Australian mining company Evolution Gold executive chairperson Jake Klein predicted during his speech at the Diggers and Dealers conference on Tuesday that the gold rally is far from over and prices will continue to climb next year.

Reflecting on his predictions from the past two years, Klein stated, “I am going for a hat-trick. The gold price will again be higher in 2025.”

He referenced Citigroup research, which forecasts the base case for gold to be between $2 700/oz and $3 000/oz in 2025. “I think they’re right. Maybe even a little conservative.”

Gold prices surged this year, hitting an all-time high in July of $2 482/oz.

Klein also touched on copper, which contributes about 30% to Evolution’s revenue. “The copper story takes much less convincing because it is so compelling as the world transitions to renewable energy and electric vehicles,” he noted.

Despite soaring prices, there is disconnect in the market with gold stocks underperforming the gold price.

“There is no doubt that some of this has been caused by company missteps, but a large contributing factor sits at a macro level,” Klein said, expressing concern that investors and analysts were using paradigms and valuation models which were applicable to a world that no longer existed.

Klein highlighted three long-term structural shifts that he believes have fundamentally changed the world, impacting gold prices and the mining industry. Firstly, a shift in market capitalisation. Thirty years ago, the five largest companies in the world had a combined market capitalisation of $270-billion, none of which were technology companies. Today, the five largest companies are all technology firms, with a combined market capitalisation exceeding $1-trillion. “This means the entire mining industry is about one-third the size of Apple, a single company,” Klein emphasised.

“While our industry has grown, our relative importance has reduced; a fund manager in New York or London today is much more interested in the next emerging technology than in resources. That said, as everyone here knows, the irony is that the technology sector is completely dependent on the metals we mine for their products.”

Secondly, Klein noted the shift from globalisation to nationalism and tribalism, with geopolitical tensions rising. “The world has effectively decoupled, and aligned democracies are confronting an increasingly aligned China, Russia, Iran, and North Korean bloc,” he explained.

The third shift, Klein said, was the ongoing challenge of attracting talent to the mining industry, which was often overshadowed by the tech sector. “Mining just isn’t seen as cool, and university enrollments in critical faculties are not where they need to be,” he said.

Despite these challenges, Klein remains optimistic about the future of gold. He pointed out that the price of gold in Australian dollars was currently over A$3 700/oz, a significant increase from less than A$500/oz when he started in the industry. “It's likely to go higher. Investors should be high-fiving and cheering from the rafters,” he said.

In closing, Klein stressed the need for the mining industry to adapt to this new world, highlighting the importance of product mix, long-life assets, and attracting top talent.

“We must be more confident, optimistic, and proud of all the great things our industry is doing,” he said.