(Kitco News) - The conflict between the Global West and the Global East, and the outcome of the US election could see the United States isolated, said John Kaiser, founder of Kaiser Research Online. That would accelerate de-dollarization, which would be good for gold.
In mid-January Kaiser spoke to Kitco Mining at the Metals Investors Forum Vancouver 2024.
“I think the case for gold now is you buy gold, not bitcoin, as a hedge against this uncertainty about the future,” Kaiser said. He noted the East-West divide benefits the junior resource sector, “because we're no longer relying on the supply of metal from these places that dominate, because we're basically at war with them.”
Kaiser continues to be bullish on battery metals.
“I don't think the EV sector is going away,” he said. “Even if we have an administration in the United States that is hostile to the energy transition goals and is trying to pump gasoline and fossil-fuel-type stuff, this trend is in place, it's happening, and right now it's kind of a buying opportunity to look at these battery metal companies.”
According to Kaiser, two things need to happen in the junior resource space. One is for investors to have a longer-term view of projects. The other is for a large discovery to be made that re-energizes the sector.
“The big change that I think needs to happen is the attitude of investors that you drill today you have a discovery hole tomorrow. That has to go,” he said. “There has to be a longer-term attitude, where we even drill holes to vector, to build the three-dimensional geological case as to where we should ultimately put our sniper shot.”
“What this market needs is a big discovery, where it doesn't matter what the metal price is doing today or tomorrow, but it's what is the grade and size of the deposit that's emerging?” said Kaiser.