Gold may climb to $2,000 an ounce this year as investors buy the metal instead of holding currencies, said Eric Sprott, chairman of money manager Sprott Inc.
"It's gone up 17 percent a year for the past 11 years; I'm sure it will do that as a minimum," Sprott said. "It could easily hit $2,000 this year. That wouldn't be out of the question."
Gold has risen for 10 straight years and reached a record May 2 in New York as demand increased from investors seeking an alternative to the U.S. dollar. Silver has climbed for nine of the past 10 years and reached a 30-year high of $49.845 on April 25.
Sprott has lauded gold and gold stocks for at least a decade, and his company offers products for investors seeking to own precious metals.
Silver prices will rebound and jump above $50 on surging investment demand for the precious metal, which also has industrial and photographic uses.
"I see huge amounts of money moving in the physical silver market, almost as much as gold, so I think the price is going to go up faster than the price of gold," Sprott said. "I suspect we'll be back through $50 not too far from here."
Silver Rises
Silver futures for July delivery advanced $1.829, or 5.2 percent, to settle at $37.116 an ounce at 2:09 p.m. on the Comex. Silver fell 27 percent last week.
Sprott, the keynote speaker today at the natural-resources investment conference, said that gold was the investment of the last decade and silver is the investment of this decade as confidence in governments' finances diminishes.
"The demand will be driven by the debasement of currency," Sprott said. "I can't tell you how much demand there will be until I know how much they're going to debase the currency."
Sprott rose 26 cents, or 2.9 percent, to C$9.25 today in Toronto Stock Exchange trading. The shares have increased 15 percent this year.