Gold Bulls Eye $1,000 Bullion

In the past, Cross has been harshly criticized for her bearish price forecasts, but now she has joined the herd. She says less metal coming out of mines and smaller amounts of scrapped jewelry will also constrain the gold supply.

The best way to play the rally, she believes, is through the gold ETFs.

"It is a proven and successful product, and it has changed the way people think about investing in gold," she says, adding that total holdings from all bullion ETFs globally should climb to 1,000 tons from the current level around 800.

As for the price, she says she would "be disappointed if it didn't break $900."

Newmont CEO Richard O'Brien is comparatively bearish, predicting that gold will fluctuate between $800 and $850 an ounce. He says gold stocks could do better for investors next year than the metal.

"Cash flow and earnings from the stocks could be much more significant than they have been over the past few years," he said in a recent interview. "Gold the metal has [recently] outperformed gold stocks. But when will that reverse itself? This might be the time to revaluate."

At the optimistic end of the spectrum is well-known gold bug James Turk, who has a projection of $1,500 an ounce at the high end of his forecast. He says the next leg of the bull run should mean a rally of 30% next year.