Total assets under management (AUMs) in gold-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) hit record highs of $271 billion in 2024, according to the World Gold Council (WGC).
This represented a 26% year-on-year increase and was driven by a soaring bullion price.
The yellow metal hit new all-time highs on 40 occasions last year, the WGC noted. Over the whole year, gold appreciated 26% in value to around $2,629 per ounce.
Source – Forbes
Central banks worldwide are on track to buy 1,000 metric tons of gold in 2025, which would be their fourth year of massive purchases as they diversify reserves from dollar-denominated assets into bullion, consultancy Metals Focus said.
The price rally has so far kept purchases by central banks, a crucial category of demand, unaffected with the first-quarter buying in line with the 2022-24 quarterly average, Metals Focus said in its annual report on Thursday.
Jewelry demand for bullion has been hit hard by the price rally. Gold jewelry fabrication fell 9% to 2,011 tons in 2024 and is expected to deliver a 16% slump this year with India and China accounting for much of this decline.
Source – Reuters
Riversgold Ltd has exercised its option to acquire an 80% interest in the Kalgoorlie Gold Project’s Northern Zone in Western Australia after meeting the required A$600,000 minimum exploration expenditure.
Exploration efforts have identified a significant blind porphyry gold system, with widths of up to 600 metres and mineralisation extending beyond 400 metres in depth.
Source – Proactive Investors
Glencore owns the Mutanda copper cobalt mine and has 75% stake in Kamoto Copper Company leaving the mines value at $6.8 billion dollars.
The full article is published under Financial Times. I am unable to share more info on this topic but please check out the link.
Costco offers members an opportunity to purchase one-ounce gold bars in the store, online or via their app. The retailer offers gold bullion bars, 1-ounce bars and coins in different designs. As of February 2025, Costco offers the following gold products:
- 1 oz. gold bar PAMP Suisse Lady Fortuna Veriscan
- 1 oz. gold bar Rand Refinery (online only)
- 2025 1 oz. American Buffalo gold coin
- 1 oz. gold bar PAMP / Newmont Lady of Liberty (online only)
- 100-gram gold bar Rand Refinery
Costco’s selection comes from authorized dealers and reputable mints. However, as Costco members are accustomed to, offerings and availability may change.
Costco marks up its cost for gold by roughly 2%. Markup is common practice among gold dealers and retailers, and 2% is on the low end of industry standards.
Source – CBS News
Although the high gold-silver ratio might suggest that silver has been a laggard, that is far from the case. Silver has rallied 43% in the past year, and gold has been just a bit better with a 44% gain. This year, using popular exchange traded funds as a gauge, iShares Silver Trust (SLV) is up 10% and SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is up 11%.
Source – Barron’s
Stocks recoiled on Wednesday, while safe-haven gold held near record highs as a nervous world awaited details of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff plans and investors fretted about the risks of an intensifying global trade war.
“Whatever’s announced today, I doubt very much will be the framework that’s in place in, say, nine months’ time because we know there’ll be negotiations around this,” Daiwa Capital economist Chris Scicluna said.
“It’s very difficult to predict with any confidence what the ultimate impact is going to be, whether broadly, economically, in terms of rates or in terms of stock markets,” he said.
“Investors are hoping for some clarity, and perhaps the start of the deal-making phase. But tariffs are already weighing on business sentiment, and this will probably feed through into lower global economic activity in the coming months,” said Ben Bennett, Asia-Pacific investment strategist at Legal & General Investment Management.
Source – Reuters