Gold hits an all-time high above $2,500 and BHP and Lundin sign a $3.2 billion JV mega deal

Markets and metals were walloped by a late week sell-off, noted mining audiences manager Michael McCrae. 

On Saturday McCrae recorded Kitco Roundtable. 

Earlier in the week Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a press conference that a case could be made for a cut "as soon as the next meeting.”  The central bank’s dovish stance helped to propel gold prices to a new all-time high of $2,500 an ounce mid week. 

But the market was spooked about concerns that the Fed had been keeping interest rates to high for too long. Concerns were punctuated by the jobs report on Friday.  According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy created only 114,000 jobs last month. The data missed expectations, as economists were looking for job gains of around 176,000. The S&P 500 dropped nearly 4%, with most of the selling coming on Thursday and Friday. 

In mining news there was a major mining deal announced at the start of the week. Filo (TSX: FIL) announced today that it agreed to be acquired by BHP and Lundin Mining for $3.2 billion. 

BHP and Lundin Mining will form a Canadian joint venture into which the Filo del Sol copper-gold-silver project and the Josemaria copper-gold project.