First Class Metals

Default features description for sign up page.

Join our free monthly email newsletter - First Class Focus - to get the latest insight into work across our portfolio, access to all of our special reports, and much, much more…

Contact Us

Useful Resources

Company Presentation

Shareholder Information

Why Invest in UK-Listed Junior Mining & Exploration Companies

Investors

First Class Focus

Media

News Announcements

Zigzag (Li, Ta, Rb) Lithium & Critical Metal Exploration Project

Kerrs Gold Project | Ontario (Au) Gold Exploration Asset

Esa Project | (Au) Gold Exploration in Ontario Canada

Sunbeam (Au) Gold Exploration & Mining Project

North Hemlo (Au, Ni, Mo, Cu) Gold & Metal Exploration & Mining

Mining & Metal Exploration Projects Overview |

Naming our new projects

Pipeline Projects

Projects

Corporate Strategy | First Class Metals Exploration Plan

ESG Policies | Responsible Metal Mining & Exploration

Board & Management | First Class Metals Leadership Team

Corporate

Overview page 2

UK Listed Junior Mining Company | Gold & Metal Exploration

Poppins

Things are changing so rapidly in the macro world right now.
 
It’s even more difficult than usual for investors to discern what price trends to focus on. Especially given the uncertain backdrop for monetary policy and the threat of a GFC-style banking crisis looming large.
 
One area of the market that does seem to have a clear (not to mention promising) outlook at the moment, however, is gold. And given our portfolio’s prospectivity for the precious metal, we’re keeping a very keen eye on where things are headed.
 
With this in mind, I thought this week’s newsletter would offer a good opportunity to take a look in more detail…
 
A strong direction of travel 
So, what’s actually going on with gold?
 
Well, its price had more or less settled through January and February after spiking last year in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, investors have been pouring into the precious metal since the beginning of this month.
 
There’s a hell of a lot of chatter online about the intricacies of why this is happening. But to keep things (relatively) simple, it really boils down to two factors.
 
First, gold is well established as a safe haven asset during times of economic uncertainty and/or volatility.
 
So, with the collapse of SVB along with UBS’ purchase of its unsteady rival Credit Suisse in an emergency rescue deal raising the possibility of a full-blown global banking crisis…the metal has, quite understandably, re-entered the spotlight.
 
Second, the market has also been forced to change its outlook for US interest rates.
 
The Fed has been steadily increasing these for some time now. And generally, as interest rates increase, gold’s attractiveness moves in the opposite direction as the opportunity cost of holding it soars. This is because it doesn’t yield holders a return like cash deposits or equivalents do.
 
But while rates were once again increased last week to 4.75-5%, as expected, what was different this time around was the Fed’s Summary of Economic Projections.
 
This showed a lower than previous future hike trajectory. Specifically, the central bank now forecasts a terminal rate of just 5.1%–not much beyond the current range–as renewed banking stress helps to bring down inflation.
 
Long story short, it now looks like the end of the rate hiking cycle could arrive sooner rather than later.
 
So, what about price?
 
Well, gold touched US$2,000/oz early last week for the first time since the immediate aftermath of the Russia/Ukraine conflict.
 
In the sessions that have followed, it has fallen slightly due to better than expected US Initial Jobless Claims data and details of SVB’s emergency buyout by First Citizens Bank…
 
But it’s still up by around 10% since the start of the month. Likewise, March is set to be the first month of net inflows into gold ETFs in close to a year according to the FT.
 
You see, despite these short-term respites, many analysts believe the backdrop of wider banking contagion and dovish central bank policy could light a fire under gold for some time.
 
Indeed, Fitch Solutions sees the metal hitting its all-time high of $2,075/oz “in the coming weeks”, with prices “remaining elevated in the coming years compared to pre-Covid levels.”
 
Likewise, Nicky Shiels of MKS Pamp expects prices to extend to $2,200/oz while Tina Tend from CMC Markets believes US$2,500-US$2,600/oz is achievable moving forward.
 
Really, it’s impossible to tell how far things will actually go–at least without a crystal ball. But what is important here is that the expectation of long-term gold strength can provide a trigger for more buying across the whole sector.
 
Promising gold potential
The potential for soaring long-term interest in gold is what is particularly exciting for us at First Class Metals.
 
After all, our portfolio of exploration projects holds a great deal of potential for the precious metal in a proven, mining-friendly gold jurisdiction to boot.
 
Take our North Hemlo project, for example.
 
Not only is it located around 20km north of Barrick’s iconic 23Moz producing gold mine…but we also recently announced that we had identified a >3km-long gold and molybdenum anomalous trend on the property with grades of up to 19.6 g/t gold.
 
Likewise, there’s our Enable claim block, where we recently identified a new gold showing with significant silver and Esa/McKellar, which contains historical gold samples.
 
And of course, there’s Sunbeam, which contains a historical high-grade gold mine that has been large unexplored for more than 100 years and is open in all directions and at depth. Learn more about our plans for the Sunbeam project here.
 
The list of projects goes on, and I refer you to our newly redesigned website to learn more– https://www.firstclassmetalsplc.com.
 
But the key message here is that things are looking highly positive for gold, and if we are able to continue learning more and more about our portfolio’s potential for the metal as we have done so far…
 
Then we’re looking at an excellent opportunity to maximise value for shareholders over the long-term.

Why we’re excited about renewed optimism in the gold market…