Mining Forum Europe Keynotes to Tackle the Big Issues
Keynotes and panels in Zurich to discuss every aspect of the metals markets, valuations for mining companies, and best practices for building durable multi-asset portfolios
The 2025 Mining Forum Europe is less than three weeks away and couldn’t come at a more pivotal time, as the world grapples with rapid change.
The return of Donald Trump to the US Presidency has so far been positive for the gold price but has caused “chaos and confusion” for markets.
Trump and his policy settings will be a key focus of discussion at the Mining Forum Europe on April 1-2 in Zurich.
The event will feature six keynote presentations, as well as two panel discussions.
Kicking off proceedings on day one will be World Gold Council chief market strategist John Reade.
Reade’s talk is entitled ‘The New Gold Rush: Find Out What Is Behind Gold's Impressive Run in 2025’.
Recent data for February from the WGC showed that physically backed ETF fund amassed US$9.4 billion in net new assets during February, the strongest month since March 2022, with ETF demand up 2.2% in Australia.
Assets under management rose 100 tonnes to US$306 billion.
Late last month, Reade also co-authored a WGC paper on what US tariffs meant for the gold market.
Later in the morning on day one, investment advisor and former head of mining at BlackRock Cailey Barker will present ‘Rumble in the Jungle: Investors vs Miners’.
Barker will dive into the push-and-pull dynamic between investors and mining companies, uncovering the hidden opportunities behind their differing goals.
He’ll also cover how smart collaboration can turn tension into triumph for a sustainable and investible industry in the face of a complex, evolving world.
Rounding out the morning of day one is Blokland Smart Multi-Asset Fund founder Jeroen Blokland with ‘Investing in Gold: The Convergence of Traditional Finance and Reality’.
Blokland will explore the unprecedented divergence between gold and bonds and how it makes traditional asset allocators do strange things to keep gold out of the mix.
According to Blokland, traditional asset managers forgot one critical factor for investment success: inflation, and that the Federal Reserve got it wrong when it falsely concluded that ‘a small group of countries’ reflected a decline in dollar preferences.
Blokland will argue that the debt-driven economic system only works with limitless currency debasement and revaluing true stores of value.
Kicking off day two is a keynote by Palinuro Capital chief investment officer and author of author of The Macro Compass Alf Peccatiello with ‘The Berlin Accord’.
The Trump administration is enacting policies to leverage foreign countries into moving away from the economic model they enacted for the last 50 years, a restructure which is supposed to end in the Mar-A-Lago Accord.
But as Peccatiello will point out, but Germany and Europe are taking matters in their own hands and the world should be ready for a Berlin Accord.
Also on day two, Sarmaya Partners president and chief investment officer Wasif Latif will make the case for a ‘Return to Tangibles: The Next Commodity Super Cycle has Begun!’
Latif’s keynote will follow on from his appearance at the Gold Forum Americas in September, where he made the case for commodities to dominate the market cycle, driven by increasing global demand, persistent inflation, and a multi-polar geopolitical world.
He remains bullish on gold, as well as oil, natural gas and uranium.
Cupel Advisory Corp consultant Neil Adshead will present ‘A Capital Allocator’s Guide to Juniors Sourcing Capital for Mineral Exploration’.
Junior mining remains a tough and crowded space so Adshead will offer advice to companies on how to cut through the noise.
Closing day one is a panel discussion ‘Markets, Money, Metals & Mines’ featuring Barker, Adshead and Latif.
Closing day two and the Mining Forum Europe is ‘Understanding the Macro Cycle to Turbocharge Your Multi-Asset Portfolio’, a panel discussion featuring Peccatiello, Blokland and ByteTree founder and chief investment officer Charlie Morris.
The full agenda for the 2025 Mining Forum Europe can be viewed here.