Value of stored gold, silver at the Perth Mint storms past $5bn mark

Gold prices soared to new heights on Monday, punching through the $US1,700 ($2,615) per ounce mark as investors seek their traditional safe haven away from the market chaos driven by the COVID-19 outbreak.

It should come as little surprise then that for the first time, the value of gold, silver and platinum stored on behalf of clients at the Perth Mint has now exceeded $5bn.

Almost 50 tonnes of gold and 1,020 tonnes of silver are now stored at the Mint’s facilities, which will no doubt spark off a number of heist plans.

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Perth Mint chief executive officer Richard Hayes says that investors are looking to gold as a safe haven asset to protect their wealth thanks to the volatility of the market.

“We expect fears about COVID-19 and its impact on the world economy could support the price of gold into the foreseeable future,” he added.

“The increased demand for precious metal we are experiencing is welcome news for a vital sector of Australia’s economy, the gold mining industry, whose output we refine into internationally sought-after products.”

This interest in gold also extends to the ASX small caps that are actively exploring.

Kin Mining (ASX:KIN) has confirmed that near-surface, high-grade gold mineralisation is present at both the Comedy King and Lewis East prospects at the Cardinia project near Leonora after completing a re-assay of samples generated from drilling in December 2019.

Top results include 3m at 12.1 grams per tonne (g/t) gold from 21m at Comedy King and 11m at 5.28g/t gold from 20m including 4m at 12.4g/t gold from 26m at Lewis East.

Further assays from the remaining 1m split samples, which allow for better definition of mineralised zones than the usual 4m composite samples, are expected in the coming weeks from the Comedy King, Lewis East and Lewis West prospects.

A full interpretation of recent and previous drilling will be completed ahead of follow-up drilling that will begin later this month.

Meanwhile, trenching at the Umuna East target within Kingston Resources’ (ASX:KSN) Misima gold project in Papua New Guinea has returned a top hit of 3.5m at 12.31g/t gold within a broader interval of 5.5m at 8.16g/t gold.

Importantly for the company, the area has not been previously tested by drilling, making it a good candidate for further testing.

It also highlights the ongoing success of Kingston’s campaign to identify areas of shallow mineralisation for potential early-stage, starter pit mill feed.

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Kingston is currently drilling the Ewatinona and Abi prospects within the Quartz Mountain area to potentially upgrade and expand the existing 220,000oz resource at Ewatinona, and expects to carry out follow-up drilling at Umuna East after that is completed.

The interest in gold has also provided support for Anglo Australian’s (ASX:AAR) $5.5m share placement, which has resulted in several Australian and international resources-focused institutions participating as cornerstone investors.

Proceeds from the placement of 55 million shares priced at 10c each will underpin the company’s expanded exploration and resource drilling programs.

This includes a 30,000m reverse circulation and diamond drilling program at the Mandilla project near Kalgoorlie, Western Australia.