“If we continue to find more gold, then we'll continue to advance the mineral and the mineralised envelope in that direction, but we will be hot on the heels of a resource early in the new year,” said Fergus Kiley, CEO of Mount Hope Mining.
Mount Hope Mining (ASX:MHM) CEO Fergus Kiley said the company is on track to deliver a maiden resource for the Mount Solitary prospect within its flagship Mount Hope project in New South Wales, following the current drilling program.
“If we continue to find more gold, then we'll continue to advance the mineral and the mineralised envelope in that direction, but we will be hot on the heels of a resource early in the new year,” said Kiley in an interview with the Investing News Network.
Kiley said results from the initial drilling program and a recent review of the project’s historical data informed and refined the model for the current drill program.
The Mount Hope Mining chief executive also laid out his company’s value proposition for investors: “We have an active drill program going on right now, and you're buying the company at the same enterprise value as the pre-gold drill hole hit confirmation of high-grade gold drilling that we did in September. So I just think that's a really compelling valuation case for investors to look at.”
Watch the full interview with Kiley above.
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.
2025 is drawing to a close, and silver seems determined to end the year with a bang.
The white metal's breakout continued this week, with the price crashing through US$60 per ounce and continuing on up, even briefly passing US$64. It ultimately finished at just under US$62.
Year-to-date silver is now up over 110 percent, far outpacing gold's gain of about 63 percent.
Its latest rise kicked off on November 28, the same day the Comex experienced an outage that lasted about 10 hours. Since then, positive drivers have continued to pile up.
Chief among them this week was the most recent interest rate reduction from the US Federal Reserve. As was widely expected, the central bank made a 25 basis point cut at its meeting, which wrapped up on Wednesday (December 10), taking the target range to 3.5 to 3.75 percent.
Both silver and gold tend to fare better in lower-rate environments, and while gold remains below its all-time high, it retook the US$4,300 per ounce level this week.
It's worth noting that although the Fed's cut went through, three out of 12 officials voted against it, a situation that hasn't happened since September 2019. Two wanted rates to stay the same, while Governor Stephen Miran was calling for a 50 basis point reduction.
Miran took his spot on the Fed's Board of Governors in September after being nominated by President Donald Trump, who has been critical of the Fed — and Chair Jerome Powell in particular — for not lowering rates as quickly as he would like. Powell's term ends in May 2026, and it’s anticipated that his replacement will follow Trump’s vision. Kevin Hassett of the National Economic Council is said to be a strong contender, with 84 percent of respondents to a CNBC survey saying they think it will be him.
While the Fed's rate decision was in focus this week, market watchers are also closely eyeing its post-meeting statement, as well as press conference comments from Powell, to figure out what the central bank's policy will look like heading into the new year and beyond.
The latest dot plot shows that Fed officials expect only one rate cut in 2026, plus another in 2027. That's unchanged from projections made in September, but experts have pointed out that the dot plot also highlights the growing divide between Federal Open Market Committee members.
Another important facet is the news that the Fed will start buying short-dated bonds as of Friday (December 12), with an initial round involving purchasing US$40 billion worth of treasuries per month. This move comes after the end of quantitative tightening measures on December 1, and is being looked at as a step in the direction of quantitative easing.
"This is basically another way of saying quantitative easing, and we're going to continue to print money," said David Erfle of Junior Miner Junky. "The Federal Reserve is in a situation where, 'Hey, we've got to continue to issue new debt to pay off the old debt.' So now the yield curve is going to steepen as the Fed pivots toward these treasury bills, and private investors are going to have to absorb more duration risk. So basically, this means loose monetary conditions are on the way, and that's positive for both gold and especially now silver."
With that in mind, what exactly is next for the silver price?
I've been asking guests on our channel where the metal goes from here, and many have said it's becoming harder and harder to predict as silver enters uncharted territory.
Peter Krauth of Silver Stock Investor and Silver Advisor said that a "relatively conservative" outlook for 2026 would be US$70. However, he also emphasized that higher levels are possible:
"It's taken 45 years for (silver) to finally break out through that US$50 level. And so we're in uncharted waters, uncharted territory, and this being the kind of market that we're in — fundamentally, as well as macroeconomically, as well as geopolitically — I think odds are silver is going to continue to climb higher.
"And I think it's going to convert a lot of doubters into into believers that silver is going to go on setting new record highs, and that it's still relatively early in this market. We're going to see it perform very, very well for several more years."
For his part, Erfle weighed in on upside and downside for silver, outlining how the precious metal could get close to the US$100 level. Here's what he said:
"If you consider the supply/demand fundamentals, this is a fifth year of a supply deficit in silver, which has constantly been outpacing supply.
"All these forces have converged to take the silver price so much higher, and looking at upside targets, the next target is the US$66, US$68 area, and then US$80 to US$83 if the momentum continues into January. But the long-term measured target of the cup-and-handle breakout is US$96."
I'll be having more conversations about silver next week with experts like Gareth Soloway, John Rubino and John Feneck, so drop a comment on our YouTube channel if you have any questions.
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.
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.
Peter Krauth, editor of Silver Stock Investor and Silver Advisor, shares his thoughts on silver's historic move past US$60 per ounce, saying he sees continued strength in 2026.
While the white metal is famously volatile, he believes it could reach US$70 next year.
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.
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.
Gerard Bond, president and CEO of OceanaGold (TSX:OGC,OTCQX:OCANF), shares recent company highlights and discusses gold's strong 2025 performance.
In his view, the yellow metal's key drivers are de-dollarization, stagflation concerns, central bank buying and geopolitical uncertainty, all of which look set to continue next year.
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.
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.
Steve Barton, host of In It To Win It, weighs in on silver's price breakout and next targets.
He also shares his outlook for gold, copper, uranium and oil.
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.
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.
Gary Wagner, executive producer at TheGoldForecast.com, shares his gold and silver outlook, commenting on this week's US Federal Reserve meeting as well as what could happen in 2026.
While large corrections can occur, he has a bullish long-term outlook for both precious metals.
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.
