After six years of primarily sideways action, gold broke decisively to the upside by breaking above strong resistance between $1,350 and $1,400 by soaring to near $1,450 before correcting moderately.

…2017 was just the first year with a small increase after a huge drop off in exploration activity. It may take many years of future increases to get back to where the activity was in 2012, as projected increases in exploration spending are seen to be slow and steady.

While many prospecting or mining operations don’t have sufficient profits to benefit from accelerated write-offs or even the full 100% “bonus” depreciation write-off, other options can be equally rewarding.