A serious major not only wants to make money right now, but also into the future. If Barrick only could maintain their gold production for another couple of years, the share price would drop like a stone. This means that they would like to have ore reserves pretty well defined at least for 15 years or so. On the other hand they also would like to increase production to make even more money, but that will shorten their reserve life in terms of years or production left. So what can they do; either increase their own development work of present mines, increase exploration work, or join or purchase with others.

For huge producers like Barrick, Kodiak is just too small right now. I think a company like Kodiak could be taken over by small producers, or join others in the same situation, but is not a likely target for large producers. A high gold price is clearly a good thing since raising funds etc should be easier.

One disadvantage of high price may be that more exploration companies may get into the business making it harder for some of the other small juniors, affecting assaying, labour, etc