At PDAC 2025, US President Trump had just announced a raft of new tariffs, and the impact that these would have on the industry were a key topic for market and commodity speculators.
This year’s event, bringing together over 27,000 attendees from around the globe, comes at a time of continued global instability, with escalating tensions in the Middle East and the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran.
Gold prices rose to US$5,690 ($8,062) per ounce on the back of these latest strikes, as reported, while silver is sitting at US$112 per ounce.
Sunday’s PDAC Investment Leaders Forum brought together top market analysts and newsletter writers to share their opinions on the current bull market, price drivers, investment outlook, and really what investors need to know to guide their decision making.
Noting the current state of the world, Willem Middelkoop of Commodity Discovery Fund said that “war is good for gold and silver”, but believes that the current issues in the Middle East and the war on Ukraine by Russia are all just “proxy wars”.
“The real war is the war between China and the US,” Middelkoop says.
Middelkoop expects gold and silver to continue to creep higher, calling for US$500 per ounce silver.
Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management takes a slightly different view, that it is not necessarily this geopolitical instability driving precious metals prices up, but a general mistrust in government and in fiat currencies driving gold, while silver is mostly impacted by industrial demand.
In a panel looking at why this bull market is different, Brian Lundin of the Gold Newsletter states that while central bank purchasing has driven a significant amount of gold purchasing in the past, the central banks have started to fall off.
“The central banks typically allocate a particular amount of reserves to gold, so as the price goes up, the tonnage [that they buy] goes down,” Lundin says.
Discipline over FOMO
Lobo Tiggre of The Independent Speculator is sitting out the current rally, noting that with today’s high prices, he wouldn’t be necessarily looking at gold and silver at the moment, based on the age old adage of “buy low, sell high”.
“I wouldn’t be buying gold and silver at the moment, because its buying high and hoping to sell higher,” Tiggre says.
“If I can’t buy low, I’ll wait. And don’t forget to sell high. Follow that discipline.”
Mining.com.au is a media partner for this year’s convention and is reporting live from the floor.
Write to Amy Rotman at Mining.com.au
Images: PDAC
