Vancouver, B.C. - March 23, 2016 - The Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia (AME BC) welcomes incentives announced in the Government of Canada's 2016 budget that assist mineral explorers and developers in British Columbia (BC).The federal budget extends the Mineral Exploration Tax Credit (METC) through March 2017. In a BC context, the federal 15 per cent METC for investors i...Read More
Pascua-Lama has been shut since 2013. (Image courtesy of Barrick Gold)Canada's Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) will have to face a U.S. class-action lawsuit that accuses the world's largest gold producer of distorting facts related to its now halted $8.5 billion Pascua-Lama project, straddling the border of Chile and Argentina.U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan ruled Wednesday that sha...Read More
Commodities giant Mitsubishi Corp became Thursday the second Japanese trading house this week to report huge write-downs and a likely first annual loss ever, echoing Mitsui & Co's warning on the effect of weak commodity prices.Japan's biggest trader said it expected to book an impairment charge of $3.8 billion (430 billion yen) mainly on its metals and energy businesses, which will lead to a net l...Read More
On Wednesday investors curbed their enthusiasm for commodities, sending everything from copper and gold to oil and iron ore sharply lower.But despite nervousness returning to metals and mining markets this week, 2016 is still looking decidedly better for the sector. Year to date gold is holding onto 15% gains, silver and platinum are up 10% while bellwether copper's trading nearly 15% higher than...Read More
Donald Trump claims that America keeps "losing" at trade with China.While the number he cites is exaggerated, it's also not far off. Today's animation shows the last 30 years of history of trade between the USA and China.The U.S. trade deficit with China reached record proportions in 2015.With a difference of $365.7 billion between imports and exports, it is not only the largest trade deficit with...Read More
Japanese trading firm Mitsui & Co warned Wednesday is set to post its first annual loss since being established in 1947 after a sustained rout in energy and metal prices forced it to book $2.3 billion (260 billion yen) in write-downs on projects from South America to Australia.The Tokyo-based firm, Japan's second biggest trading house, expects a net loss of 70 billion yen ($623 million) in the fis...Read More
Driven by low commodity prices, large mining companies will shift away from diversification strategies to concentrate on increasing competitiveness in specific sectors, predicts research firm BMI.The process is already underway at the top diversified firms including at number one miner BHP Billiton which back in 2014 embarked on what it called "portfolio simplification" to focus on iron ore, copp...Read More
Recent stock charts are making it tempting to declare a five-year-long bear market for mining finally over.Since mid-January, mining stocks have rallied, key commodity prices appear to be making their way up from a bottom, a number of financing and acquisition deals have been struck and, for the first time in years, the mood at the recent Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conve...Read More
Juneau, AK; Ottawa, ON; Washington, D.C., March 22 - In the midst of deliberations over the British Columbia Mining Code, an international coalition today released, "Post-Mount Polley: Tailings Dam Safety in British Columbia", a new analysis revealing that four major BC mine projects in the Alaska/British Columbia transboundary region fail to implement the recommendations of the Mount Polley exp...Read More
The world economy is complex, but today's series of maps will allow you to simplify your understanding of the relative wealth of people around the globe.Global Finance Magazine recently collated data from the World Bank on Gross National Income (GNI) per capita for 204 countries.Each country was placed in one of four groups:Low income: $1,045 or lessLower-middle income: $1,046 to $4,125Upper-middl...Read More
In New York trade on Monday copper for delivery in May consolidated recent gains to reach a 20-week high after customs data from top consumer China showed a huge jump in imports of the red metal.Copper changed hands for $2.3020 per pound or around $5,075 a tonne in lunchtime trade on Tuesday, up o.8% from Friday's close. If the most active futures contract closes above $2.30 it would be the...Read More
Rio Tinto's incoming chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques has put paid to suggestions his appointment represents a shift to expansion at the mining giant, after a series of ill-fated acquisitions and the worst commodities rout in decades resulted in three years of aggressive cost cutting.Mr Jacques, who was anointed as Rio's next chief executive on Friday and will replace incumbent Sam Walsh in...Read More
According to a study of private capital in the resources sector from industry tracker Preqin, half of investors in the mining and metals sector will deploy more capital this year despite two-thirds of institutional investors displaying less appetite for the sector compared to a year ago.The pullback comes after fundraising for natural resources investment reached record levels in 2015, with 74 fu...Read More
Canadian junior Strongbow Exploration Inc announced on Friday the acquisition of the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall.The Cornish mine which is under administration hasn't operated in nearly two decades. Vancouver-based Strongbow (CVE:SBW) paid in the order of US$2m for 100% of the mining permission area which includes 26 former producing mines.A new NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate will be...Read More
The need for responsible mining practices is not new and has for many years been at the top of the agenda for many large scale mining companies.This issue has been collectively addressed by the large scale mining industry since the late 1990s in order to help improve public awareness, address concern for the environment, introduce the broader concept of sustainability and maintaining high e...Read More
With sales and operations at the ends of the earth, few companies are in a better position to take the pulse of the global economy and the resource sector in particular than Caterpillar.The world's number one heavy equipment manufacturer has been hit hard by the decline in mining and construction - sales are down more than $20 billion from its peak just four years ago after a drop of over $8 billi...Read More
ATF 2016 closes by launching innovative Coalition for African Transformation(Matthew Rees, Richard Sezibera, Richard Newfarmer and Eveline Herfkens (from left to right) at the ATF 2016 breakout session on "Facilitating Trade and Regional Integration")ACCRA, Ghana, -/African Media Agency (AMA)/- The African Transformation Forum (ATF), held from 14-15th March in Kigali, Rwanda, concluded with the o...Read More
Mining and commodities giant Glencore (LON:GLEN) is getting closer to selling its Lomas Bayas copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert, after receiving at least two significant offers for the asset, local media reports.According Diario Financiero (in Spanish), the bidders include former Barrick Gold CEO Aaron Regent's company - Magris Resources -, and Chilean energy firm Copec.Bidders include form...Read More
The biggest rally for mining company shares since 2009 risks fizzling out as gains have largely been driven by funds reversing bets on lower prices rather than long-term investors looking for value.The benchmark FTSE 350 mining index, which tracks the performance of the UK's 11 biggest listed miners, is up 26 percent this year, the biggest quarterly gain since September 2009, and marking a revival...Read More
March madness reached the commodities markets on Thursday as investors piled into the mining sector on the back of a jump in the copper price and a renewed iron ore rallyOn the Comex market in New York copper for delivery in May climbed as much 2.8% to $2.2925 a pound or some $5,050 a tonne. It's the highest closing value since November 4 and the red metal is now up more than 18% from a six-y...Read More