Desert Gold, Barrick, D-Wave: Mining meets future technology – A new chapter in resource extraction

Desert Gold Announces New Drill Data with Potential for Resource Expansion

The gold price reached a level of USD 2,937 per troy ounce yesterday. Geopolitical uncertainties continue to make the precious metals market appear robust. High demand reflects gold's role as a safe haven in these times. Overall, the price of gold has risen by more than 40% in the last 12 months. Africa is home to 30% of the world's critical mineral reserves and has further valuable deposits of gold and other raw materials. African gold is becoming strategically more important, especially in the context of the expanding BRICS alliance.

To meet the continuing demand, it is worth taking a look at the explorer Desert Gold Ventures. Desert Gold's flagship project, the 440 km² SMSZ project, is located in Mali, Africa, and covers a 38-kilometre-long section of West Africa's prolific Senegal-Mali Shear Zone. This geological setting is associated with four world-class gold mines, including B2 Gold's Fekola mine, Barrick's Gounkoto and Loulo mines, and Allied Gold's Sadiola and Yatela mines.

The SMSZ project is one of the largest gold exploration projects in West Africa, covering an area of 440 km². To date, more than 20 open-ended gold zones have been identified that require further investigation, and numerous target areas remain to be explored. The SMSZ project has the potential to discover significant gold deposits comparable to the region's world-class gold mines.

Recent exploration work has yielded promising results, particularly from newly discovered historical drill data for the Mogoyafara South and Linnguekoto West deposits, which together comprise inferred mineral resources of 479,000 ounces of gold at a grade of 1.09 g/t gold. All in all, the outlook for Desert Gold is bright.

Barrick Gold: Agreement with Mali and a record year despite the mining conflict

Barrick Gold has settled the mining conflict with the Malian government, which has been simmering for two years. The Canadian mining giant will pay USD 438 million to Mali and in return will receive the return of confiscated gold, the release of detained employees, and permission to resume operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto mine. Shortly before the conflict began, the government issued a new mining code that provided for a higher state share of the revenues from mining - in this case, gold. The conflict even led to the closure of a Barrick-operated mine at the beginning of the year.

Regardless of this, Barrick Gold had a very successful financial year 2024 with significant increases in gold and copper production. The Company's net profit rose by 69% to USD 2.14 billion, while cash flow from operations grew by 20% to USD 4.49 billion. Free cash flow doubled to USD 1.32 billion. For the coming year, Barrick expects further production increases for both metals. In contrast to Barrick, however, Desert Gold Ventures is in a better position regarding the situation in Mali due to its excellent relations with the local authorities.

D-Wave Quantum: Revolutionary breakthrough in agriculture

The US quantum computer manufacturer D-Wave saw its share price rise by around 8.28% to EUR 6.10 per share following the announcement of a revolutionary quantum application for agriculture. Recently, the agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere caused a stir when it advocated the use of AI in agriculture. The world's granaries are exposed to a wide variety of data endpoints, including irrigation, sun, wind, storm, fertilization times, and harvest - the amounts of data are enormous. D-Wave, in collaboration with Staque Solutions, is using its quantum technology to increase agricultural productivity and optimize decision-making processes. The focus is on developing quantum-controlled robots that can accurately process fields. This could lead to a paradigm shift in agriculture, as the number of workers required could be reduced to a minimum.

This development should still be treated with caution. At the beginning of the year, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang emphasized that this technology is "decades away". But now Microsoft has recently presented its quantum computing Majorana 1 chip, which is said to be less prone to errors than competing products.

Companies like Microsoft and Alphabet are convinced that the practical application of quantum technology is closer than Jensen Huang's interpretation. This is a strong signal for investors to keep a close eye on developments in quantum computing, as they could fundamentally change not only agriculture but also numerous other sectors.

As an explorer, Desert Gold Ventures has excellent potential for growth with its 440 km² SMSZ project in Mali. Its area is located in one of the most gold-rich regions of West Africa. The latest drilling data for the Mogoyafara South and Linnguekoto West deposits indicate an enormous resource potential of 479,000 oz of gold. Barrick Gold reached an agreement with the Malian government that includes USD 438 million in payments. This is accompanied by the resumption of operations at the Loulo-Gounkoto mine. The Company demonstrates its financial strength with a 69% increase in net profit to USD 2.14 billion.

D-Wave Quantum is developing entirely new markets with its revolutionary quantum application for robots in agriculture. The collaboration on this project with Staque Solutions could fundamentally change the agricultural industry. Despite skeptical voices like those of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, the latest product launches of quantum chips by Microsoft suggest that practical quantum applications are becoming a reality faster than expected. These three companies offer safe havens in gold and enormous future potential in quantum computing technology to forward-looking investors.