Freeport-McMoRan shares up 1.6%

A Malian court has adjourned to Thursday a hearing on whether to put Barrick Mining’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex under provisional administration, the court’s registry office and one of the lawyers involved told Reuters on Monday.

Granting the request would represent a major escalation of a dispute between the West African country and the Canadian miner after operations at the complex were suspended in January in a dispute over taxes and ownership.

Barrick has said it can only resume operations when the Malian government removes restrictions on gold exports.

The government has renegotiated agreements with other multinational miners under the new mining law. Four Barrick employees have been detained since November 2024 and an arrest warrant was issued for Chief Executive Mark Bristow in December 2024.

Source – Reuters

“During the last three days, gold is up over 8% and on pace for its largest three-day move since March 2020,” Bespoke Investment Group said in a note Friday morning. “Before that, you would have to go back to the financial crisis to find the last time it rallied as much in three days.”

“Gold may be catching a bid, but the dollar has floundered,” said Bespoke. “If you were looking for bonds to provide some ballast in your portfolio this week, you didn’t get it with Treasuries.”

Source – Market Watch

On Wednesday, ahead of the North American equity market open, Barrick Gold (NYSE: GOLD, TSX: ABX) reported a 69% increase in net earnings to $2.14 billion and a 51% rise in adjusted net earnings to $2.21 billion, significantly beating analyst expectations. The company also noted that its annual operating cash flow in 2024 increased by 20% to $4.49 billion, while free cash flow more than doubled to $1.32 billion.

Source – KITCO News

As economic uncertainty deepens worldwide, gold prices have notched more and more record highs.

The going price for New York spot gold hit a record $3,424.24 per troy ounce — the standard for measuring precious metals — as of close Monday. That’s about $1,097 higher than a year ago.

The price of spot gold is up more than 30% since the start of 2025, per the data firm FactSet. By contrast, the stock market has tumbled. The benchmark S&P 500 is down over 12% this year.

Gold futures also reached a record early Tuesday, briefly surpassing the $3,500 mark for the first time before falling closer to $3,444 by mid-morning.

Source – The Associated Press