Shallow, High-Grade Gold Mineralisation Intersected at Barimaia Gold

On a more granular level, the resource sector saw a 0.6 percent gain in August, led by 1.5 percent increase in oil and gas. Meanwhile, mining and quarrying posted a 0.7 percent increase, marking a fifth month in a row of gains. Iron ore mining increased 4.7 percent, while there was a 2.8 percent increase in copper, nickel, lead and zinc mining.

South of the border, three key releases this week painted a mixed picture of the US economy before a divisive presidential election on November 5, and the US Federal Open Market Committee’s meeting on November 6 and 7.

First, on Wednesday (October 30), the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) released advanced GDP estimates for Q3. The data shows the pace of economic growth in the US may be slowing, posting a 2.8 percent increase, down from the 3.0 registered in the second quarter of the year. The numbers fell short of analysts’ expectations of 3.1 percent.

This was followed by the BEA’s release of September’s personal consumption expenditures price index data on Thursday. The index is the favored indicator of inflation by the US Federal Reserve in making its rate policy decisions. Data for the month showed a 0.2 percent month-on-month increase and was in line with analysts’ expectations. On a yearly basis the data indicated 2.1 percent growth to inflation, down from 2.6 percent just six months ago.

Lastly, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics released its October employment situation summary on Friday. The data indicates nonfarm payrolls remained virtually unchanged, with just 12,000 jobs added during the month — that’s well short of the 110,000 expected by analysts. Unemployment remained at 4.1 percent, with 7 million people unemployed.

The agency notes that while disappointing, the lower figures are likely temporary as it’s the first labor force survey conducted since the dual impacts of hurricanes Helene and Milton. The bureau also said the collection period for October was toward the shorter end of the usual 10 to 16 days and likely had a larger influence on its data.

Gold continued to set new highs, climbing to US$2,787.04 per ounce on Wednesday before falling to US$2,733.88 on Friday at 4:00 p.m. EDT. Silver also remained elevated, trading as high as US$34.41 per ounce on Wednesday before regressing to US$32.44 on Friday. Copper was largely flat, closing at US$4.39 per pound on the COMEX.

More broadly, the S&P GSCI (INDEXSP:SPGSCI) fell 1.27 percent to close at 534.79.

Markets were in decline this week, with the S&P 500 (INDEXSP:INX) shedding 1.8 percent to finish at 5,728.81, and the Nasdaq-100 (INDEXNASDAQ:NDX) declining 2.06 percent to close Friday at 20,033.14. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX:.DJI) fell 0.5 percent to reach 42,052.18.

Find out how the five best-performing Canadian mining stocks performed against that backdrop.