In addition to dwindling global oil reserves, now we're running out of gold as well, financial journalist Ambrose Evans-Pritchard reports.
Global gold production is in terminal decline despite record prices and Herculean efforts by mining companies to discover fresh sources of ore in remote spots, he writes in the UK Telegraph.
"There is a strong case to be made that we are already at 'peak gold'," Barrick president Aaron Regent told Evans-Pritchard.
"Production peaked around 2000 and it has been in decline ever since, and we forecast that decline to continue. It is increasingly difficult to find ore."
Global output has been falling by roughly 1 million ounces a year since the start of the decade, Regent notes.
“Total mine supply has dropped by 10 percent as ore quality erodes, implying that the roaring bull market of the last eight years may have further to run,” he says.
Barrick is moving fast to wind down the remaining 3 million ounces of its hedge book over the next twelve months, implicitly betting on rising gold prices over time.
According to Bespoke Investment Group, silver and platinum have actually been outperforming gold.
Late last year, both silver and platinum lost big ground to gold, with platinum and gold even reaching parity at one point. During the metals rally this year, however, silver and platinum have actually done better than gold, Bespoke posits.
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