Editorial: Gold, copper declines start to bite

The dog days of summer are upon us in North America, and this year for the mining industry the biggest dogs are gold and copper — the two leading precious and base metals, which have seen precipitous price drops in the face of a strong U.S. dollar and U.S. Treasuries in mid-2018. As we go to press on Aug. 14, the spot price for gold has slumped below the long-held US$1,200 per oz. support line, and rests at US$1,194.10 per oz., after regularly plowing through a series of one-year lows. That’s down US$46.90 from 30 days ago, and off US$87.50 from a year ago. The signs don’t look good in the short term, with gross Comex short positions for gold at a record high in mid-August and the trade-weighted U.S. dollar at a 13-month high — propelled even higher in recent weeks, as Turkey’s economic and lira crisis deepens. Continue reading at The Northern Miner.