The ongoing conflict in Ukraine could have a massively bullish impact on gold prices, according to one of Wall Street's foremost gold experts.

"One of the largest suppliers of gold, and of course platinum, is Russia," said George Gero, precious metals strategist at RBC Capital Markets. "And if they're going to be involved in sanctions, and more problems with Ukraine, and deliveries are curtailed—and there is already a problem in South Africa between the miners of platinum, palladium and the mining companies—all of that could somehow explode on the upside and curtail deliveries, meaning higher prices."

According to the British Geological Survey, Russia is the fourth-largest producer of gold, outputting 7 percent of the world's total supply.

And in fact, on Thursday morning, as Russian President Vladimir Putin issued what sounded like a warning to the Ukrainian government, gold surged much higher in minutes. If Russia becomes more involved in Ukraine, more sanctions from the U.S. and other countries could be on the table.

Read More Gold ends higher on Ukraine worries, options buying

On Thursday's episode of "Futures Now," Gero then went on to explain another reason why gold could move higher in the days ahead.

"You have option expiration tonight on the Comex, and options, when in-the-money, become futures contracts," Gero said. "And we have more puts than calls that could be in-the-money if the price goes lower from here. And that means there will be large short positions to be covered, or very large margin calls."

—By CNBC's Alex Rosenberg.

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