Gold discoveries peaked in 2007 and production will soon follow, strengthening the value of the yellow metal and possibly fueling a boom in mergers and acquisitions in the gold-mining sector, according to Sprott Asset Management.

Discoveries of gold has collapses since then, “despite exploration budgets increasing by 250% from 2009 to 2012,” Sprott’s gold team said in a recent note.

They offered this image as an illustration of the “impending gold production cliff”: