Gold price soars past $4,700: project economics lens for mine planners
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan
First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Gold surged to a record $4,749.84/oz on Tuesday, up nearly 8% year-to-date, while silver hit an all-time high of $95.89/oz after tripling over the past year, as investors moved into safe havens amid US–Europe tensions over President Trump’s push to take control of Greenland and threats of tariffs on eight opposing European nations. The rally builds on gold’s strongest annual performance since 1979, supported by falling US interest rates, central bank buying and expectations of two 25 bps Federal Reserve cuts from mid‑2026. Major banks now see gold reaching $4,800–$5,000/oz by mid‑year, but a Bank of America survey finds fund managers calling it the “most crowded trade”, signalling growing caution on further upside.
Technical Brief
- Spot gold’s intraday move on Tuesday reached +1.4%, peaking at $4,749.84/oz before easing.
- Silver’s fresh record print was $95.89/oz, with an intraday gain of almost 25% year‑to‑date.
- Price action accelerated after Trump threatened tariffs on eight specific European nations over Greenland control plans.
- Market focus now shifts to Davos meetings, where Greenland-related negotiations could trigger further volatility spikes.
- Saxo Bank strategist Ole Hansen attributes the surge to investors de-risking away from “financial assets alone”.
- Gold’s current run follows its strongest annual performance since 1979, indicating unusually extended bullish momentum.
- Derivatives pricing via Reuters implies two 25 bps Fed cuts from mid‑2026 already embedded in curves.
- A Bank of America fund manager survey flags gold as the “most crowded trade”, warning of positioning risk.
Our Take
With gold already having logged a year-to-date gain above 70% by late 2025 in our database, the additional ~8% rise in 2026 to mid-year suggests sustained safe-haven and central-bank demand rather than a short-lived spike, which will influence long-term hedging and reserve valuation for gold producers.
Silver’s tripling in price over the past year to a record $95.89/oz, alongside earlier records in copper noted in December 2025 coverage, signals that multi-commodity portfolios (gold–silver–copper) held by majors such as Rio Tinto and Vale are now far more leveraged to volatility in macro and geopolitical risk than in prior cycles.
Across the 686 Mining stories in our coverage, only a handful focus on gold and silver at these kinds of extreme price levels, implying that project studies and M&A models using conservative long-term price decks may now materially understate the economic case for marginal gold and polymetallic deposits in the USA and Brazil.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
CMRR-io
Streamline coal mine roof stability assessments with our cloud-based CMRR software featuring automated calculations, multi-scenario analysis, and collaborative workflows.
HYDROGEO-io
Comprehensive hydrogeological testing platform for managing, analysing, and reporting on packer tests, lugeon values, and hydraulic conductivity assessments.
GEODB-io
Centralised geotechnical data management solution for storing, accessing, and analysing all your site investigation and material testing data.