It was gold price, lithium demand and
China’s appetite for copper that dominated much of the discussion at Mines and Money Online Connect @ IMARC
this week at the virtual event running from the 19th to the 21st
October.
Mines and Money Online Connect saw 90
mining companies, 600+ investors and more than 2,000 participants log-on to
hear mining executives and analysts discuss the next big thing for savvy
investors in 2022.
Time to Strike Gold?
‘Frustrating’ sums up the 2021 gold price
according to Commodity Discovery Fund Founder and Chief Investment Officer,
Willem Middelkoop. Middelkoop spruiked gold’s glittering upside during the
Mines and Money Gold Outlook Panel Discussion.
The panellists suggested that with the gold
price soaring to record highs, a gold correction was inevitable. Historically,
gold price is linked to market volatility and the much of new money printed in
the United States.
In 2022,
panellists expect plenty of market volatility and money printing, with an
overinflated US dollar set to weaken in value, and subsequently drive up the
price of gold. Through the Commodity Discovery Find, Middelkoop has studied the
gold price in relation to increased money supply over the past decade.
“If you look at the current graph, the
gold price needs to move back toward over US$2,000, and it should move toward US$8,000-$10,000
dollars to be in line with money growth. If you look at that statistic, there
is so much upside,”
said Middelkoop.
“A doubling of the gold price within 12
months is easily possible,”
said Middelkoop.
The Need for Speed
The US has the need for speed with car
manufacturing adopting electric vehicles (EVs) at an accelerating rate. The rising
demand for EVs, which is expected to surge to 10% in global sales by 2025
according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, will require startling quantities of
lithium.
The price of lithium hydroxide continued to
soar in 2021 and shows no sign of slowing down in 2022. Prices topped US$23,375
per tonne at the time of writing, which is up from a US$6,300 average per tonne
in the September quarter 2020.
During the Mines and Money Battery Metals
Session, Piedmont Lithium President and Chief Executive Officer, Keith
Phillips, said the EVs market is fuelling the demand for lithium hydroxide. “I’ve
always had the view that the market would speak, and the time would come, and
it will,” said Phillips.
Phillips said Ford’s Blue Oval City required
125,000 tonnes per year of lithium hydroxide to service its three battery
plants, which surpasses the production capacities of all lithium projects
currently planned in the United States.
“Tesla has been a leader here, but LG and
General Motors are making big commitments. “Everyone is talking about bringing
more capacity to the US, which we desperately need, and even if we all succeed,
we are still going to be short, and require lots of material from outside the
US,”
said Philips.
China’s Quiet Copper Rush
Copper was the metal of the hour during the
China Commodities Supply and Demand Outlook 2022 Panel at Mines and Money. Companies
from Australia’s biggest trading partner are digging for strategic commodities to
enhance diversification and survival in an uncertain marketplace.
Gold Mountains General Manager, Maggie
Huang said sourcing and developing copper mines was critical to not only Gold
Mountains, but to the Chinese economy. “We see copper as a highly strategic
metal for China, we are the largest consumer in the world. We consume half of
all output of copper but produce only 20 to 25% of what we actually use,”
said Huang.
Huang pointed out that whilst Australia and
Canada represented stable and mature investment destinations in the past, “an
investment is an investment,” and Chinese companies are now seeking new
opportunities in other mining destinations.
As Africa and South America mature as
mining destinations, Huang said emerging opportunities in Africa and South
America could be more profitable and signify a more attractive investment than
Australia or Canada.
As Mines and Money Online Connect @ IMARC concludes
with positive outlooks on gold, lithium and copper, the mining and resources
sector now sets its sights on Australia’s largest mining investment forum Mines and Money @ IMARC co-located
with the International Mining and Resources
Conference (IMARC) from the 31st January to 2nd
February 2022 at the Melbourne Showgrounds.
-ENDS-
About
The
International
Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC
) is where global mining leaders connect
with technology, finance, and the future. Now in its 8th year, it is
Australia’s largest mining event, bringing together over 8,000 decision makers,
mining leaders, policy makers, investors, commodity buyers, technical experts,
innovators, and educators from over 130 countries for three days of learning,
deal-making and unparalleled networking. IMARC is developed in collaboration
with its
founding partners the Victorian State Government of Australia, Austmine, the
Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and Mines and
Money.
For more information, please
visit
https://imarcglobal.com/
Media Contacts
Samantha Morgan
Head of Marketing
IMARC
samantha.morgan@imarcmelbourne.com
Isaac Stewart
PR Consultant
Cannings Purple
istewart@canningspurple.com.au
+61 423 306 794