Gold prices have been relatively stable throughout the year. Prices finished down 3.5%, after two consecutive years of strong gains. Meanwhile, miners have underperformed, with the gold miners index down 18.67% year-to-date (as of Dec. 29, 2021).
The miner underperformance doesn't come as much of a surprise: miners are leveraged to the metal, and every 1% gain or loss in the metal's value tends to lead to a 3% to 4% gain or loss in the mining shares.
However, things are looking bright for gold miners entering 2022. Gold prices are trading at $1,800/oz, well above the industry's all-in costs average ($1,100/oz), and M&A is heating up with more than $30 billion M&A activity in 2021 (and that momentum should continue in 2022).