Interesting read on gold This article contains values for 'in situ' gold. As gold values rise, silver will follow.
Copper prices? With diminishing resources and the dependency most industries have regarding copper, prices can only go higher. Depressed economies don't need copper? Eventually, grow will return as will the need for copper - Not pumping, just stating facts.
You will note, the values for gold in this article differ greatly from recent gold price discussion here.
Excerpt from article
"A year ago, we reviewed the top dozen producers in the world and compared them to the two top Chinese producers. Since then, the Chinese producers have bulked up and it is noticeable that the western producers remain stagnant which is an opportunity for the Chinese. Indeed, the market cap per ounce of in-situ reserves has declined 25 percent from $463 an ounce to $347 an ounce while the gold price has gone up. Of interest is that the top twelve companies control more than 90 percent of the world's in-situ reserves.
We believe the owners of those gold deposits represent the only source of new supplies of gold. Thus, given the geo-political uncertainties and cheap gold shares, we believe that these producers are well placed and it makes sense for Chinese investors to take a position in some or all of the key players, giving them a strategic access to a valuable and scarce commodity in the ground. Barrick, for example has 140 million ounces in reserves and is the largest producer in world. Barrick will remain front and center but could use Chinese help to expand and develop its vast reserves in the ground.
Indeed, looking at prices paid for reserves, there is an opportunity for Chinese companies given the fact that market cap per reserves in the ground is now at $347 an ounce or 20 percent of today's gold price. We believe that reserves can be bought for as little as $100 an ounce. If one adds the $600 cost per ounce, gold mining acquisitions could be extremely profitable, even today. Consequently we believe the cheap valuation of the western companies will not last, particularly given that Chinese companies can avail themselves of lower cost financing and market access. Indeed from a longer term standpoint, we can see that the capital of the East will be used to finance western capital intensive projects, where cheap financing will lower overall costs."
https://www.safehaven.com/print/27542/gold-to-infinity-and-beyond