retreat as the dollar and Treasury yields saw gains. The precious metal went on to fall to its lowest price level of the year at US$1,809.87 on February 23.
The banking crisis that hit the US in early March caused a domino effect through the global financial system and led to the mid-March collapse of Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank. The gold price jumped to US$1,989.13 by March 15. The continued fallout in the global banking system throughout the second quarter of the year allowed gold to break above US$2,000 on April 3, and go on to flirt with a near-record high of US$2,049.92 on May 3.
Those gains were tempered by the Fed’s ongoing rate hikes and improvements in the banking sector, resulting in a downward trend in the gold price throughout the remainder of the second quarter and throughout the third quarter. By October 4, gold had fallen to a low of US$1,820.01 and analysts expected the precious metal to be on the path to drop below the US$1,800 level.
That was before the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel ignited legitimate fears of a much larger conflict erupting in the Middle East. Reacting to those fears, and rising expectations that the US Federal Reserve would begin to reverse course on interest rates, gold broke through the important psychological level of US$2,000 per ounce and closed at US$2,007.08 on October 27. As the Israel-Hamas fighting intensified, gold reached a then new high of US$2,152.30 during intraday trading on December 3.
That robust momentum in the spot gold price has continued into 2024, chasing new highs on fears of a looming US recession, the promise of Fed rate cuts on the horizon, the worsening conflict in the Middle East and the tumultuous US presidential election year. By mid-March, gold was pushing up against the US$2,200 level.
That record-setting momentum continued into the second quarter of 2024 when gold broke through US$2,400 per ounce in mid-April on strong central bank buying, sovereign debt concerns in China and investors expecting the Fed to start cutting interest rates. The precious metal went on to hit US$2,450.05 per ounce on May 20.
Throughout the summer, the hits have just kept on coming. The global macro environment is highly bullish for gold in the lead up to the US election. Following the failed assassination attempt on former US President Donald Trump and a statement about coming interest rate cuts by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, the gold spot price hit a new all-time high on July 16 at US$2,469.30 per ounce.
One week later, news that President Joe Biden would not seek re-election and would instead pass the baton to his VP Kamala Harris eased some of the tension in the stock markets and strengthened the US dollar. This also pushed the price of gold down to US$2,387.99 per ounce on July 22.
However, the bullish factors supporting gold over the past year remain in play and the spot price for gold has gone on to breach the US$2,500 level first on August 2 on a less than stellar US jobs report before closing just above the US$2,440 level. A few weeks later, gold pushed past US$2,500 once again on August 16, to close above that level for the first time ever after the US Department of Commerce released data showing a fifth consecutive monthly decrease in a row for homebuilding.
The news that the Chinese government issued new gold import quotas to banks in the country following a two month pause also helped fuel the gold price rally. Central bank gold buying has been a significant tailwind for the gold price this year, and China's central bank has been one of the strongest buyers.
Market watchers expected the Fed to cut interest rates by a quarter point at their September meeting, but news on September 12 that the regulators were still deciding between the expected cut or a larger half-point cut led gold prices on a rally that carried through into the next day, bringing gold prices near US$2,600.
At the September 18 Fed meeting, the committee ultimately made the decision to cut rates by half a point, news that sent gold even higher. By Friday, September 20, it moved above US$2,600 and held above US$2,620.
In October, gold breached the US$2,700 level and continued to set new highs on a variety of factors, including further rate cuts and economic data anticipation, the escalating conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah, and economic stimulus in China — not to mention the very close race between the US presidential candidates.
While the gold price fell following President Trump's win in early November and largely held under US$2,700 through the end of the year, it began trending upwards in 2025 to the new all-time high discussed earlier in the article.
Gold has seen upward momentum in the last year on a variety of factors. In 2025, the gold price was on the rise early in the new year as President Trump and his team began to talk seriously about a wide-ranging set of tariffs on several countries in the run-up and following his inauguration on January 20.
On January 29, the Bank of Canada shaved 25 basis points off its policy interest rate, marking its sixth consecutive decrease, and announced plans to end quantitative tightening. On the same day, the US Federal Reserve opted to leave its interest rate unchanged. The following day, President Trump announced it very likely will be placing 25 percent tariffs on Mexico and Canada as of February 1, alongside tariffs on the EU and China.
Gold price set new highs in all currencies alongside a weakening US dollar, the US Federal Reserve leaving interest rates unchanged, a rush to safe haven assets and the looming threat of US President Donald Trump's tariffs on February 1. Additionally, new US economic data showed inflation-adjusted gross domestic product in the country increased an annualized 2.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024 after rising 3.1 percent in the third quarter.
What's next for the gold price?
What's next for the gold price is never an easy call to make. There are many factors that affect the gold price, but some of the most prevalent long-term drivers include economic expansion, market risk, opportunity cost and momentum.
Economic expansion is one of the primary gold price contributors as it facilitates demand growth in several categories, including jewelry, technology and investment. As the World Gold Council explains, “This is particularly true in developing economies where gold is often used as a luxury item and a means to preserve wealth.” Market risk is also a prime catalyst for gold values as investors view the precious metal as the “ultimate safe haven,” and a hedge against currency depreciation, inflation and other systemic risks.
Going forward, in addition to the Fed, inflation and geopolitical events, experts will be looking for cues from factors like supply and demand. In terms of supply, the world’s five top gold producers are China, Australia, Russia, Canada and the US. The consensus in the gold market is that major miners have not spent enough on gold exploration in recent years. Gold mine production has fallen from around 3,200 to 3,300 metric tons each year between 2018 and 2020 to around 3,000 to 3,100 metric tons each year between 2021 and 2023.
On the demand side, China and India are the biggest buyers of physical gold, and are in a perpetual fight for the title of world’s largest gold consumer. That said, it's worth noting that the last few years have brought a big rebound in central bank gold buying, which dropped to a record low in 2020, but reached a 55 year high of 1,136 metric tons in 2022.
The World Gold Council has reported that central bank gold purchases in 2023 came to 1,037 metric tons, marking the second year in a row above 1,000 MT. In the first half of 2024, the organization says gold purchases from central banks reached a record 483 metric tons.
“I expect the Fed’s rate-cutting cycle to be good for gold, but central bank buying has been and remains a major factor," Lobo Tiggre, CEO of IndependentSpeculator.com, said in an email to the Investing News Network (INN) at the beginning of Q4.
David Barrett, CEO of the UK division of global brokerage firm EBC Financial Group, is also keeping an eye on central bank purchases of gold.
“I still see the global central bank buying as the main driver — as it has been over the last 15 years,” he said in an email to INN. "This demand removes supply from the market. They are the ultimate buy-and-hold participants and they have been buying massive amounts."
In addition to central bank moves, analysts are also watching for escalating tensions in the Middle East, a weakening US dollar, declining bond yields, and further interest rate cuts as factors that could push gold higher as investors look to secure their portfolios.
Speaking at the Metals Investor Forum, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, this September, Eric Coffin, editor of Hard Rock Analyst, outlined those key factors as supporting his prediction that gold could reach US$2,800 by the end of 2024.
“When it comes to outside factors that affect the market, it’s just tailwind after tailwind after tailwind. So I don’t really see the trend changing,” Coffin said.
Also speaking at the Metals Investor Forum, Jeff Clark, founder and editor at TheGoldAdvisor.com, was even more bullish on the precious metal. He sees Santa delivering US$3,000 gold as a good possibility.
However, others see gold taking a little longer to breach the US$3,000 level. Delegates at the London Bullion Market Association's annual gathering in October have forecasted a gold price of US$2,941 in the next 12 months.
Randy Smallwood of Wheaton Precious Metals (TSX:WPM,NYSE:WPM) thinks US$3,000 could become a reality within a couple of years. He told INN in an October 2024 interview that he believes the west has finally caught the gold fever that has mainly been contained to the east for much of the year.
Meanwhile, Alain Corbani, head of mining of Montbleu Finance and manager of the Global Gold and Precious Fund, told INN in an early January 2025 interview that his price target for the year is US$3,000 per ounce. He advises that the direction of interest rates in the US will be the most important factor to watch.
Should you beware of gold price manipulation?
As a final note on the price of gold and buying gold bullion, it’s important for investors to be aware that gold price manipulation is a hot topic in the industry.
In 2011, when gold hit what was then a record high, it dropped swiftly in just a few short years. This decline after three years of impressive gains led many in the gold sector to cry foul and point to manipulation. Early in 2015, 10 banks were hit in a US probe on precious metals manipulation. Evidence provided by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) showed “smoking gun” proof that UBS Group (NYSE:UBS), HSBC Holdings (NYSE:HSBC), the Bank of Nova Scotia (NYSE:BNS) and other firms were involved in rigging gold and silver rates in the market from 2007 to 2013.
Not long after, the long-running London gold fix was replaced by the LBMA gold price in a bid to increase gold price transparency. The twice-a-day process, operated by the ICE Benchmark Administration, still involves a variety of banks collaborating to set the gold price, but the system is now electronic.
Still, manipulation has by no means been eradicated, as a 2020 fine on JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) shows. The next year, chat logs were released in a spoofing trial for two former precious metals traders from the Bank of America’s (NYSE:BAC) Merrill Lynch unit. They show a trader bragging about how easy it is to manipulate the gold price.
Gold market participants have consistently spoken out about manipulation. In mid-2020, Chris Marcus, founder of Arcadia Economics and author of the book “The Big Silver Short,” said that when gold fell back below the US$2,000 mark after hitting close to US$2,070, he saw similarities to what happened with the gold price in 2011.
Marcus has been following the gold and silver markets with a focus specifically on price manipulation for nearly a decade. His advice? “Trust your gut. I believe we’re witnessing the ultimate ’emperor’s really naked’ moment. This isn’t complex financial analysis. Sometimes I think of it as the greatest hypnotic thought experiment in history.”
Investor takeaway
While we have the answer to what the highest gold price ever is as of now, it remains to be seen how high gold can climb, and if the precious metal can reach as high as US$5,000, US$10,000 or even US$40,000.
Even so, many market participants believe gold is a must have in any investment profile, and there is little doubt investors will continue to see gold price action making headlines this year and beyond.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2020.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, 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.
Grande Portage Resources
Investment Insight
With an established mineral resource and further significant exploration upside, the New Amalga gold project presents substantial opportunities for Grande Portage to advance the project, generate cash flow, and create shareholder value. The company’s ongoing exploration efforts and strategic partnerships enhance the potential for long-term growth and value appreciation.
Overview
Grande Portage Resources (TSXV:GPG,OTCQB:GPTRF,FSE:GPB) is a junior resource company focused on the exploration and development of its high-grade gold asset in southeast Alaska. The company’s flagship project, the New Amalga Gold project (formerly known as the Herbert Gold project), is located approximately 25 kilometers north of Juneau, within the prolific Juneau Gold Belt.
This historic 160-kilometer-long belt has yielded nearly eight million ounces of gold to date, and New Amalga represents one of the most prospective undeveloped gold systems in the region. The rebranding from Herbert Gold to New Amalga Gold reflects the company’s commitment to advancing and expanding its exploration and development efforts in this promising district.
Over the years, Grand Portage has significantly expanded its resource base through extensive exploration and drilling campaigns. The current mineral resource estimate, published in June 2024, outlines an indicated resource of 1.44 million ounces of gold at an average grade of 9.47 grams per ton (g/t) gold, and an inferred resource of 515,700 ounces at an average grade of 8.85 g/t gold. Additionally, the project hosts significant silver mineralization, with indicated resources of 891,600 ounces at 5.86 g/t silver and inferred resources of 390,600 ounces at 7.33 g/t silver. The deposit has demonstrated exceptional metallurgical recoveries of up to 98.2 percent, reinforcing its economic viability.
Grande Portage is led by an experienced management team with a strong background in exploration and project development. The team’s focus is on creating shareholder value through the advancement of the Herbert Gold Project while maintaining a commitment to environmental and community responsibilities.
Company Highlights
- Grande Portage Resources is a junior resource company advancing its high-grade New Amalga Gold project, located in a prolific gold belt in SE Alaska.
- Strong management team led by Ian Klassen who has 30 years’ experience in business management, public relations and government affairs, and Kyle Mehalek, former chief mining engineer at Hecla Mining’s Greens Creek Mine.
- The flagship New Amalga Gold project, located near Juneau, Alaska, boasts a measured and indicated resource of 1.44 million ounces at 9.47 g/t gold, and inferred resource of 515,700 ounces at 8.85 g/t gold.
Key Project
New Amalga Gold Project
The New Amalga Gold project (formerly, Herbert Gold project) is a high-grade mesothermal quartz vein system containing six or more known parallel gold-bearing vein structures. The project consists of 91 unpatented lode claims covering approximately 2,000 acres.
Grande Portage has completed extensive drilling campaigns, with more than 54,000 meters of diamond drilling across 240 drill holes from 55 platforms, confirming a large, structurally complex gold-quartz system. The deposit remains open at depth and along strike, highlighting strong potential for further resource expansion. Historical production in the broader district, including previous operations at the historic Amalga Mine, has demonstrated the potential for high-grade ore shoots. Modern exploration drilling has intersected robust mineralization in multiple vein structures, supporting the project's continued development.
Primary veins with geology
Grande Portage is committed to responsible mining practices that minimize environmental impact. The company prioritizes low-impact mining methods and is exploring off-site processing solutions to align with community concerns regarding environmental preservation in the Juneau area.
The company has filed its 2025 Plan of Operation, proposing up to 10,000 meters of diamond drilling, along with detailed geological mapping and trench sampling. These initiatives aim to expand the known mineralization, refine geological modeling, and identify new high-priority targets. To further optimize project economics, the company is advancing sensor-based ore sorting testwork to improve processing efficiency.
Additionally, a Letter of Intent has been signed with Goldbelt, Juneau’s Alaska Native Corporation, to explore strategic collaborations that could enhance the project’s development and operational sustainability.
Management Team
Ian Klassen – President and Director
Ian Klassen brings almost 30 years experience in business management, public relations, government affairs and entrepreneurship to the company. He has extensive experience in the administration of public companies, government policy, media relations strategies, business/government project management, and legislative decision-making. Klassen is an (Honours) B.A. graduate from Western University and is a recipient of the Commemorative Medal for the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, in recognition of his significant contribution to his community and country.
Kyle Mehalek – Lead Mine Planning Consultant
Kyle Mehalek is the lead consultant at OreLogic, providing underground mine planning and project development services. Mehalek is the former chief mining engineer of Hecla Mining Company’s (NYSE:HL) Greens Creek Mine. More recently he was the chief technical officer for Talon Metals, a TSX-listed company advancing the Tamarack nickel project in Minnesota.
Michele Pillon – Chief Financial Officer
Michele Pillon has 25 years of experience in the junior mining exploration sector, providing accounting and regulatory assistance to public companies. Since May 1988, she has worked as an accountant to public companies in the resource sector.
Carl Hale – Director of Exploration
Carl Hale received his Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the University of Washington in 1972. He has worked the majority of his career on mineral exploration projects in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest for various mining companies and consulting groups. He supervised massive sulfide exploration projects in the Brooks Range, Alaska, mineral reconnaissance programs in the Alaska Range and Southeast Alaska, and is presently the project manager on a gold exploration venture in the United States. Mr. Hale spent several years as a mine geologist at the Cannon Mine, a large gold mine in Wenatchee, Washington, as a geologist at the Sunshine silver mine in Idaho, managed a copper exploration project at Bornite, Alaska for three years for Kennecott and served as a geologist on a gold exploration project in Myanmar.
Alistair MacLennan – Director
Alistair MacLennan has been working in the junior resources sector (oil/gas/minerals), in various capacities, for over 30 years. He has gained industry knowledge through founding, investment in and serving on the boards of a number of public and private exploration companies. MacLennan is also the chairman and director of Helijet International, a helicopter airline operating a fleet of Sikorsky S76 helicopters throughout the Pacific Northwest since 1986. MacLennan is actively involved in a number of private companies which are involved in leasing, manufacturing and natural gas production.
Ronald Handford – Director
Ronald Handford is a professional engineer (non-practicing) and is president of Handford Management, a private management services company. He has been a senior executive of Sixty North Gold Mining since September 2016. He was formerly the executive vice-president, corporate development for Yellowhead Mining. Handford holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Western University (1979) and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia (1974). He has over 20 years of international experience as a mining and technology entrepreneur, executive and advisor, plus 15 years as an international mining project finance and corporate banker, including Barclays Bank and the International Finance Corporation; and six years as an engineer/project manager related to mining and resource projects.
Douglas A. Perkins – Director
Douglas Perkins is a geology graduate from the University of British Columbia. Perkins has served on public company boards for over 25 years involving the promotion and representation of their geological properties. He has been involved in several start-ups of both public and private companies not only geological but including manufacturing, wholesale and developmental industries. From an exploration standpoint, Perkins has worked on the Gataga Trend for Cyprus Anvil, where several multi-million-ton deposits were discovered. He also worked for UTAH, UMEX, Cominco and oversaw Freeport/ Stryker's exploration project in northern BC near the Windy Craggy deposit. Perkins has tropical experience in the jungle of the Darien Gap in Panama during 1988 to 1989. For the last two years he has been senior vice-president and director of GMV Minerals in Guyana South America.
Gold Price Hits New Record, Breaking US$2,975 for First Time
Gold price chart, March 6 to 13, 2025.
Chart via the Investing News Network.
These releases come as trade tensions between the US and other countries ramp up.
Tempers flared when Ontario Premier Doug Ford imposed a 25 percent surcharge on electricity exports to the US on Tuesday (March 11). Although the charges were withdrawn after the two sides agreed to meet in Washington on Thursday, there is still much uncertainty about Canada-US relations, as well as US relations globally.
Broad 25 percent tariffs on all steel and aluminum imports to the US went into effect on Wednesday. Canada quickly applied retaliatory tariffs on US$20 billion worth of goods, while the EU responded with tariffs on US$28 billion worth of goods. Trump had threatened to boost the tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum to 50 percent, but backed down for now after Ford withdrew the 25 percent electricity surcharge.
Trump has also said he will impose further tariffs on auto imports by April 2, creating significant uncertainty for manufacturers and businesses that rely on cross-border trade.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Dean Belder, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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