Let's find out what is getting investors excited about this miner.

Which ASX mining share?

The miner that is catching the eye today is Mount Gibson Iron Ltd (ASX: MGX).

At the time of writing, the company's shares are up 10% to 33 cents.

This compares favourably to a decline of 0.9% by the ASX 200 index.

Why is Mount Gibson Iron jumping?

Interestingly, despite what its name might indicate, iron ore is not the reason for its strong rise today. Instead, it is the potential expansion into gold that has got investors excited.

This morning, Mount Gibson announced a binding conditional agreement with Australian gold producer Northern Star Resources Ltd (ASX: NST).

This will see it acquire Northern Star's 50% interest in the Central Tanami Project Joint Venture (CTPJV) in the Northern Territory, along with an extensive wholly-owned exploration landholding adjacent to the CTPJV.

The CTPJV is a 50:50 joint venture between Northern Star and ASX-listed gold explorer Tanami Gold NL (ASX: TAM) located approximately 650 kilometres northwest of Alice Springs and encompassing a total landholding of approximately 2,100 sqkm in the Tanami region.

On a 100% basis, the CTPJV has a reported mineral resource estimate of 13.8 Mt grading 3.6 g/t gold for 1.6 Moz of contained gold.

The ASX mining share notes that it provides it with an attractive near-term development project, building on its remote-site operating strengths, with the ability to fast track permitting and technical work to position for a potential development decision within the next 12-18 months.

How much will it cost?

According to the release, the consideration for the acquisition is $50 million cash payable on completion.

Commenting on the deal, Mount Gibson's chief executive officer, Peter Kerr, said:

This acquisition represents a compelling opportunity to enter the gold sector at an attractive price, with the sector having strong fundamentals. Involvement in the Central Tanami Gold Project provides Mount Gibson with an opportunity to leverage the success of its Koolan Island iron ore operation to establish the foundations of a gold production business.

Given the substantial work that has been undertaken on the project by the CTPJV to date, we intend to work with Tanami Gold to fast track technical studies to position the project for a development decision within the next 12-18 months. We have already commenced the Foreign Investment Review Board application process and look forward to progressing to completion in the coming months.

The post Guess which ASX mining share is jumping 10% on big news appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

In early afternoon trade the S&P/ASX All Ords Gold (Index: ^AXGD) (ASX: XGD) has jumped 2.8%.

Here's a break-down of the movers and shakers in the industry today:

• The Dacian Gold Ltd (ASX: DCN) share price has climbed 3% to $1.75.
• The Evolution Mining Ltd (ASX: EVN) share price is up 4% to $2.37.
• The Newcrest Mining Limited (ASX: NCM) share price has jumped 3% to $20.85.
• The Regis Resources Limited (ASX: RRL) share price is 3% higher to $3.33.
• The Resolute Mining Limited (ASX: RSG) share price is up 4.5% to $1.21.
• The Saracen Mineral Holdings Limited (ASX: SAR) share price is up 4% to $1.06.
• The St Barbara Ltd (ASX: SBM) share price has jumped 4% to $2.98.
• The Tanami Gold NL (ASX: TAM) share price is up 3.5% to 6 cents.

What happened?

It appears as though weak retail sales and inflation data in the United States on Friday has many concerned that the Federal Reserve won't be able to raise interest rates at as quick a pace as first expected.

This, combined with market jitters over the consequence of President Trump's recent actions, has led to the spot gold price gaining almost 1% from yesterday's low to US$1,242 an ounce.

Considering the low all-in sustaining costs of many of the miners listed above, I can't say I'm surprised to see their shares rise. At the current spot price a lot of these miners are enjoying high margins and bumper profit growth.

But things can change very quickly, let's not forget. According to CME Group there is still a 69.2% probability of a rate hike at the Federal Reserve's June meeting.

If rates do rise and then economic data supports further rate hikes this year, I can see the gold price coming under considerable selling pressure. This in turn is likely to weigh heavily on the gold miners' shares.

Because of this I would skip the industry and focus elsewhere in the market.

The post Why the gold miners are going gangbusters today appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

At the time of writing the gold index is up a remarkable 4.3%, bringing its year-to-date return to a massive 19%.

Amongst the biggest movers on the index today have been the following gold miners:

Why have the gold miners rallied?

Once again the gold price has climbed higher overnight and currently fetches US$1,234 an ounce.

This is now over US$100 an ounce higher than its December low, and is the result of sustained weakness in the U.S. dollar.

According to Bloomberg the U.S. dollar has weakened and the gold price has strengthened as investors grow wary over the possible impact of President Trump's domestic and international policies.

Trump's policies were expected to cause inflation to rocket and prompt the Federal Reserve into raising interest rates. But with no reflationary policies being put forward thus far, it's not hard to see why investors have become dubious.

But ultimately if Trump plans to make America great again I feel he'll have to follow through on his election promises regarding infrastructure spending and corporate tax cuts.

This is likely to result in higher inflation, more rate rises, and a stronger currency. The key ingredients to sending the price of gold significantly lower.

For this reason I would suggest investors lock in the sizeable gains they have made on the gold miners this year before it's too late.

The post Why the gold price rise is sending the gold miners higher in 2017 appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.

Yesterday, the company announced that a turnaround at its expensive Plutonic gold mine is well underway with annual production set to grow from 75,000oz in FY16 to 100,000oz in FY17.

Although not technically part of the Plutonic mine, the Hermes deposit was recently acquired from Alchemy Resources Limited (ASX: ALY) and is within trucking distance from Plutonic, where the ore will be processed.

Stage one of mining at the Hermes deposit will produce 86,000 ounces per year for two to three years at an all-in sustaining cost (AISC) of A$1,095/oz. With the gold price hovering around A$1,500/oz, the project will deliver a healthy margin that should help reduce overall costs at the Plutonic gold mine.

Plutonic is a blemish on Northern Star's successful record of acquisitions, with AISC's hitting A$1,832/oz at the mine during the recent September quarter. The lower cost Hermes deposit should improve the cost profile of Plutonic until four newly discovered underground mining zones — hopefully with lower costs — are developed and brought into production.

Earlier today, Northern Star announced that additional infill drilling at the Central Tanami project increased confidence in the key Groundrush deposit and supports the development plan for a 125,000oz per annum gold mine.

Northern Star is sole-funding a 20,000m diamond core drilling program which, in addition to refurbishing the existing processing plant, will earn it a 60% stake in the project with Tanami Gold NL (ASX: TAM) holding the other 40%

Significant drilling results from the Groundrush program include small hits of up to 30 grams per tonne over 0.6m and 8.7 grams per tonne over 13.0m.

The updates from Northern Star confirm that the company is continuing to develop, improve and expand its recent acquisitions while its existing operations are minting cash. With its AISC forecast to remain around A$1,100/oz, Northern Star may provide shareholders solid returns in the future at current gold prices.

The post Northern Star Resources Ltd shares look a good bet on new production plans appeared first on The Motley Fool Australia.