Gold Pausing Before Lift Off, Copper Gaining Steam

Rob McEwen of McEwen Mining (TSX:MUX,NYSE:MUX) and Michael Meding of McEwen Copper joined the Investing News Network to discuss recent news from their respective companies and to share their advice for investors.

Setting the stage, McEwen said he thinks the price of gold is at a seasonal low and is poised to move up in the fall.

“If you look at the seasonality of gold, the summer is often a point of less interest and weaker prices,” he said. “I would expect as we move to September, October we’re going to see the price climbing — I don’t believe interest rates are going to cause a permanent softness in the price. I think it could be temporary; the trajectory for gold is higher through September, October.”

Despite setbacks at the beginning of the year, McEwen said McEwen Mining is due to meet its annual guidance of 150,000 to 170,000 gold equivalent ounces. The company’s H1 output came in at about 66,000 gold equivalent ounces.

For his part, Meding spoke about McEwen Copper’s updated preliminary economic assessment for the Los Azules copper project in Argentina. He described the asset as a “mine for the future,” and highlighted the efforts the company is making to lower its carbon footprint and water consumption. He expects these qualities to appeal to future end users.

“I think people are more and more ESG focused — they want to have ethical production, they want to have low-environmental-footprint production,” said Meding, adding that companies may eventually be able to charge a premium for “green copper” produced with renewable energy and with low carbon emissions. “We are prepared to deliver that.”

In closing, McEwen shared his advice for investors, encouraging them to look at key commodities.

“I would suggest that (investors) think of adding to their portfolio exposure to foods and grains, to energy and to precious metals — there are many vehicles to do that in, and it depends on your risk profile,” he commented. “But we’re going to need all of those, and if we get into an inflationary environment the prices of all of those are going up.”

Watch the interview above for more from McEwen and Meding on gold and copper.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.

Editorial Disclosure: The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.