Photo by Whitehorse Star
Mike Burke
Gold price continues its decline
The price of gold has fallen steadily since it peaked last winter.
The price of gold has fallen steadily since it peaked last winter.
Thursday morning’s price was at approximately US $1,659 per ounce, down from about $2,070 when it peaked in early March.
Price graphs show a fairly consistent drop from approximately $1,950 last April to today.
Last winter’s peak was the highest price for gold in 10 years, although there was a similar peak in mid-2020.
The price has fallen by almost $100 an ounce over the past three months.
Over the last decade, gold went from $1,800 an ounce in 2012 down to just over $1,000 an ounce in 2015. In the last seven years, it has been on a slow but steady rebound.
A statement from the Yukon Chamber of Mines suggested the strength of the U.S. dollar in the last several months may be a factor in the gold price.
Higher interest rates in the U.S. attract more investment in dollars which competes with gold, the chamber indicated.
Local geologist Mike Burke sits on the chamber’s board of directors.
Burke explained in an interview Thursday the drop in price has not been felt as badly in Canada because of the exchange rate.
The markets Thursday were showing a price in Canadian dollars of $2,255.19.
Asked about what the future holds for gold, Burke said he doesn’t predict future prices.
“I just try to find more of it,” he quipped.
Burke said there are all kinds of factors affecting the price of gold.
There are experts out there who do offer predictions on where the price will go, but Burke said he’s not one of them.
“The best protection we have for the price of gold in the Yukon is to find more of it,” he said.
Meanwhile, the price of silver has also dropped steadily over the last year, as have the prices of copper, lead and zinc.
Silver has gone from approximately $24 an ounce last October to $19.59 Thursday, with peak prices of approximately $26 per ounce seen last winter and spring.
The price of copper Thursday was at $3.51 per pound, down from about $4.70 last March.
Lead has fallen from approximately $1.70 last March to $0.86 Thursday.
Zinc was selling yesterday for $1.35 per pound.
It was going for just over $1.50 last October but it peaked in the last year at just over $2 a pound in April.
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Comments (10)
Up 0 Down 1
Chuck Farley on Nov 2, 2022 at 7:46 pm
AdmiralA$$; Global financial markets are purchasing US dollar and abandoning precious metals.
Up 8 Down 1
AdmiralA$$ on Nov 1, 2022 at 7:57 am
Well freakin duh, the price of fiat has risen 350% in 6 months. Yes gold will go down as the fiat strengthens. Short term movement in gold means very little. Let's compare to 2015 or 2018, long term gold is way up because our purchasing power is way down. Just look at a 10 year gold chart and you will see the damage done to the fiat by our government. More damage coming too.
Up 13 Down 0
Boom and Bust on Oct 31, 2022 at 5:38 pm
Get Real on Oct 30, 2022 at 4:36 pm
Given that transfer payments are generated from the taxes of all combined productivity in Canada, that is actually the most diversified income we could hope for. The Yukon will weather this next decade of instability better than many other places. On average anyway. Even a populist leader wouldn’t survive letting the North freeze. That’s probably too much punching down, even for them.
Did you have any suggestions for the mining industry? My post listed several options. Plus the requisite amount of salt required to make the vegetables palatable.
What the Yukon offers in terms of business leaders right now is a crop of dudes with chips on their shoulders crying “what about the gov!” We can and must do better. Or step aside remembering the ultimate old-boy motto that old-boys are incapable of living up to: Lead, follow or get out of the way. Beyond time to get out of the way.
Up 16 Down 7
Get Real on Oct 30, 2022 at 4:36 pm
Hey Boom or Bust. By single resource you mean the billion plus in welfare money the federal government confiscates from other Canadians and gives to the Yukon every year?
Up 10 Down 5
Erwin Glock on Oct 30, 2022 at 1:41 pm
I guess Parker will be packing up now??? Todd Hoffman is already gone.
Up 15 Down 0
Hedgy McHedge on Oct 30, 2022 at 10:14 am
Wilf, Gold is more of a historic hedge against the wartime weakness of fiat currency. Less so a hedge against inflation in markets dominated by modern monetary theory. You’re right, kinda, but a bit out of date. No disrespect, just a different take.
Up 12 Down 9
Wilf Carter on Oct 29, 2022 at 6:44 am
One factor in gold prices is if we go into recession, gold in the past went up but not every time. Predicting prices is gamblers game. What does the economist says in the department of economic development on mineral prices?
Up 19 Down 15
bonanzajoe on Oct 28, 2022 at 5:17 pm
But hey, "renewable engergy" will save the world". Not to worry.
Up 24 Down 14
Boom and Bust on Oct 28, 2022 at 5:08 pm
It is inappropriate for the Yukon to rely so heavily on a single resource. Especially this one. The gold market is manipulated. More so now that state banks are swinging the tiller of the ship harder than ever before.
You could predict that the price will increase based on rumours of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) starting a gold-backed global reserve currency, but good luck accessing those markets if their intention is to wall themselves off. You could predict a significant price fall based on the change of a major crypto currency away from energy-hungry ‘proof of work’ towards ‘proof of stake’ attracting all kinds of traditional hedge practices looking to green-wash themselves. You could predict a once-in-a-generation price increase based on rumblings out of the UK that indicate their largest miners, traders and hoarders are looking to create a gold-backed crypto currency that would allow even far flung operations in the Yukon unfettered access to smart contracts to lock in their prices as it comes out of the ground.
First Nation artists are in the spotlight right now. That could be leveraged into a public/private partnership to keep more levels of the profit chain here in Yukon if someone is forward thinking enough to invest in a micro refinery combined with a jewellery making business and/or training program.
But you know, the leadership of the Yukon Chamber of Mines is probably right. Don’t diversify, don’t modernize, don’t innovate for efficiency. Ignore the strategic need for lithium, graphite and palladium. No opportunities there. Just keep digging your holes real slow and sticking your heads in them real fast.
Up 9 Down 23
Gold rush? on Oct 28, 2022 at 4:39 pm
Best news I’ve heard all week.