Gold, the place to be,, SAEI
There have been some exciting mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the junior mining sector over the past few months. As gold and silver settle from the previous move, many projects will be rerated and acquired by majors that are struggling with decreasing resources. I believe the industry is undergoing consolidation and we are seeing the beginning of a major international race to control future gold and silver ounces in the ground. The bull market in gold and silver is intact and, though we may see some short-term pullbacks in bullion prices, the junior mining sector will continue to outperform.
Investors are aware the sector is ripe with takeover candidates as the junior miners outperformed bullion since the late uly rally began; not until mid September did they underperform. Now it seems like the previous uptrend is continuing after finding support at the 50-day moving average. Junior explorers are gaining interest as investors transfer their strategically devalued fiat currencies into valuable precious metals resources in the ground.
As the dollar collapses to three-year lows, I expect more companies to acquire projects or consolidate to gain control of and leverage their exploration assets. The Federal Reserve has been quite vociferous about its goal of pumping the economy with more cash. And it appears the U.S. is leading the race to devaluation, as many emerging markets have been critical of the Fed's dovish actions. This is creating a domino effect wherein other countries are now forced to devalue their currencies in order to prevent the collapse of their own economies. A devalued currency helps an economy by making its products cheaper domestically and increasing exports.
The recent surge in M&A activity suggests the mining industry is predicting the price of gold will continue to appreciate for the foreseeable future. High-quality projects with high-grade mineralization and low cash costs are receiving a premium. As the price of gold rises, high-grade deposits with good assets will be accelerated into development and production.
I expect aggressive miners to buy out partners to gain 100% control of projects in order to expedite resource and reserve growth. When a miner controls the project completely, it can be more aggressive with resource expansion and development of a discovery. It also has leverage to the expansion of the resource. Particularly in an industry that is interested in growth stories, companies are hungry for large open discoveries to replenish their reserves.
Market Data 
Markets 
AI
