The gold price moved down this week, taking a turn toward the end of the period that took it below US$4,550 per ounce.
Its sister metal silver followed a similar trend, although at one point it briefly approached the US$89 per ounce mark.
Precious metals continue to react to the Iran war, which is developing quickly. Iran rejected the latest peace proposal from the US last weekend, with President Donald Trump calling the country's counter-proposal "totally unacceptable."
Tensions between the two nations have since escalated further, and a vote in the House of Representatives shows that opposition to the conflict is growing in the US — a resolution calling for the end of American involvement failed, but was the closest vote yet on the war.
Also in the mix was the latest US consumer (CPI) and producer price index (PPI) data.
April CPI was up 3.8 percent year-on-year, the fastest increase seen since 2023, and 0.6 percent from the previous month. Meanwhile, core CPI, which excludes the food and energy categories, rose 2.8 percent year-on-year and 0.4 percent compared to March.
PPI for April was up 6 percent year-on-year, the largest rise since December 2022, and a seasonally adjusted 1.4 percent month-on-month.
These numbers have stoked concerns about higher prices and raised questions about the US Federal Reserve's path forward — especially with the road now clear for Kevin Warsh to take the helm at the central bank, succeeding Jerome Powell.
Bullet briefing — Gold, silver stock M&A heats up
M&A was in the air in the gold space this week, with Equinox Gold (TSX:EQX,NYSEAMERICAN:EQX) announcing plans to acquire Orla Mining (TSX:OLA,NYSEAMERICAN:ORLA) in an all-stock deal valued at US$5.1 billion.
The combined company will have an implied market cap of US$18.5 billion, and will become the second largest producer of Canadian gold. In total, its annual output is expected to come in at 1.1 million ounces of the yellow metal.
The transaction with Orla is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.
The Equinox/Orla deal wasn't the only M&A activity in the mining sector this week.
Elemental Royalty (TSX:ELE,NASDAQ:ELE) and Vizsla Royalties have entered into a definitive agreement through which Elemental will acquire Vizsla in a C$327 million arrangement.
Vizsla's key asset is a 2 to 3.5 percent net smelter return royalty on Vizsla Silver's (TSXV:VZLA,NYSEAMERICAN:VZLA) Mexico-based Panuco silver-gold project. Elemental CEO David M. Cole said in a press release that it's expected to become a cornerstone of the company's portfolio.
Panuco has been in focus this year since a January incident in which 10 people were abducted from the project site. As of Vizsla Silver's latest update at the beginning of April, nine had been confirmed deceased, with the 10th still missing.
Elemental and Vizsla expect the transaction to close in Q3.
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