Gold Glitters, Uranium Surges: US$2,000 Reached and US$80 Passed After 15 Long Years

The prices of gold and uranium recently climbed to unprecedented levels, showcasing a rare bull market in mining stocks. A week ago, on August 30th of 2020, gold prices broke the US$2000 mark for the first time in history. This surge was driven largely by investor demand amidst economic turbulence caused by global lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The increasingly negative outlook on global economies pushed investors towards gold, which is typically a safe haven asset during uncertain economic times. A full week after the gold prices spiked, so did uranium prices. The nuclear fuel’s spot price closed at US$80 on September 7th, a level attained for the first time in fifteen years. This surge was largely attributed to the significant disruptions affecting the global uranium industry. The events include the closure of a Japanese uranium conversion plant, the canceled development of a Tanzanian uranium mine and a collective assessment from a number of Canadian uranium mining operations. With investors seeking safe havens in gold, and uranium becoming increasingly scarce, mining stocks from both resources have seen significant increases in value. Market indices such as the NYSEARCA Gold Miner and Uranium Miners ETF, for instance, have both experienced Triple-digit percentage gains this year compared to their respective downfalls in 2019. As of today, uranium prices remain at around the US$80 mark, while gold prices continue their run to historic highs of US$2070 per ounce. Moving forward, however, it is hard to tell the direction these commodity prices will move. It is possible that as investor sentiment changes, so too will the prices of gold and uranium. Overall, the recent surge in gold and uranium prices highlights how the metals and mining sectors are reacting to the economic turmoil caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. With gold seen to be a safe haven asset and uranium becoming increasingly scarce, mining stocks of both resources have soared in value this year. The direction these commodity prices move in the future, however, continues to remain a mystery.