The annual convention of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada kicked off with its signature commodities and market outlook talks on Sunday afternoon.
Analyst Andrew Keen of HSBC Securities in London described 2008 as "surprisingly bad" and 2009 as "surprisingly good" for metals prices and predicted that 2010 would see a 6.6% rise in metals demand.
He argued that the best performing commodities would be contract iron ore, coking coal and platinum, and he's wary of lead and copper.
Keen pointed to US$4 billion in cash costs had been taken out of the operations of the world's biggest miners in the past couple of years, allowing for these companies to be "hit with a wall of cash" as metals prices continue to strengthen.
Economist Martin Murenbeeld of DundeeWealth Economics sees gold prices continuing to perform well for the next five years as governments around the world continue to engage in reflation.
He emphasized that the "single most important thing for gold is global liquidity."
Noting that the 1980 peak in gold prices at US$850 per oz. would equal US$2,385 per oz. in today's money, Murenbeeld predicted that gold will average US$1,172 per oz. this year, and end it at US$1,234 per oz. before heading higher in 2011 as investment demand becomes "the next big thing