Every junior commodity market has its share of pretenders to go along with the contenders as prices and demand move up.In striking contrast to internationally traded bellwether metals such as copper and gold, the market for lithium is murky. Analysts have noted recent variances in spot prices in China ranging to $20,000 a tonne. There's barely a handful of producers and buyers and a popular produc...Read More
Gold has enjoyed its best first half of the year performance since 1908 and silver's 48% surge is a big swing even for such a volatile metal, but the 2016 rally in industrial metals has been just as remarkable.Base metals are showing across the board gains year-to-date. Bellwether copper has been unable to break $5,000 decisively but is still ahead year-to-date while the likes of zinc (+41% at $2,...Read More
According to the World Bank, together the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) consume 40% of global energy and food commodities and over half of the world's metals. China alone accounted for virtually all the increase in metals (aluminum, copper, lead, nickel, tin and zinc) consumption of the BRICs since 1994.India's consumption of metals almost doubled over the past 20 years. But it's...Read More
Mining and commodities giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) is not selling its Lomas Bayas copper mine, after offers for the property in Chile's Atacama desert came in below expectations according to media reports.Reuters reports the mine was expected to fetch about $500 million, but "according to people familiar with the situation" Glencore is ditching disposal plans for the moment partly because even aft...Read More
An increased number of mergers and acquisitions in the mining industry was the main reason why more than 10% of the companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and Toronto Venture Exchange vanished between 2014 and 2015, a new report shows.According to Ernst & Young's latest study, 49 mining and metals companies delisted from the TSX and TSX-V in 2014 and a further 172 companies delisted in 20...Read More
Shares in Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) were up more than 3.6% Thursday morning after the Canadian miner released fresh drilling results from the Kakula section at its giant Kamoa copper project in Congo, which the company says could prove the discovery to be Africa's most significant deposit of the red metal ever found."Given the remarkable exploration success we have had to date at the Kakula Discove...Read More
The Jesse Creek porphyry copper property, located north of Merritt, BC (pictured).Junior exploration and development firm, Wealth Minerals (CVE:WML), has signed an option agreement for a 100% interest in porphyry copper deposits located in British Columbia, Canada.Under the option agreement Wealth must pay US$1 million in cash and issue 3 million shares to the property owners over a four-year peri...Read More
Aerial view of the Mount Polley mine tailings pond shows the area where the dam wall gave way early on the morning of August 4, 2014. Image from archives)It has been two years since Mount Polley and nearly a year since Samarco. It has become apparent that Mount Polley had both design and management issues, while the jury is still out on the causes of failure at Samarco. So what has the industry do...Read More
In New York trade on Tuesday copper for delivery in September suffered another down day despite indications of continued strong Chinese demand.Copper dipped to $2.14 per pound ($4,718 a tonne), a four-week low. While other industrial metals and steelmaking raw materials have jumped in value this year, industry bellwether copper has been underperforming badly. The red metal is now trading...Read More
Gold investors will soon be able to buy and sell the precious metal through a London-based futures contract, as the London Metal Exchange, the World Gold Council and a group of banks and trading firms have announced a new venture, called LMEprecious.The new trading platform, due to launch in the first half of 2017, aims to prepare the world's largest bullion hub for new regulations and increased...Read More
Shares in Taseko Mines (TSX:TKO) (NYSEMKT:TGB) were slightly up Tuesday morning in Toronto after the company announced the acquisition of new mineral claims next to its Gibraltar mine, Canada's second largest open pit copper mine.The new claims, said the Vancouver-based company, represent nearly 6,000 acres of land located roughly 2 km from the extension zone of Gibraltar, which is also Canada's s...Read More
In New York trade on Friday copper for delivery in September continued to drift lower over worries about a flood of new supply hitting the market in the medium term and an unclear demand picture.Copper was lasting trading at just over $2.15 per pound ($4,740 a tonne), close to a four-week low. While other industrial metals and steelmaking raw materials have jumped in value this year, industry...Read More
Glencore, the world's third largest copper miner, has halted copper production across all of its Zambia operations following the death of four miners in separate accidents. Local officials reported the news on Friday.Three workers were electrocuted while underground at Glencore's Mufulira copper mine. A further accident took place last week at a Mopani shaft in the Kitwe district where the mine em...Read More
Investors poured just under $51 billion into commodity markets during the first seven months of the year according to new research from UK investment bank Barclays Capital.That was the largest inflows since 2009. The rise in commodity values combined with the new money invested in the sector saw a $74 billion spike in the value of commodity assets under management since the start of the year.The p...Read More
In New York trade on Thursday copper for delivery in September continued to drift lower after signs that cost deflation in the world's top producer Chile is only accelerating.Copper futures were lasting trading at $2.17 per pound, a three week low. Amid a broad-based rally in industrial and precious metals, iron ore and coal, copper's performance has been disappointing with the metal tradin...Read More
Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) is facing more uncertainty about its operations in Indonesia after reports the Asian country's new resources chief dismissed the idea of an early extension of the copper and gold giant's licence.Luhut Panjaitan, the newly appointed Maritime Affairs minister and one of president Joko Widodo's closest aides, is quoted by Reuters as saying "Freeport shouldn't push us"...Read More
The world's number two miner by revenue Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) reported its weakest first-half earnings in some 12 years on the back of falls in the value of its two main commodities, iron ore and copper prices fell.Underlying earnings for the six months to June fell 47% to $1.56 billion from $2.92 billion compared to a year earlier and the Anglo-Australian giant also cut its interim dividend by 58%...Read More
Turquoise Hill Resources (TSE,NYSE:TRQ) on Tuesday released its operational overview and financial results for its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia that came in above expectations despite showing production declines for both metals.The Vancouver-based company said Oyu Tolgoi's second quarter concentrator throughput was in line with the first quarter at roughly 105,000 tonnes per day, but...Read More
Production of bauxite, the major source of aluminum, is accelerating steadily according to the latest reports. Strong project pipelines in Australia and India are the main growth catalyst, with 5 of Australia's bauxite mines currently providing over a quarter of global supply.Rio Tinto posted a 3.9% output increase from its bauxite operations in Australia for Q1 of this year. The mining corporatio...Read More
At a time when companies in the mining sector are struggling to raise capital to finance their ventures, some Canadian mining companies have turned to crowdfunding platforms as an innovative solution. The concept has been around for some time in various fields, including new technology, entertainment and media, and has been relatively successful. As a result, some mining companies have decided to...Read More