Prominent US investment bank JPMorgan reckons gold will have a...

Prominent US investment bank JPMorgan reckons gold will have a flat first half of 2019, hovering between $US1200 and $US1250/oz, before a push up to around $US1400/oz in the fourth quarter.

That could be interesting for the Australian gold price. Based on the latest exchange rate of $US1400/oz, gold converts to A$1947/oz – an all-time high.

Canadian BMO Capital Markets, differs with gold rising to $US1260/oz in the first quarter of 2019, then up to $US1300/oz in the middle of the year before easing to around $US1270/oz.

Goldman Sachs is the most positive about gold. It sees an average of $US1313/oz next year, before rising rapidly to $US1413/oz in 2020 and then up to $US1510/oz in 2021. Using the latest Aussie dollar exchange rate of US71.9 cents, that $US1510/oz becomes an eye-catching $A2100/oz.

That could put SLR in an interesting position. In its latest ASX release Doray confirmed the merger was still on track despite its sale of non - core assets and the merged entity will have worthwhile gold reserves.

Hopefully the merged Board will act in the best interests of all shareholders and not line their own pockets with gold dust, as there is the potential for a share price re - rating for SLR in 2019.