ASA Gold and Precious Metals : 2022 Annual Report

Gold and Precious Metals Limited

Annual Report and Financial Statements

November 30, 2022

A Closed-End Fund

Specializing in Gold and Other

Precious Metals Investments

ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited

Annual Report and Financial Statements

November 30, 2022

Table of Contents

Letter to Shareholders (Unaudited)	2
Forward-looking statements	4
10-Year performance returns (Unaudited)	5
Certain investment policies and restrictions (Unaudited)	7
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	8
Schedule of investments	9
Portfolio statistics (Unaudited)	12
Statement of assets and liabilities	13
Statement of operations	14
Statements of changes in net assets	15
Notes to financial statements	16
Financial highlights	21
Certain tax information for U.S. shareholders (Unaudited)	22
Dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plan (Unaudited)	22
Privacy notice (Unaudited)	23
Form N-PX/proxy voting (Unaudited)	23
Form N-PORT/portfolio holdings (Unaudited)	23
Share repurchase (Unaudited)	23
Company investment objective, investment strategy and risks (Unaudited)	23
Board of directors and officers (Unaudited)	26

1

Dear Shareholder,

Fiscal year 2022 was another volatile year for the gold price and precious metals equities. The year got off to a strong start with a significant move higher in both the gold price and the prices of precious metal equities. The geopolitical turmoil, driven by the war in Ukraine, sent the gold price to the high for the year of $2,070/oz in March. Precious metal equity prices peaked a month later in April, propelled higher by a broad equity market rally the prior month. After fiscal Q1, the gold price and associated equities fell sharply as the Federal Reserve (the "Fed") started to aggressively raise interest rates. The price of gold came under significant pressure as yields on government bonds rose. The 10-year real rates, that is 10-year bond yields net of 10-year inflation expectations, increased from below -1.1% early in the year to at some point over +1.7% later in the year. Precious metal miners suffered from both challenging revenue and cost environments: top-line revenue was under pressure due to lower metal prices; on the cost side, the much-discussed global inflation also impacted miners. These factors contributed to a deterioration in earnings and company share prices.

The gold price bounced three times off the ~$1,620/oz level between September and November before heading higher to end the fiscal year at $1,769/oz. The move higher in the price of gold coincided with a decline in the dollar and real yields. The NYSE Arca Gold Miners Index (the "Index") bottomed with the broader market in September. Subsequently, the Index rallied into year-end along with the gold price. During the year, the gold price varied $455/oz from the March high to the November low. After a volatile year, the price of gold ended the fiscal year relatively unchanged, declining a mere 0.3% over the year.

ASA Statistics for the Fiscal year 2022:

• ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited ("ASA", the "Fund" or the "Company") reported a total return decrease of 32.3% based on its net asset value ("NAV"), compared to a total return decrease of 7.7% for the Index. The total return based on ASA's share price for the fiscal year was a decrease of 31.0%. At 2022 fiscal year-end, the total net assets of ASA were $325 million, a decrease of $156 million compared to fiscal year-end 2021.
• The Fund's expense ratio increased to 1.00% for the 2022 fiscal year from 0.91% for the 2021 fiscal year, primarily due to the decrease in assets.
• Separately, investment income decreased slightly to $2.6 million during the 2022 fiscal year from $2.7 million during the 2021 fiscal year. The decrease was primarily due to some of the producing companies in the portfolio having lower dividend payouts due to increased costs without offsetting higher revenue.
• The discount of ASA's share price to its NAV per share fluctuated from 18.5% to a low of 9.6% and ended the fiscal year at a discount of 15.5%. The Board of Directors of ASA and Merk Investments LLC ("Merk" or the "Adviser") monitor the Company's share price and discount to NAV per share on an ongoing basis.

Fund Performance Discussion:

When Peter Maletis became ASA's portfolio manager in the spring of 2019, the Fund was repositioned to have a more significant allocation to exploration and development companies (E&D). While this positioning was a source of outperformance in 2019, 2020, and 2021, it was a headwind in 2022. Although we saw an increase in the gold price at the tail end of 2022, E&D stocks did not outperform producing companies during this rally. The rally at the end of the fiscal year benefitted larger miners that have significant allocations in the passive ETFs tracking the sector. In our analysis, it is often the case that the largest companies in the sector move first as investors allocate capital to the most liquid investment available: the ETFs and large mining companies. In the past, investors tended to allocate capital to E&D companies in sustained gold price rallies and when M&A in the sector picks up. The current rally in the gold price is just two months old.

The following table shows that in our portfolio, producers outperformed E&D companies during the fiscal year 2022. The declining gold price and increasing cost structure of the precious metals mining industry led to tepid investor demand for E&D companies. We believe the declining demand resulted from the larger miners focusing on addressing the margin compression in their own business and not pursuing acquisitions of E&D companies. Also, E&D companies rely on capital markets to fund exploration and development work because they do not generate cash flow. This year saw a dearth of funding available in the sector. Without ample funding from the capital markets, some E&D companies resort to offering more attractive pricing to entice investors or pursue other sources of financing, thereby putting downward pressure on their share prices.

2

Large: annual production > 1,000,000 ounces

Medium: annual production 500,000 - 1,000,000 ounces

Small: annual production < 500,000 ounces

Attribution: a measure of the relative contribution to the performance

The sector ended the fiscal year with positive momentum in the gold price and the price of mining equities. The move higher coincided with what we assess as an improving macro environment for gold. The Fed has slowed the rate at which it is increasing the Federal Funds Rate, and we believe the market has priced in that the Fed could begin cutting rates as soon as 2023. Many leading economic indicators show that the economy is slowing, and a recession is likely in several countries around the globe. We believe that this data suggests we could move into a favorable economic environment for the gold price. The profligate fiscal spending, elevated debt levels globally, and slowing global growth contribute to our positive long-term outlook on gold prices and precious metal equities. We continue to pursue our strategy of allocating capital to what we assess to be the most attractive companies that can grow through exploration. Given the industry's lack of investment in exploration and declining production, we believe this strategy will position our investors to generate an attractive return in a rising gold price environment.

We at Merk continue to wish everyone health and safety during this period of global uncertainty. As always, please reach out to us if you have any questions.

Peter Maletis	James Holman	Axel Merk
Portfolio Manager	Portfolio Manager	Chief Investment Officer

3

Forward-Looking Statements

This shareholder letter includes forward-looking statements, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company's actual performance or results may differ from its beliefs, expectations, estimates, goals and projections, and consequently, investors should not rely on these forward- looking statements as predictions of future events. Forward-looking statements are not historical in nature and generally can be identified by words such as "believe," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "should," "may," "will," "seek," or similar expressions or their negative forms, or by references to strategy, plans, goals or intentions. The absence of these words or references does not mean that the statements are not forward-looking. The Company's performance or results can fluctuate from month to month depending on a variety of factors, a number of which are beyond the Company's control and/or are difficult to predict, including without limitation: the Company's investment decisions, the performance of the securities in its investment portfolio, economic, political, market and financial factors, and the prices of gold, platinum and other precious minerals that may fluctuate substantially over short periods of time. The Company may or may not revise, correct or update the forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

The Company concentrates its investments in the gold and precious minerals sector. This sector may be more volatile than other industries and may be affected by movements in commodity prices triggered by international monetary and political developments. The Company is a non-diversified fund and, as such, may invest in fewer investments than that of a diversified portfolio. The Company may invest in smaller-sized companies that may be more volatile and less liquid than larger more established companies. Investments in foreign securities, especially those in the emerging markets, may involve increased risk as well as exposure to currency fluctuations. Shares of closed-end funds frequently trade at a discount to net asset value. All performance information reflects past performance and is presented on a total return basis. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Current performance may differ from the performance shown.

This shareholder letter does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities.

4