After gold’s 10-year winning streak shattered all but the most bullish forecasts, it takes a brave man to call for a correction. It takes an even braver man to do so at the year’s biggest bullion conference.

Christoph Eibl, CEO and founding partner of the $2 billion Swiss commodity hedge fund Tiberius Group, says he knows all the arguments that have underpinned bullion’s long rally, which has accelerated with a 50 per cent gain in the past 12 months.

At one time Eibl liked gold, having written a book five years ago extolling the virtues of trading gold, counting himself among the hard-core bugs.

But Eibl’s and Tiberius’ attraction to the precious metal has been fading. Late last year, Tiberius said it was neutral on gold for 2011 saying investor demand was about double that for jewelry and other industrial purposes. Plus, high prices had hurt demand by jewelers.

This week, Eibl said the fundamentals of global supply and mining do not justify the current $1,800 an ounce price of gold. In fact, it barely justifies a price half that high, with him suggesting it could eventually drop under $1,000.