Gold prices soared to new all-time highs of more than $2,570 an ounce and silver surpassed the $30 an ounce milestone during trading Thursday — and miners did even better.
The VanEck Gold Miners ETF ($GDX) posted a one-day gain of 1.82 to 39.21, a 4.87% increase, and the ETF’s junior-focused brother ($GDXJ) jumped 2.96 to 47.59, posting an even better 6.63% gain on the day.
Leading the way
The top mover in mining on Thursday was Coeur Mining ($CDE), an Illinois-headquartered company that operates mines in North America and explores for gold, silver, zinc and lead. On Thursday, its stock rose 1.10 to 6.85, a one-day gain of 19.13% that added to an already impressive run that has seen the share price more than double since the beginning of 2023.
Canadian miner B2gold gained about $500 million in market capitalization Thursday when its stock price rose 0.36 to 3.10, an increase of 13.14%. After trading hours, the company released a note announcing its Goose Project site in Nunavut had completed its planned construction for 2024. The mine is expected to produce 310,000 ounces of gold each year in the first five years of operation. However, the company also stated it incurred a 23% spike in construction and development costs.
First Majestic Silver Corp. ($AG) had the third-largest one-day gain Thursday of miners, posting a 0.62 rise to 5.79, a 12% increase. The North American miner, as its ticker symbol would suggest, focuses on silver production in Mexico. The move provided a much-needed boost to share prices, which have seen a steady decline from a high of 8 over the past five months. Just this week, the company announced a share repurchasing program just one day after TD Ameritrade lower its price target of Majestic.
Lagging during the rally
While no precious metals mining companies with market capitalizations of more than $1 billion lost ground on Thursday, shares of AngloGold Ashanti ($AU) lagged in comparison to its peers, posting just a 2% gain.
On Wednesday, the global miner announced an intent to purchase Egyptian gold miner Centamin in a deal worth $2.5 billion. While Centamin’s shares jumped due to the premium on the sale, Anglo traded relatively flat, a trend that continued on Thursday.