Gold is no longer tucked away in the financial pages — it’s back on the front page.
Speaking to Mining.com.au, Aguia Resources (ASX:AGR) Executive Chairman Warwick Grigor recalls how, several decades ago, gold was viewed as a “barbarian metal that didn’t have a future”.
“It’s interesting how they don’t talk like that anymore,” Grigor says.
From central bank stockpiling and shifting interest rates to geopolitical crossroads reshaping trade and currencies, the precious metal has re-emerged in the headlines in global markets.
In 2025, investors, industry executives, and everyday savers alike have been watching gold’s moves with a renewed intensity. As such, the gold price is no longer just a barometer of investor sentiment, it has become a signal for the broader economic and political pulse.
Jordan Eliseo, ABC Bullion’s General Manager, says the overall sentiment and global interest for gold is undeniable.
“The overall sentiment for gold is very positive, with gold front page news again for investors worldwide,” Eliseo tells this news service.
That sentiment is being matched by performance as the price surged to record highs across the entire September quarter, starting Q3 2025 at US$3,338 ($5,037.68) per ounce, as previously reported.
The safe-haven metal continued the climb, making the US$3,640 per ounce mark and then again hitting the US$3,680 mark less than a week later. At the end of September, gold’s momentum continued, touching the US$3,840 per ounce mark.
At the time of writing, the precious metals’ spot price sat at US$3,864 per ounce.
These record prices further reclaim the safehaven metal’s place not just in portfolios but in global headlines.
“Gold is the most important form of money storage and it is coming back into play. The more uncertainty we have, the more important it’s going to be,” Grigor tells this news service.
What was once considered a quiet safe-haven has become a front-page story, with the yellow metal trading at levels that reflect investor anxiety and a broader shift in the global financial order.
Global momentum builds
Despite a weaker US dollar, gold has gained in all major currencies during Q3 2025 and the positive momentum is forecast to continue in Q4.
According to The Perth Mint General Manager John O’Donoghue, the gold price strength has created a wave of interest across the market.
“While elevated prices have softened retail demand for bullion and minted products – a trend mirrored by mints globally – investor appetite for our listed product, PMGOLD, has been exceptionally strong,” O’Donoghue says.
In September 2025, The Perth Mint was recognised for excellence with its Perth Mint Gold Structured Product (ASX:PMGOLD) winning the ETF Product category at the Financial Newswire SQM Fund Manager of the Year Awards 2025.
PMGOLD is an exchange traded product that allows investors to trade in gold via a stock broking account as they would shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
The management fee is 0.15% – making it one of the lowest cost gold exchange traded fund (ETF)s on the ASX. The product has also delivered high returns of 47.31% over a year and more than 10% per year since inception.
Eliseo says the ETF market is “heating up”, after years of outflows post-covid.
In August alone, global physically backed gold ETFs attracted US$5.5 billion in inflows, as reported by the World Gold Council.
Meanwhile, year-to-date demand has reached US$47 billion – the second strongest on record after the peak of 2020.
“Investors have been adding to their holdings across all key jurisdictions – Europe, North America, and Asia – this year,” Eliseo says.
“For Q2, we’ve seen more than 170 tonnes come into gold ETFs globally, with 470 tonnes for the year as a whole. This is a big part of why gold has rallied so strongly in 2025.”
On the other hand, jewellery – which is the largest source of annual gold demand – continues to be shaped by the influence of India and China, accounting for more than 50% of the global total.
Eliseo notes that seasonal factors such as Diwali and the Indian wedding season remain powerful drivers.
“Diwali is always a key gold buying festival, so we’d expect retail purchases of bullion to be well supported by that alone,” he says.
The Perth Mint’s O’Donoghue notes that overall global jewellery demand remains subdued, central bank buying has remained a key pillar of global demand.
Mining’s moment on front pages
For Q3 2025 and beyond, the question is not just why gold has surged, but rather what does this mean for the mining industry.
Roger Mason, CEO of Antipa Minerals (ASX:AZY), says the industry is seeing investors continue to allocate substantial amounts of capital, not just to producers but also to quality exploration and development projects.
This marks a sharp change from just three months earlier, when junior explorers were still waiting for their moment in the sun, as Hamelin Gold’s (ASX:HMG) Managing Director Peter Bewick told Mining.com.au at the time.
Now, with prices at record levels, explorers are finally in the headlines.
Mason says sustained gold price strength only serves to reinforce the investment case for explorers and developers.
“For Antipa, that has translated into new investors seeking exposure to the sector and ultimately joining our register,” he says.
Antipa’s share price increased nearly 30% from the start of August to the end of September, trading at $0.69 as of 29 September.
The $460 million market capitalisation company is currently leveraging the strong gold price by progressing its Minyari Dome Gold-Copper Project through advanced studies while simultaneously continuing to explore its portfolio of drill-ready targets.
Meanwhile, Aureka (ASX:AKA) has seen increased interest from investors, with people asking when the company will be starting production.
“We are getting a lot of incoming calls from both strategic industry players and larger investors which is great for a small cap company like ours,” Gurry tells Mining.com.au.
The Victorian gold explorer reported its first high-grade hits earlier this quarter at the Comstock pit at St Arnaud, with multiple 20 gram metre intercepts around the existing pit that was mined in the mid 1990s.
While Aureka still has work to do before starting production, Gurry says the team is working to grow its JORC-compliant gold inventory at the Stawell Irvine and St Arnaud Comstock projects through continuous diamond drilling.
“We have other workstreams looking at the medium-term planning required to bring our gold to life over the coming years,” he says.
In Q3 2025, it became more clear that the sun had begun to shine down the other end of town – with explorers now making their way into the headlines.
However, not all companies are as directly exposed to price movement.
Aguia Resources’ Grigor explains while higher prices are welcome, Aguia’s business model is less sensitive to fluctuations compared to marginal ore bodies.
Nonetheless, Aguia – which has a market capitalisation of $41.83 million – is focused on delivering a maiden resource at the Santa Barbara Gold Project in Colombia. Once completed, Grigor says the ASX will enable the company to call the asset a mine.
Aguia has recently changed its senior level management and has hired new miners and drillers.
“We’re looking for increasing gold production now rather than inconsistent production we were getting previously,” Grigor tells this news service.
“We’ve been quite responsive and I think that the business plan hasn’t changed at all.”
Big deals, bigger headlines
Looking forward, industry attention is turning to the next big moves.
Mergers, acquisitions, and divestments have all made headlines this quarter, with majors repositioning their portfolios for the future.
Among them was Barrick Mining (TSX:ABX), which entered into a deal to sell its Hemlo Gold Mine in Canada to Carcetti Capital Corp (TSX-V:CART.H) for $1.09 billion.
As previously reported, CEO Mark Bristow says the company has faith in the new holder to unlock the potential of the asset.
“The sale of Hemlo at an attractive valuation marks the close of Barrick’s long and successful chapter at the mine and underscores our disciplined focus on building value through our tier one gold and copper portfolio,” Bristow says.
When viewed from a distance, the outlook is clear – as geopolitical tensions simmer and economic uncertainty lingers, gold continues to command the spotlight.
Eliseo puts it bluntly, saying the price action that has been in bold print over the past two years, makes it very clear that “gold is in a structural bull market”.
“That doesn’t mean gold won’t experience corrections nor that it will go up each week, month, or year,” he says.
“That said, we expect prices to continue to trend higher and see demand from all parts of the market to be well supported.”
Grigor agrees, saying the gold market is only getting stronger.
“You can see that the world is getting ready for some violent conflict. All of that is a risk and gold is going to stay very much in demand,” he says.
Gold’s rebirth in the headlines is more than a price story. It is a reflection of shifting global dynamics, from central bank strategies and ETF inflows to investor anxiety and geopolitical flashpoints.
Write to Aaliyah Rogan at Mining.com.au
Images: ABC Bullion, The Perth Mint, PMT Refinery, & Antipa Minerals
