Somewhere along the road from the 2000 bottom in gold stocks to the 2008 flame out of inflationary hysteria, the gold stock sector went from counter cyclical first mover to ‘inflation trade’ also ran.

While some may see the precious metal as a safe asset and protection against inflation, others may view it as a highly volatile bet. The price of gold in recent years may prove both points of view right.

It’s not exactly news that gold mining stocks have been in a slump for more than two years. Many investors who owned them have thrown in the towel by now, or are holding simply because a paper loss isn’t a realized loss until you sell.

In former times, the rise in the gold price was held down by central banks selling gold or leasing gold to bullion dealers who sold the gold. The supply added in this way to the market absorbed some of the demand, thus holding down the rise in the gold price.

Evidence is mounting that the bottom for gold may be in. While there’s still risk, there’s a new air of bullishness in the industry, something we haven’t seen in over two years.

The commodities supercycle of 2000-2008, which produced roughly 20% compound annual returns, was driven by scarcity of supply to meet the demands of emerging nations — notably China.

Austria’s mint is running 24 hours a day to meet orders for gold coins, joining counterparts from the U.S. to the U.K. to Australia in reporting accelerating demand boosted by the bear market in bullion.

El Tigre Silver Corp. is raising $1.5 million through a non-brokered private placement financing, the company announced late Monday.

Junior venture companies in Canada are finally seeing a significant lift. In early January, the S&P/TSX Venture Composite Index rose above the 200-day moving average for the first time in three years.