The AOCE and WB have moderate overall forecasts for the metals in 2025 inline with IMF forecasts for a decline in economic growth and inflation, although we see the probability of a stagflationary scenario as still reasonably high.Read More

The past year was a difficult one overall for the metals, with the main standouts to the upside being a geopolitical risk-driven gain in gold, a China-driven rise in iron ore and a surge in uranium on broadening global support for nuclear power (Figure 1). A jump in global interest rates to near two-decade highs saw recession fears persist all year, and while one still did not actually eru...Read More

This year the post-global health crisis boom was brought to an end by a surge in inflation to forty-year highs, a major rise in global interest rates in an attempt to curb the rising prices and surging geopolitical risk after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While precious metals held up reasonably well as markets turned to them as a risk hedge, by Q2/22 the higher interest rates put an end t...Read More

Chile is the world leader in copper production, at 28.5% of the total in 2020, and this looks set to continue, with the country having the largest global reserves, at 23.0% of total. It is also the global leader for molybdenum, which is often found along with copper, and is a major lithium player, holding 51.1% of global reserves. Read More

Newfoundland has become a gold exploration hotspot over the past few years, with the sector seeing some of its strongest activity ever. While the province remains a small contributor to Canadian gold production, it has a substantial mineral industry well supported by the government, focused on iron ore, copper and nickel, and the surge in exploration suggests that gold output from the...Read More

Nevada is the core of the U.S. gold output, accounting for by far the majority, at 75.4% on average for the past year. The state looks set to remain a dominant player in U.S. gold, as it accounts for 49% of total U.S. reserves, with Alaska slightly ahead with 51% of reserves, but just 8.6% of current production. The U.S. accounts for 6.1% of global gold output, making Nevada one of the largest gol...Read More

The Golden Triangle in northwestern British Columbia has historically been a major site of Canadian gold production, beginning as early as the mid 1800s. There was a wave of production in the 1990s which cooled as the gold price declined, but larger scale production resumed in 2017, and the area has seen surging exploration interest over the past year, given that the region has some of the largest...Read More

In this report we outline the Quebec gold mining industry, including its major producers, and a survey of many of the junior miners focused on the province. Quebec accounts for 34% of Canadian gold production (second to Ontario, with 44%) and remains a major focus for both producers and junior miners.Read More

Red Lake has been one of the most prolific gold mining districts in Canada and the world, with exploration having started in the 1920s, and production, which began in the 1930s, continuing to the present day. The district is known for the high grade of its gold, its infrastructure, and strong institutional support, given the long history of mining in the area.Read More

President Trump has recently suggested that, unless Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell cuts interest rates, the president might revert to his The Apprentice days and tell Powell, "you're fired."President Trump backtracked on firing Powell after the president's comments caused stock markets to fall. However, it is almost certain that President Trump will not reappoint Powell when Powell's term...Read More

With the Trump Administration headed down the road to higher inflation and the political chaos that results, it is worth asking why there are "only" $4 trillion in notional crypto tokens, this according to the Financial Times. The rise of bitcoin and other ethereal instruments evidences a strong desire on the part of many Americans to escape a sinking ship, but also confirms the love for creating...Read More

The past 10 years has been dominated by tech.The Magnificent 7 is up 2,278% over that period. That's Google, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Tesla, Meta, Amazon, and Apple.It's been an incredible run. But the tech bull will soon be put out to pasture. Valuations are stretched. Employees are already filthy rich off stock options, draining their motivation.Spending on AI hardware and talent is completely out of...Read More

There are assertions that, on the face of them, should be dismissed immediately as nonsense. But modern science tells us not to trust our first instincts in favor of "the numbers," or "the data," or "the stats."The problem is that if the numbers are miscalculated or misinterpreted, we start to believe stupid things.For instance, a significant number of X users genuinely believe Spain and Portugal...Read More

Throughout the Russo-Ukrainian war, Senator Lindsey Graham has been a primary instigator. His involvement goes back to at least 2016, when he visited Ukraine and told soldiers that "your fight is our fight", while accusing Russia of "hacking our elections".After the war truly kicked off in 2022, Graham told Americans that funding Ukraine was an excellent investment. It was simple, according to the...Read More

Elizabeth rounded the edge of the house. There, in the back yard were two of Pierre's prize cows. Sleek. Fat. Muscled. They were the kind of limousine cows that butchers must dream about."Oh no….they're going to eat our flowers."She called Pierre."Just close your gate so they can't get out onto the road," he advised. "It's too dark for me to get them now. I'll come in the morning."And don't...Read More

In 1970, silver traded at around $1.60 per ounce. By its peak in 1980, it reached $49.45. A handsome 30x return.The story of how it got there is full of intrigue and conspiracy. We'll get to that. But first, a little background is in order.Monetary demand for silver had collapsed after the U.S. and other countries stopped using it in coins in 1965. Before that, America's dimes and quarters were 90...Read More

"Are you looking for the Holland America check-in? Or Princess? Or Viking?"The polite, smiling greeter was addressing me, and I was surprised. My mind was elsewhere."No, thank you," I replied. "No cruise ships. I'm here for work. But can you point me to the taxi stand, to get into town?"And so it began on Sunday evening, as I disembarked at the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, after...Read More

This week Elon Musk's xAI released a new feature called "Companions".The first so-called companion is an animated female avatar named "Ani". This is what she looks like:Alarm bells should be ringing loudly. And I only showed the top third of this "companion", because the rest is risque and doesn't fit our presbyterian standard.Access to xAI's new "companion" costs $30/month. And no, Ani is NOT app...Read More

By now, you've read about Elon Musk's plans to form a third party and run candidates against Republicans and Democrats in the next presidential election in 2028 and perhaps even as soon as the mid-term elections in 2026. The name of the new party is the America Party.Running a third-party campaign is far from easy.Perhaps the first problem with Musk's plan is that he was encouraged to do so by Mar...Read More

America is in the midst of a fierce contest with China for AI supremacy.China is getting closer in terms of AI model quality. The latest models from DeepSeek, Alibaba, and Moonshot are competitive with the best OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google have to offer.American firms are still putting out the best models in the world, but the code quality competition is heating up.The good news is that the U.S....Read More

There are assertions that, on the face of them, should be dismissed immediately as nonsense. But modern science tells us not to trust our first instincts in favor of "the numbers," or "the data," or "the stats."The problem is that if the numbers are miscalculated or misinterpreted, we start to believe stupid things.For instance, a significant number of X users genuinely believe Spain and Portugal...Read More

The sun shone hot. The palm trees swayed. And the beaches glistened.But this was not some tropical island paradise. This was Jersey, a 'tax haven' island in the English Channel. It reminded us of Bermuda with vaguely similar architecture, topography, flora and people. Even the English accents were familiar.We went to visit a friend, and stayed the weekend to visit the island.The idea of a 'tax h...Read More

As most of you know, I spent last week at Rick Rule's annual investment conference.It was a bonanza for natural resource bulls. Especially us gold and silver bugs.We heard from and spoke with some of the best mining companies in the world. From early-stage exploration stocks to giants like Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM). And everything in between.Today we're going to look at two of the fascinating minin...Read More

"If you don't become a multi-millionaire in the next couple of years, you're doing something wrong," quipped Rick Rule in a sidebar to his investment conference last week in Boca Raton, Forida.Rick wasn't kidding. He means it. Although, of course, to do well you must begin with seed money; and no, I don't mean plopping down a few bucks at the local 7-Eleven store for lottery tickets. It takes mone...Read More

Last week the Department of Justice announced that Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a "client list" of prominent individuals who may have broken the law at Epstein's private island. These individuals could be blackmailed by Epstein and whatever intelligence agencies were working with him.In February, in response to a question about when Epstein's client list would be made public, Attorney General...Read More

MP Materials (NYSE: MP) soared 43% today. The stock is up 171% on the year.We'll explain why in a moment. But first we must set the stage.If you aren't familiar with the rare earths story yet, it's time to catch up.MP is one of the only rare earth miners in the United States. They also refine, separate, and manufacture the powerful magnets created using these key elements.These minerals, and the m...Read More

There's a famous economic law you may not have heard of, but it is valuable to understand.It goes like this: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."It's called Goodhart's Law, named after British economist Charles Goodhart. He meant it as a warning to policymakers.If you fixate too much on one data point - like inflation, test scores, or unemployment - you can end up dis...Read More

Let's play a little game of economic whack-a-mole.Every time someone yells, "AI is going to take all our jobs!" someone else pops up and calmly says, "Yes, but it'll create even more!"And they're both right... sort of.Welcome to the world of artificial intelligence, where your job might disappear, but a better one might pop up before you hit the unemployment line. That is, assuming you can reskill...Read More

This week I'm reporting from the Rick Rule Investment Symposium in beautiful Boca Raton, Florida.The event is built for gold and silver bugs. There are around 1,000 of us here.Dozens of publicly-traded mining and royalty companies are represented as sponsors, speakers, and attendees.What makes this conference unique is that Rick only allows companies to sponsor which he has a personal investment i...Read More