Gold

India’s central bank plans to ask lenders to follow stricter underwriting processes for gold loans and monitor the end-use of funds as it tries to cool growth in the fast-growing segment, seven people, including industry sources and those aware of the regulator’s thinking, said.

“The RBI wants to ensure that the entities are following a standard protocol and any growth in the gold loan sector is not out of bounds,” one of the sources aware of the central bank’s thinking, said.

Source – Reuters

Mali said on Wednesday it was suspending licenses for foreign artisanal gold mining companies after a series of fatal accidents in the West African country, one of Africa’s top three gold producers.

Gen. Assimi Goita, president of Mali’s transitional government, ordered “the suspension of artisanal mining permits granted to foreigners,” according to a statement issued following a Council of Ministers meeting.

“These measures are designed to further strengthen the state authorities and protect our fellow citizens. These measures give us the power to seize materials (mining equipment), which will be confiscated and placed in the domain of national heritage,” Gen. Daoud Ali Mohammedine, the minister of security and civil protection, said on ORTM.

Source – The Associated Press – Business News

“We have found hundreds of billions of dollars of fraud so far. And we’ve just started. We’re actually going to Fort Knox to see if the gold is there, because maybe somebody stole the gold. Tons of gold,” Trump said.

“I think the gold is probably there. It’s probably almost certainly there,” David Sacks, Trump’s crypto czar, told Fox News last week, though he still agreed with the president’s calls to investigate the matter.

“Nobody thinks this is a crazy idea to go check because we don’t know,” Sacks added, arguing that “we cannot fully trust that our gold is still in Fort Knox” because of the “corruption” in Washington.

Source – ABC News

Gold rose after President Donald Trump delivered on threats to hit Canada and Mexico with sweeping tariffs and doubled a charge on China, spurring swift reprisals.

Bullion climbed above $2,915 an ounce as Beijing announced 15% duties on some American farm goods, including cotton. Geopolitics was also in the spotlight after the US paused all military aid to Ukraine.

Spot gold rose 0.8% to $2,914.45 an ounce at 10:45 a.m. in London. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2%. Silver and palladium gained, while platinum was little changed.

Source – Bloomberg

Mako Mining Corp. presents a compelling investment opportunity as a low-cost, high margin gold producer with strong operational momentum, optionality in exploration potential, management excellence and imminent catalysts supported by a clean balance sheet.

With gold price hovering around $2,900/oz as of March 2025—more than double San Albino’s all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of $1,370/oz—Mako Mining is well positioned to generate sustainable cash flow which the management can put into work to grow the company’s production with a high ROIC or credible M&A (the company management showed their capital allocation excellence multiple times).

Source – Seeking Alpha

The US is moving towards sound money movement

“Everything else that could function as money has been saddled with taxes and disincentives,” Jp Cortez explained, emphasizing how the current monetary system traps people in the Federal Reserve’s fiat currency.

“Ten years ago, only a handful of states were considering sound money policies. Last year, more than 27 states introduced over 65 bills related to sound money.”

Source – Money Metals

Sound money – refers to a reliable and stable medium of exchange that maintains its value over time.