BHP and Rio Tinto's Escondida copper mine in Chile's Atacama Desert is the world's largest copper-producing mine.BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP), the world's largest mining company, is making a bold bet on copper by deciding to ramp up output while slashing production costs.The company's copper boss, Daniel Malchuk, said Tuesday that BHP expects to lower production costs to $1.08 per pound during the 2017...Read More
Lightship today announced that KGHM International, which is working towards the development of the Ajax Copper-Gold project near the city of Kamloops, B.C., will be using the Lightship application to manage and protect field employees working on mine development. The application, also called Lightship, provides site managers with a real time, bird's-eye view of an entire worksite. It tracks and re...Read More
A couple of weeks ago, mining and metals analysts at Barclays put out a research note warning investors that while the sector is having its worst run in fifty years better days aren't necessarily around the corner.This is how the investment bank summarized the current state of the industry when it downgraded the entire sector:"The last 5 years have now been the worst period of performance since 19...Read More
Tabas coal mine in central Iran. Source: Mehr News AgencyCopper, iron ore and heavy rare earth elements could be worth "much more" than Iran's crude oil revenues Mojtaba Khosrowtaj, deputy minister in Iran's Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade tells Bloomberg.Iran is opening $29 billion of mining projects to foreign investors once international sanctions are lifted, roughly equal the oil and gas...Read More
Dark times ahead for Australia's mining industry. (Image via YouTube)Australia's mining industry is likely to see up to 20,000 jobs fade by the end of 2018 as one of the country's leading research firm forecasts a further 58% fall in investments in the sector over the next three years.According to BIS Shrapnel's report, Mining in Australia 2015 to 2030, investment in the country since 2014 has fal...Read More
When the instinct is strongest to curl up in a ball and wait out the ravages of the down market is also when smart companies snap up distressed projects and get to work while capital costs are low. In this interview with The Gold Report, veteran investors Bob Moriarty of 321gold.com and Adrian Day of Adrian Day Asset Management share their messages to mining company CEOs and investors about advanc...Read More
Copper producers in China are taking drastic measures to arrest the plummeting price.On Saturday it was announced that nine large copper smelters will cut production by over 200,000 tonnes in 2016, which is around 5 percent of 2015 levels.The move comes as copper prices on the London Metal exchange and in Shanghai fell to six-year lows, on the back of low growth and an oversupplied market. Growth...Read More
Metals discovered from exploration worth about $700 billion.This is a syndicated post.Read the original here.Read More
Rio Tinto Aluminium Weipa celebrated 50 years of operations in 2013. (Image courtesy of Rio Tinto)Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), the world's second-largest mining group, has approved a $1.9 billion bauxite project in Australia, bucking a trend among most top miners that have mostly delayed new mines to weather the effects of slumping commodity prices.The South of Embley project, located on the Cape York Pen...Read More
Along with the rest of the base metals complex tin enjoyed a nice bump on Thursday on speculation that Chinese miners are getting serious about production cuts and Beijing may start stockpiling metals to make the most of low prices.Tin gained nearly 2% to trade just under $15,000 on Thursday, recovering from a low of $14,200 a tonne hit earlier this week. The metal is still trading down more than...Read More
Party like it's 2008On Thursday, base metals rebounded from financial crisis levels hit earlier this week on speculation of output cuts in China, hopes a new program of stockpiling by the state and a possible probe by Beijing into short-selling by Chinese hedge funds.In New York trade on Thursday copper for delivery in March gained more than 2% to $2.09 per pound. On Monday the red metal hit i...Read More
Rio Tinto's (LON:RIO) decision on its long-delayed expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia is likely to be affected by the current slump of the metal, which hit a fresh six-year low this week.The world's-second biggest miner, which began production from an open pit of Oyu Tolgoi over two years ago, has not finished lining up financing for the $5 billion expansion, Reuters rep...Read More
The depth of a bull market speaks to the size of the recovery and Rick believes that this bear market could be one for the history books. But when will the bear end?The depth of a bull market speaks to the size of the recovery and Rick believes that this bear market could be one for the history books. But when will the bear end?Watch Interview with Rick RuleTalking points from this week's intervie...Read More
It's hard to find an analysis of the mining and minerals sector that offers even a glimpse of a brighter future.A new report by consultants McKinsey & Company takes a fresh look at the industry and finds much of today's doom and gloom is misplaced.The study suggests that the steadily deteriorating quality of accessible resources combined with the current cuts in new mine investment, will likely sq...Read More
Anglo American sold the Mantos Blancos copper mine in Chile (pictured) earlier this year.Shares in Anglo American (LON:AAL), the second-worst performer in the FTSE 100 after Glencore this year, plummeted Wednesday, after HSBC downgraded it to 'reduce' from 'hold' and highlighted the miner's precarious cash flow situation may force it to cancel its dividend.The diversified miner's stock closed down...Read More
El Morro and Relincho projects are located approximately 40 km apart in Chile's Atacama region. (Image from archives)Canadian mining giants Goldcorp (TSX:G), (NYSE:GG) and Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.A & TCK.B) (NYSE:TCK) have finished combining their respective El Morro and Relincho projects in Chile.The projects, located approximately 40 kilometres apart in Chile's copper-rich Atacama region, are...Read More
Study shows copper price fall matches previous down-cycles going back to 1975, but expect a long painful slog before a sustained recoveryIt's been a brutal November for copper which despite a nice bump on Tuesday is down more than 10% during the month.In New York on Tuesday copper gained 2.5% to $2.06 a pound after coming dangerously close to dropping through $2.00 on Monday, the lowest since Mar...Read More
Illegal mine in Colombia's Choco province. (Image from archives)A sudden boom in illegal gold mining in Colombia is fuelling human trafficking and forced labour in and around mines loosely connected to paramilitary groups, drug traffickers and leftist guerrillas, according to Aljazeera.In an in-depth report, the news outlet reveals that small-scale miners are being forced out at gunpoint or extort...Read More
Chile's Escondida, the world's largest copper-producing mine. (Image courtesy of BHP Billiton)More than 18,600 km from Beijing, in copper-rich northern Chile, beleaguered miners are barely coping with the impact of China's economic slowdown.The situation is worse than many think, according to the country's mining industry group Consejo Regional Minero de Coquimbo (Corminco), which represents some...Read More
What percent of Canada's minerals are produced in Manitoba? How much mineral potential does the province have?Learn about this, as well as mining's contributions to Manitoba in wealth and safety.Courtesy of: Visual CapitalistPresented by: Mining Association of ManitobaMining in Manitoba had humble beginnings. Settlers of the province needed non-metallic raw materials, and began to extract salt fro...Read More