First Quantum decision suggests movement to resolve investor dispute with Central American government
Canada’s First Quantum Minerals on Monday said it was stepping back from a multibillion-dollar arbitration demand against Panama’s government over the closing of one of the world’s largest copper mines.
Source – Financial Times
Physically backed gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) registered the largest quarterly inflow in three years in January-March, 2025, data from the World Gold Council (WGC) showed on Tuesday.
Investors seeking shelter from political and economic volatility were moving into gold ETFs, which store bullion for investors, in the first quarter.
Gold ETFs saw an inflow of 226.5 metric tons worth $21.1 billion in the first quarter, the largest amount since the first quarter of 2022, when global markets were grappling with the immediate consequences of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Source – Reuters
UBS and Commerzbank raised their gold price forecasts on Friday, joining other investment banks as investors drive the safe-haven metal to record highs amid the economic uncertainty sparked by U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies.
Trump’s tariffs have roiled financial markets, stoking fears of inflation and a global recession. While he has paused most duties, he has hiked those on China to 145%, prompting Beijing to lift its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.
“We expect gold’s rally to extend into next year and for prices to stabilise at higher levels further out,” UBS analysts said in a note
Source – Reuters
Investors are increasingly seeking safe-haven in hard assets like gold, silver, copper and platinum, historically viewed as stores of value in times of financial uncertainty, Saxo Bank’s Ole Hansen says in a note.
Source – Wall Street Journal
Futures (in finance) – Are contracts to buy or sell a specific underlying asset at a future date.
Vicuña Corp, a joint venture of Australia’s BHP and Canada’s Lundin Mining (LUN.TO), opens new tab, on Thursday said it was extending the useful life of its Josemaria copper, gold and silver project in Argentina by six years.
It attributed the longer useful life of the mine, now 25 years instead of 19 years previously, to higher levels of exploitable resources.
Vicuña also predicted an ore processing rate at the site, located in Argentina’s north-western San Juan province, near the Chilean border, at 175,000 metric tons per day.
Source – Reuters
“We’re going to go into Fort Knox to make sure the gold is there… do you know about that?” Trump said to a reporter aboard Air Force One, according to a video posted to X by Musk.
“We hope everything is fine with Fort Knox, but we’re going to go into Fort Knox, the fabled Fort Knox, to make sure the gold is there.”
“If the gold isn’t there, we’re going to be very upset,” Trump said.
Then-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., visited the vaults in 2017. They reported that, despite various conspiracy theories, the gold was present.
Source – FOX News
The Missouri legislature has passed a bill that would allow the state government to accept gold and silver as payment for taxes and other transactions
The legislation, led by Republicans, would require state government entities to accept electronic versions of gold and silver, called “electronic specie currency,” as payment for taxes and public debts. The bill doesn’t require businesses to accept gold and silver as payment for private uses, but it would allow them to do so.
“The goal is about restoring economic and political freedom back to everyday Missourians,” state Rep. Bill Hardwick (R) said.
Source – Just The News
