IMO Gold and Silver miners on the ASX are easy to manipulate down, and for good reason:
1. Sentiment: Gold is having a re-birth, reverse that of BitCoin. Still, for many holders of fiat money and assets (e.g. a house in the suburbs) bought with fiat and must be paid off with fiat dosh, crazy gold is too crazy. Hence, the only investors in Gold & Silver are Smart Players with Deep Pockets and Little Guys with Nimble Trades (Long and Short).
2. It's Aussie, Mate - I reckon many ASX Precious Metal stocks are getting manipulated in expectation of a global flogging about to reset the US Dollar and all those lofty financial instruments that have bedazzled and fleeced the sheeple. Many Australians seem to have blind faith that nothing nasty like manipulation of ASX shares could really be true - but Aus is a great place to bet on PMs, and most Aus investors aren't sophisticated or able to fight back, or detect HFT bots (with evolving trade patterns). I don't live in Aus anymore, but when I visit and read the news I see an isolated country getting dumber and even more ripped off. BTW this is not a jab at Lib/Nat - I've moved beyond the Left vs Right Paradigm (they're all a bunch of Charlie mUNTs).
3. If the POG is manipulated by the Fix, than so too are ASX shares. Many know the price of ASX PM stocks will are set to rise high with a rising tide of precious metals. Why not slam it down "one more time", Britney?
