Gold reaches 8-year high, has more gas in the tank: analysts

Gold prices are off on another tear this week, touching an eight-year high at above $US1,800/oz and analysts are forecasting fresh highs in the months ahead.

The yellow metal was trading around $US1,817/oz ($2,585/oz) Tuesday, according to metal prices website Kitco.

Analysts at Citigroup bank said in a report that gold prices could challenge their all-time high of $US1,910/oz in August 2011, and could well be on their way to the magic $US2,000/oz.

“It is only a matter of time for fresh highs in US dollars,” the Citigroup analysts said.

“Gold prices started off the week with a bang, pushing up to a fresh eight-year high at an area that has seen multiple resistance inflections over the past few weeks,” DailyFX gold strategist James Stanley said Tuesday.

Silver is also doing well and hit a four-year high on Monday of $US20.30/oz.

Bullish sentiment

Australian gold companies are benefiting from higher gold prices and bullish sentiment around the metal.

WA gold producer Pantoro (ASX:PNR) saw a 13 per cent leap in its share price Tuesday to 26c as it intersected a high-grade gold mineralisation at its Sailfish prospect in Norseman, Western Australia.

Pantoro (ASX:PNR) share price chart

Drilling returned 9m at 67.28 grams per tonne (g/t) from 78m down hole in its maiden drilling campaign for its Norseman gold project.

The result confirms a historical intersection of 1.5m at 461.4g/t gold drilled by Western Mining in 1992.

Pantoro operates the Nicolsons and Wagtail gold mines in Halls Creek, part of its Halls Creek project that hosts a resource of 393,000oz of gold.

Lachlan Fold hotspot

Silver City Minerals’ (ASX:SCI) share price gained 6 per cent Tuesday to 18c on the completion of its acquisition of the Wellington copper-gold project in NSW’s Lachlan Fold Belt.

The Wellington project was acquired from Syndicate Minerals and is 15km south of Alkane Resources’ (ASX:ALK) Boda copper-gold discovery in the exploration hot spot of the Lachlan Fold Belt.

The base and precious metals explorer is exploring the Broken Hill lead-zinc-silver deposit in NSW.

Artemis Resources (ASX:ARV) has sold its 80 per cent stake in the Mt Clement gold project to its 20 per cent joint venture partner Northern Star Resources (ASX:NST) for $344,000.

The deal ends the joint venture, but Artemis retains a 1 per cent net smelter royalty for the project. Artemis intends to focus on its core gold projects in WA’s Pilbara region.

“The transaction represents another step in our ongoing non-core project divestment program,” Alastair Clayton, executive director, said.

SCI, ARV share price chart