Will gold price swings have any impact on the industry's M&A activity?

Over the past year and a half, gold has made an extravagant and extraordinary price rally. Nearly plus 70% up, and recently, a little correction evaporated 3 trillion dollars. This looks so much of a manipulation than an actual demand/supply movement. Even though gold may still get higher in price, is it still a long-term value-preserving asset or more a tool for large swings manipulation by deep-pocket players? 

Without getting into history, although this may take an incredible time journey, gold has been on the balance of many central banks. Currently, they are buying gold. Not because they like or enjoy having it per se, but because the trust in the USD after the current administration is rather flawed. With the exponential growth of political instability, financiers across the world consider safe havens to stay aside. Like they used to say: a smart monkey is looking while two tigers fight; then, when the winner is exhausted, the monkey kills it and becomes the winner. 

So, the question is - will this cycle eject a new momentum towards golden projects be developed with a larger appetite? The short answer is - yes. There are a few reasons behind this. First, many gold projects are working on the most advanced areas, where the gold (i.e., grams per tonne) is at the highest possible levels based on geological study. However, higher margins that gold production will experience over the next few years will stimulate the development of the projects with weaker ore, which previously had a negative NPV. Second, the advancement of gold production will increase the overall multiples of gold companies from the current levels. Because these equities will start generating excessive returns. The AISC (all costs of gold production) will lag with inflation, while the prices are high, which will be reflected in impressive dividends. Three, having more resources today will advance the development of human capital in the industry: if previously gold companies competed with other heavy machinery industries for talent, now the most aggressive gold players will absorb the best talent, which will enable innovations. Having innovations in place will demand an additional CAPEX budget on R&D, which will slice the extra margin; however, it will drive the industry further. 

As a result, in more or less than 15-20 years, I would expect the industry to return to normality, without harsh practices used today (thanks to innovations), without manipulations (actually caused by the structural change of centrabanks portfolios), with the new level for gold prices. This will be the new era of robotics and AI-driven gold development, which will make the resources of Earth more depleted than ever, but, if done currently, may sustain the planet with advanced and more rigid ESG practices.

So, the answer to my question: definitely yes. Gold m&a will become even more mainstream in the near future. However, a really large gold producer will never consider the market behavior as a call to action.