I don’t see the US dollar surging and creating a headwind for gold anytime soon. In this environment, Gander Gold (GAND) is worth a look given recent developments at its primary Newfoundland project, writes Gwen Preston, editor of Resource Maven.
The second week of the month delivers two reports that are, in today’s rates and inflation-focused environment, critical. First, we got the April jobs report, which did not give the Fed any reason to cut rates. Nonfarm payrolls increased 253,000, well above the 185,000 expected. And job growth was broad-based, from health care to hospitality.
Then we saw the CPI print for April, which came in just as expected. Inflation came in at 4.9% annually, down slightly from 5.0% in March and the first sub-5% reading in two years. So, inflation is slowly declining, but is still much higher than most people – including the Federal Reserve – want.
Meanwhile, gold has made itself comfortable around $2,030 per ounce. The US dollar is helping gold rise. After rising to highs not seen since the tech bubble last fall, the dollar dropped into January as Camp Pivot made headway. Then it rose again from January to late March as it became clear a near-term pivot on rates was not in the cards. 
Since late March the US Dollar Index has slipped again. A weaker dollar always helps gold gain.
As for GAND, surface work on its Mount Peyton project in Newfoundland provided the company with some news last week. The work consisted of 13,000 soil samples, airborne geophysical surveys, and structural analysis.
The latest data from this effort focused on the Golden Horseshoe zone, which is located in the southwest corner of Mount Peyton. Golden Horseshoe spans 15 kilometres along a northsouth axis and 10 kilometres from east to west.
The majority of the higher-grade soil samples from the project have come from Golden Horseshoe – the target has generated a sample grading as high as 0.63 g/t gold. This target and the previously outlined Goldenrod target will receive the lion’s share of exploration work at Mount Peyton through the balance of 2023.
Another target that may see work is an emerging zone on the east-central portion of the project, which lies close to the Dog 16 Bay Line and Appleton Fault Structures. Gold and pathfinder element anomalies on this target align with potential splays of that system.
Mount Peyton is one among several projects that GAND controls in Newfoundland. All are at a relatively early stage of exploration, so it can be hard to tell which may stand out as exploration progresses. For right now though, Mount Peyton certainly looks like one of the more interesting projects in GAND’s stable.
