Gold retains strength as US economy concerns offset vaccine hopes

Gold prices remain strong as ongoing concerns about the US economy offset drug maker Moderna’s “positive” phase-one results for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

Spot gold is currently trading at $US1,745.20 per ounce, or about $2,665.80 in Australian dollars, after testing a near seven-year high of $US1,764.73 an ounce.

Moderna reported on Monday that participants in its vaccine trial had developed antibodies against the virus at levels reaching or exceeding the levels seen in people who had naturally recovered from COVID-19.

While this offers some hope for a faster economic recovery by easing pandemic fears, Kitco News reported Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell as saying that the US central bank will use its full range of tools to support the country’s economy.

He added that both the Reserve and Congress might have to do more before the crisis was over, saying that economic data for the current quarter showed “a sharp drop in output and an equally sharp rise in unemployment”.

Meanwhile, silver continues to pack in the gains, rising 0.19 per cent to $US17.38 per ounce while platinum rose 0.84 per cent to $US841.25 per ounce.

Palladium dipped 0.29 per cent to $US2,028 per ounce.

ASX small cap gold companies

Vango Mining (ASX:VAN) has hit the million-ounce-mark after upgrading resources for its Marymia gold project in Western Australia’s Mid-West region.

Importantly, not only does the new resource represent a 53 per cent increase over its previous resource estimate, two thirds of it sits in the higher confidence indicated category.

Indicated resources have enough grade continuity and geological certainty for mine planning.

Further drilling is planned to test major resource upside potential as the current resources are sourced predominantly from three of the six identified mineralised corridors and to a depth of less than 250m.

Ora Banda Mining (ASX:OBM) has received high-grade results from its ongoing regional exploration program in Western Australia’s Eastern Goldfields region.

Drilling at the Flame prospect within the Golden Lode corridor returned results of 2m at 19.22 grams per tonne (g/t) gold, 9m at 5.53g/t gold from 64m, including 7m at 6.9g/t gold, and 3m at 8.19g/t gold.

Results from the Young Australian prospect within the Mulline corridor were also intriguing with a top hit of 4m at 10.78g/t gold from a depth of 44m.

At Golden Eagle, drilling returned 5.3m at 3.46g/t from a depth of 343.2m including 2.3m at 7.5g/t gold and 2.1m at 12.93g/t gold from 350.9m.

Meanwhile, Rumble Resources’ (ASX:RTR) drilling has identified multiple high-grade gold shoots at the Western Queen project in the Yalgoo mineral field of Western Australia.

Notable results are 4.7m at 6.06g/t from 485.5m including 0.7m at 26.6g/t gold from 488.3m at Western Queen Central and a new intersection of 8m at 7.22g/t from 49m at Western Queen Central North.

Drilling also provided the company with a greater geological understanding of the controlling structures and deposition styles associated with the high-grade gold mineralisation.