Rob McEwen, chief executive of Lakewood-based U.S. Gold Corp., said gold companies will seek acquisitions this year as higher metals prices boost their cash reserves.
“There’s a lot of opportunity out there,” McEwen said in an interview Monday at Bloom berg’s Toronto bureau.
Gold miners are seeking to replace resources and increase production of the commodity, which posted its 11th straight annual increase in 2011.
“The seniors and the intermediates have watched these higher metals prices cause their treasuries to fill up very quickly,” he said. “And that’s going to burn a hole in their pocket.”
Rising metals prices have resulted in a “proliferation” of small companies, McEwen said, that are vulnerable to takeovers because their access to capital is limited.
McEwen said he sees gold rising to more than $2,000 an ounce in 2012, reaching $5,000 an ounce in three to five years.
Gold futures reached a nominal record of $1,923.70 an ounce Sept. 6 on the Comex in New York. Gold for February delivery rose 1.5 percent to $1,631.50 Tuesday, the highest closing since Dec. 13.
