Gold price holds above $4,300: planning implications for mine project teams
Reviewed by Tom Sullivan

First reported on MINING.com
30 Second Briefing
Gold held at $4,301/oz on the Comex December contract in New York after weaker US ADP jobs data (44,000 vs c.70,000 expected) and easing Middle East tensions cut the odds of a September Federal Reserve rate hike, following a 4% rally on Wednesday. Bullion is up about 25% year-on-year but still 23% below its late-January record near $5,600, while global Q2 gold demand fell to 942 tonnes as ETFs shed 45 tonnes and investment demand roughly halved. Central banks partly offset this with 289 tonnes of purchases, 1.6 times last year’s pace, supporting prices and lifting majors Agnico Eagle, Newmont and Barrick modestly.
Technical Brief
- Comex December gold contract traded at $4,301/oz at 14:38 New York time on 6 August.
- Oil prices dropped about 10% this week on progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz.
- ADP reported only 44,000 US private jobs added in July versus c.70,000 expected.
- Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook warned rates could still rise if inflation fails to cool.
- Agnico Eagle closed at $235.17, up 1.26%; Newmont at $105.38, up 1.09%.
- Barrick Mining gained 0.63%, finishing at $41.33 on the NYSE/TSX dual listing.
- Q2 global gold demand of 942 tonnes marked the weakest quarter since late 2021.
- Central banks bought 289 tonnes in Q2, about 1.6 times their year-earlier purchasing rate.
Our Take
Agnico Eagle Mines’ share price move here comes on top of a run of project and equity commitments in our database – including the $2.4 billion Hope Bay build and fresh stakes in Cadillac Mines and Wallbridge – suggesting it is positioning as one of the more growth‑levered names to sustained gold above $4,000/oz.
With central banks purchasing 289 tonnes of gold even as ETFs shed 45 tonnes, the demand mix in this piece reinforces what our broader gold coverage has shown this year: price support is increasingly coming from official-sector and strategic buyers rather than Western investment flows, which matters for producers like Newmont and Barrick when modelling cycle length.
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.
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