Over the last year, the improving U.S. economic outlook combined with broad economic weakness elsewhere in the world significantly strengthened the U.S. dollar, while weakening the demand for gold. This combination of drivers negatively affected the gold price, which declined 10.2% during the fiscal year ended November 30, 2015. Gold was not the only commodity that suffered from a weak price environment; copper, coal, iron ore, nickel and oil all witnessed multi-year lows in 2015.

Falling metals prices negatively impacted the performance of mining company shares during the last year. For the fiscal year ended November 30, 2015, ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited (“ASA” or the “Company”) reported a total return of negative 27.2% based on its net asset value (“NAV”), including reinvested dividends, compared with a total return of negative 21.3% for the FTSE Gold Mines Total Return Index (the “FTGMI”). ASA’s diversified portfolio, as compared to that of the FTGMI, negatively affected the performance of the Company as diversified, non-gold mining companies generally underperformed gold mining companies.

At fiscal year-end, total net assets of ASA were $160.7 million, 27.5% lower than a year earlier due to a decline in the value of its investments. Income generated by dividends from portfolio investments declined by 24.9% during 2015 due to lower commodity prices and reduced profitability in the mining industry. We expect investment income to decline further during 2016. Even with a rise in prices, we believe the industry will take time to recover from the current environment before we would expect distributions from our portfolio companies to increase. Despite reductions in the Company’s operating costs during the past fiscal year, lower net assets have resulted in ASA’s average expense ratio rising from 1.4% during 2014 to 1.6% during 2015.

The discount at which ASA’s shares traded in the market increased from 6.6% at the beginning of the fiscal year to 14.1% at year-end. The total return for the fiscal year, based on ASA’s share price, was a negative 33.0%, including reinvested dividends.

The Board of Directors (the “Board”) monitors the Company’s share price and discount to NAV on an ongoing basis and has, in the past, authorized tender offers and adopted a Share Repurchase Program. In addition, the Company has engaged in marketing activities to increase investor awareness and understanding of the Company. The Board believes that these efforts may help keep the Company’s discount narrow in the short term. Recently, there has been a widening of the discount at which the Company’s shares trade. The Board believes that these discount levels are consistent with and reflective of the decline in gold and falling investor confidence in the overall sector, including gold-oriented investment companies.

At present, the Board does not believe that either a tender offer or share repurchases would materially benefit shareholders, or accomplish a meaningful narrowing of

the discount at which ASA’s shares are trading in the market. The Company would have to sell depressed portfolio securities to raise cash for such actions, the expense ratio would likely increase as assets diminish, and overall share liquidity could be adversely affected due to the lower market float. On the other hand, current market conditions offer investment opportunities for the Company because of the depressed values of the securities in which ASA invests. The Board believes that the best course for the Company is for management to focus on the investment program. The Board will continue to evaluate the discount, market conditions and possible options for the Company, including tender offers and share repurchases.

The Fed Acts

For the last couple of years, the U.S. dollar gold price has been under pressure as economic conditions in the U.S. have improved and speculation mounted as to when the U.S. Federal Reserve (the “Fed”) would increase interest rates for the first time in over nine years. Fear that rising interest rates would drive the value of the U.S. dollar higher, and thus put pressure on gold, has caused much of the volatility in the gold price through 2015 and, more recently, contributed to the sell off prior to the interest rate increase. In the past 35 years, the U.S. has experienced five interest rate increases and gold has performed differently during each period. In three of these periods gold traded relatively flat; in one it was up significantly; and in the other down significantly. We believe that no clear correlation between a rising Fed funds rate and the gold price can be drawn, suggesting that the market’s recent concern regarding the implication of rising interest rates may be misguided. Based on this historical observation, we believe gold stands an equal chance to be up as well as down during the current period as it will once again be influenced by many factors, such as investor diversification, sovereign reserves and the strength of the U.S. dollar. We believe that investors have now largely discounted the increase in interest rates and with outflows of gold from the ETF products slowing, commercial long gold positions near all-time lows, and net short positions at high levels, the potential for stabilization in the gold price has increased.

Table 1: U.S. Federal Fund Rates Increases

Source: ASA, Bloomberg

The U.S. dollar strengthened throughout 2015. While the dollar remains one of the key factors that could influence the gold price in 2016, its impact on ASA’s portfolio is mixed. Gold tends to be negatively correlated with the U.S. dollar, meaning a rising U.S. dollar may result in a decrease in the gold price. Many of ASA’s investments, however, are domiciled outside the United States and have operations denominated in other currencies. As the value of the U.S. dollar rises, the revenue generated by these companies’ increases as the gold price rises in local currency terms. This provides a built in hedge that helps protect these operators when this occurs. Newcrest Mining Ltd., an Australian listed company with significant exposure to the Australian dollar, saw operating margins improve from 31% in its fiscal year 2014 to 36% in fiscal year 2015 despite a drop in the U.S. dollar gold price. Almost all of this can be attributed to favorable foreign exchange movements. As a result, Newcrest’s share price outperformed the FTGMI over the same time period.

ASA’s portfolio is globally diversified with investment exposure to numerous currencies. We believe that this approach helps to mitigate risk on many levels and plays an important role in the Company’s investment strategy.

Chart 1: Gold Price by Currency

Source: ASA, Bloomberg

Industry / Portfolio Trends

The mining industry is in a difficult position after four years of falling metal prices. Producers added significant levels of debt to their balance sheets in recent years for acquisitions and to develop projects which, after the decline in metal prices, have marginal economics. Now, to reduce their debt burdens, many of these producers are forced to sell assets at reduced valuations. The upside to this scenario is that the mining industry is becoming healthier and should perform better as prices stabilize and eventually improve. ASA continues to thoroughly evaluate every mining investment, taking into account asset quality, balance sheet health and operating strategy, which we believe carries even more importance in this stressed environment.

Throughout fiscal 2015, ASA increased its allocation to gold developers due to the potential for greater upside relative to producer peers. We believe developers offer the ability to generate significant shareholder value as they move into commercial production and begin to generate positive cash flow. In gold development companies we look for high quality assets, projects that are fully financed, good management teams and assets that may be attractive to potential acquirers. During the first half of fiscal 2015 we added positions in Asanko Gold Inc., Guyana Goldfields Inc. and Romarco Minerals Inc. In October 2015, Romarco was acquired by OceanaGold Corporation, a mid-tier gold producer. In the second half we added a new position in gold developer TMAC Resources Inc. and continued to add to our positions in Asanko and Guyana at attractive prices. A number of our gold development companies are expected to begin producing gold and generating positive cash flow in the next twelve months, which we view as an important milestone and positive catalyst to generating shareholder returns.

In August 2015, ASA exited two investments due, in part, to their inability to generate positive shareholder returns in a depressed commodity environment. The sharp decline in the gold price in late July made many of the assets of Harmony Gold Mining Company Ltd. unprofitable. At the same time, they announced the retirement of their CEO, leading to concerns regarding the leadership of the company. The combination of these two events caused us to reconsider our investment. Similarly, the sale of our position in Anglo American plc was due to what we saw as its poor corporate structure in a weak commodity environment. Slowing growth in China coupled with global economic weakness, led to tumbling prices in base metals. As a result, Anglo American’s balance sheet became pressured, potentially forcing the company to consider some difficult actions, such as possible core asset sales.

In line with a trend witnessed in recent years, ASA’s investments in South African mining securities continued to decline during 2015 to 7.7% of net assets from 11.2% at the end of fiscal 2014. This is largely due to sales in and performance of Anglo American Platinum Ltd. and Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd. We believe structural issues within the South African platinum mining industry may have deteriorated to the point that further investment in this sector has become unsustainable. The Company’s exit from Harmony and the underperformance of some investments domiciled in South Africa also contributed to the decrease in the Company’s exposure to South Africa.

The Company’s investments in Canadian domiciled gold companies continued to increase and represented 52% of net assets at fiscal year-end 2015 vs. 45% at fiscal year-end 2014. This is a result of relative performance as well as the additional investments in developers that we discussed previously.

ASA’s investments in the diamond mining industry increased again during fiscal year 2015 to 4.6% of net assets from 3.4% at the end of fiscal year 2014. A new investment in Dominion Diamond Corporation and the

outperformance of Stornoway Diamond Corporation accounted for the increased allocation to this sector. While diamond prices have been weak recently due to the slowing economy in China and excess inventories of polished diamonds, we remain optimistic regarding the outlook over the medium to long term.

Chart 2: Regional Holdings by Country of Domicile

As of fiscal year-end 2015
Source: ASA

Chart 3: Investment Holdings by Sector

As of fiscal year-end 2015
Source: ASA

We appreciate the support of both the Board and our shareholders over the past year. We encourage shareholders to contact us with any questions that they may have either via the Company website at www.asaltd.com or by calling us directly at 1-800-432-3378.

David Christensen

President, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer

January 19, 2016

Copies of financial reports for ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited, as well as its latest net asset value, may be requested from ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited, 400 S. El Camino Real, Suite 710, San Mateo, CA (650) 376-3135 or (800) 432-3378, and may be found on the Company’s website (www.asaltd.com). We would like to call to your attention the availability of the Dividend Reinvestment and Stock Purchase Plan. See page 19 of this report for information on how shareholders can participate in this plan.

* * * * * *

The Annual General Meeting of Shareholders will be held on Tuesday, March 15, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. EST at the offices of K&L Gates LLP, 599 Lexington Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, New York, USA. We look forward to your attendance.

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.

The following is a summary of certain of the Company’s investment policies and restrictions and is subject to the more complete statements contained in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The concentration of investments in a particular industry or group of industries. It is a fundamental policy (i.e., a policy that may be changed only by shareholder vote) of the Company that at least 80% of its total assets be (i) invested in common shares or securities convertible into common shares of companies engaged, directly or indirectly, in the exploration, mining or processing of gold, silver, platinum, diamonds or other precious minerals, (ii) held as bullion or other direct forms of gold, silver, platinum or other precious minerals, (iii) invested in instruments representing interests in gold, silver, platinum or other precious minerals such as certificates of deposit therefor, and/or (iv) invested in securities of investment companies, including exchange traded funds,

or other securities that seek to replicate the price movement of gold, silver or platinum bullion. Compliance with the percentage limitation relating to the concentration of the Company’s investments will be measured at the time of investment. If investment opportunities deemed by the Company to be attractive are not available in the types of securities referred to in the preceding paragraph, the Company may deviate from the investment policy outlined in that paragraph and make temporary investments of unlimited amounts in securities issued by the U.S. Government, its agencies or instrumentalities or other high quality money market instruments.

The percentage of voting securities of any one issuer that the company may acquire. It is a non-fundamental policy (i.e., a policy that may be changed by the Board of Directors) of the Company that the Company shall not purchase a security if, at the time of purchase, more than 20% of the value of its total assets would be invested in securities of the issuer of such security.

We have audited the accompanying statements of assets and liabilities of ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited (the “Company”) including the schedules of investments, as of November 30, 2015 and November 30, 2014, and the related statements of operations and the statements of changes in net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended, and the financial highlights for each of the four years in the period then ended. These financial statements and financial highlights are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and financial highlights based on our audits. Other auditors have previously audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the financial highlights for the year ended November 30, 2011, and in their report, dated January 24, 2012, they expressed an unqualified opinion on those financial highlights.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements and financial highlights are free of material misstatement. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. Our audits included consideration of internal control over financial reporting as a basis for designing audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion

on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. An audit also includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. Our procedures included confirmation of securities owned as of November 30, 2015, by correspondence with the custodian. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements and financial highlights referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company, as of November 30, 2015 and November 30, 2014, and the results of its operations and the changes in its net assets for each of the two years in the period then ended, and the financial highlights for each of the four years in the period then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

TAIT, WELLER & BAKER LLP
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
January 19, 2016

Portfolio Statistics (unaudited)

November 30, 2015 and November 30, 2014

The Company is a “passive foreign investment company” (“PFIC”) for United States federal income tax purposes. In view of this, United States investors holding shares in taxable accounts are strongly urged to review the important tax information regarding the consequences of an investment in the common shares of the Company, which may be found at www.asaltd.com under

“Investor Information | Tax Information - PFIC”. Due to the complexity and potentially adverse effect of the applicable tax rules, U.S. shareholders are strongly urged to consult their own tax advisors concerning the impact of these rules on their investment in the Company and on their individual situations, and any additional informational filing requirements.

Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (“Computer-share”) has been authorized by the Company to offer and administer the Computershare Investment Plan, a dividend reinvestment and stock purchase plan (“CIP”) to shareholders as well as new investors or non-shareholders. Shareholders and new investors may elect to participate in the CIP by signing an enrollment form or by going to www.computershare.com/investor and following the instructions. New investors or non-shareholders must include a minimum initial investment of at least $500. Computershare as agent will apply to the purchase of common shares of the Company in the open market (i) all cash dividends (after deduction of the service charge described below) that become payable to such participant on the Company’s shares (including shares registered in his or her name and shares accumulated under the CIP) and (ii) any optional cash purchases ($50 minimum, subject to an annual maximum of $250,000) received from such participant.

For the purpose of making purchases, Computer-share will commingle each participant’s funds with those of all other participants in the CIP. The price per share of shares purchased for each participant’s account shall be the weighted average price of all shares purchased in the open market with the net funds available from a cash dividend and any voluntary cash purchases being invested. Any stock dividends or split shares distributed on shares held in the CIP will be credited to the participant’s account.

A one-time $10 enrollment fee to establish a new account for a new investor or non-shareholder will be deducted from the purchase amount. For each participant, each dividend reinvestment will entail a transaction fee of 5% of the amount reinvested, up to a maximum of $3.00 plus $0.03 per share purchased. Each optional cash purchase by check or one-time online bank debit will entail a transaction fee of $5 plus $0.03 per share purchased. If a participant has funds automatically deducted monthly from his or her savings

or checking account, for each debit the transaction fee is $2.50 plus $0.03 per share purchased. Fees will be deducted from the purchase amount. Each batch order sale will entail a transaction fee of $15 plus $0.12 per share sold. Each market order sale will entail a transaction fee of $25 plus $0.12 per share sold. Fees are deducted from the proceeds derived from the sale. All per share fees include any brokerage commissions Computershare is required to pay. Additional fees are charged by Computershare for specific shareholder requests such as copies of account statements for prior years ($10 per year requested) and a returned check and ACH reject fee of $25.

Participation in the CIP may be terminated by a participant at any time by written, telephone or Internet instructions to Computershare. Upon termination, a participant will receive a certificate for the whole number of shares credited to his or her account, unless he or she requests the sale of all or part of such shares. Dividends reinvested by a shareholder under the Plan will generally be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes in the same manner as dividends paid to such shareholder in cash. See “Certain tax information for U.S. shareholders” for more information regarding tax consequences of an investment in shares of the Company, including the effect of the Company’s status as a PFIC. The amount of the service charge is deductible for U.S. federal income tax purposes, subject to limitations.

To participate in the CIP, shareholders may not hold their shares in a “street name” brokerage account.

Additional information regarding the Plan may be obtained from Computershare, P.O. Box 30170, College Station, TX 77842-3170. Information may also be obtained on the Internet at www.computershare.com/investor or by calling Computershare’s Telephone Response Center at (800) 317-4445 between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

The Company is committed to protecting the financial privacy of its shareholders.

We do not share any nonpublic, personal information that we may collect about shareholders with anyone, including our affiliates, except to service and administer shareholders’ share accounts, to process transactions, to comply with shareholders’ requests of legal requirements or for other limited purposes permitted by law. For example, the Company may disclose a shareholder’s name, address, social security number and the number of shares owned to its administrator, transfer agent or other service providers in order to provide the shareholder with proxy

statements, tax reporting forms, annual reports or other information about the Company. This policy applies to all of the Company’s shareholders and former shareholders.

We keep nonpublic personal information in a secure environment. We restrict access to nonpublic personal information to Company employees, agents and service providers who have a need to know the information based on their role in servicing or administering shareholders’ accounts. The Company also maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect the confidentiality of nonpublic personal information.

Directors are elected at each annual general meeting of shareholders to serve until the next annual general meeting. The address of each director and officer is c/o ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited, 400 S. El Camino Real, Suite 710, San Mateo, CA 94402.

Interested Director*
David Christensen (53)

Position held with the Company: President and Chief Executive Officer since February 2009; Vice President Investments from May 2007 to February 2009; Director since 2008; and Chief Investment Officer since May 2010

Other Directorships held by Director: Director of Denver Gold Group (non-profit industry association) from 2010 to 2015.

Independent Directors
Gary Glynn (69)

Position held with the Company: Chairman (non-executive) since 2014. Director since 2013.

Principal occupations during past 5 years: President and Chief Investment Officer of U.S. Steel and Carnegie Pension Fund, 1985-2011.

Other Directorships held by Director: Director of Taiwan Opportunities Fund Ltd. since 2012; Director of Trustee of Steelworkers Pension Trust from 2009 to 2011.

Robert Pilkington (70)

Position held with the Company: Deputy Chairman (non-executive) since 2014. Director since 2004 (ASA Limited South Africa from 1979 to 2004)

Principal occupations during past 5 years: Investment Banker and Senior Advisor from 2011 to 2015 and prior thereto was Managing Director of UBS Securities LLC.

Other Directorships held by Director: Director of Avocet Mining PLC (gold mining company) from 1996 to 2014.

Bruce Hansen (58)

Position held with the Company: Director since 2014

Principal occupations during past 5 years: Chief Executive Officer, General Moly, Inc. since 2007; Various executive positions with Newmont Mining Corporation, including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, 1997 to 2006.

Other Directorships held by Director: Director of Energy Fuels Inc. since 2006; Director of General Moly Inc. since 2007; Director and past Chairman (2011) of the Nevada Mining Association (a non-profit industry association) since 2010.

Mary Joan Hoene, (66)

Position held with the Company: Director since 2014

Principal occupations during past 5 years: Counsel, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP since 2010.

Other Directorships held by Director: None

Other Officers
Jack Huntington (45)

Position held with the Company: Chief Compliance Officer since September 2015.

Principal occupations during past 5 years: Fund Chief Compliance Officer at Foreside Fund Officer Services, LLC since 2015; Senior Vice President and Counsel at Citi Fund Services from 2008 to 2015.

Sara Heston (36)

Position held with the Company: Vice President Investments since December 2013; Analyst from January 2010 to December 2013.

David Lin (37)

Position held with the Company: Principal Financial Officer and Controller since September 2014.

Other principal occupations during past 5 years: Director of Finance from 2012 to 2014 and Controller from 2008 to 2012 for White Oak Global Advisors, LLC; Chief Financial Officer for White Oak Merchant Partners, LLC from 2010 to 2014.

Executive Office and Shareholder Services

ASA Gold and Precious Metals Limited
400 S. El Camino Real, Suite 710
San Mateo, CA 94402 U.S.A.
(800) 432-3378

Registered Office

Canon’s Court
22 Victoria Street
Hamilton HM 12, Bermuda

Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Tait, Weller & Baker LLP, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.

Counsel

Appleby, Hamilton, Bermuda
K&L Gates LLP, Washington, DC, U.S.A.

Custodian

JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
New York, NY, U.S.A.

Fund Accountants

Kaufman Rossin Fund Services, LLC
Miami, FL, U.S.A.

Transfer Agent

Computershare Trust Company, N.A.
P.O. Box 30170, College Station, TX, 77842-3170
(800) 317-4445

Website: www.asaltd.com

The Semi-annual and Annual Reports of the Company and the latest valuation of net assets per share may be viewed on the Company’s website or may be requested from the Executive Office (800-432-3378). Shareholders are reminded to notify Computershare of any change of address.