(Kitco News) – Nicole Adshead-Bell, Director of Cupel Advisory, says gold’s recent correction is not a warning sign but part of a healthy ongoing bull market. Speaking with Kitco Mining’s Digging Deep, she describes that markets were “due for a pullback,” adding that “everybody has to remember that it’s not always just a straight line up. In fact, when it gets a perpendicular straight line up, that’s normally a sell signal.”
Adshead-Bell said calmer markets allow for more disciplined decision-making. “This kind of environment, it’s just easier to be rational without the overt froth of a chart that is going up every single day,” she said. While some investors have reacted with fear, she said the correction presents an opportunity for those taking a longer-term view. “Panic buying and panic selling normally don’t result in longer-term outperformance.”
She added that the long-term case for gold remains strong as inflation lingers and faith in fiat currencies continues to erode. “It’d be quite scary if the average person woke up one day and actually got that their currency isn’t really backed by anything… there’s still a lot of inflation out there,” she said, noting that sustained cost pressures and government debt make gold a rational hedge.
Beyond gold, Adshead-Bell pointed to the return of institutional capital as a defining feature of the new mining cycle. In late October, JP Morgan Chase and Agnico Eagle Mines announced a joint investment in Perpetua Resources’ Stibnite Gold Project in Idaho, which she said underscores growing confidence in the sector. “The American government has sent very, very clear signals and is putting material hard dollars to work,” she said, and believes the deal “makes a lot of sense for JP Morgan.”
Adshead-Bell said Agnico Eagle takes a disciplined approach and has earned a reputation for consistency. “You can own that and sleep at night and not be concerned that you’re going to wake up and the next morning the company has done something really stupid,” she said. “It’s very good at building trust with the investing community.”
Turning to base metals, Adshead-Bell called 2025 copper’s “pinch year,” citing tightening supply and limited new development. “This is the first year that we’re projected to see a shortfall in primary supply,” she said. “The incentive price has to materially increase.”
She noted that large diversified miners have been reluctant to build new projects until prices are high enough to offset risk. “Why would I make that decision to build? Am I going to get paid more? No. I’m just going to take on more risk.”
Adshead-Bell added that rational M&A will be key to unlocking value, saying developers like Altar and McEwen Copper “absolutely should get together.” She also expects uranium to benefit from the U.S. government’s October 28 announcement of an $80 billion strategic partnership with Westinghouse Electric, Cameco, and Brookfield Asset Management to accelerate the country’s nuclear reactor build-out. “You’ve got this firm, committed demand side of the equation,” she said, noting a widening gap between primary production and long-term reactor requirements.
Watch the full interview on the Kitco Mining YouTube channel as Nicole Adshead-Bell explains gold’s “healthy pullback,” copper’s tightening supply, and how disciplined investing will drive the next mining cycle.