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

Historians of the future, gathered round their campfires poaching armadillo tail-flaps in their own shells, will harken back to the wondrous day in 2024 when they could watch and compare two heads of great nations present themselves to the world for assessment.There was Mr. Putin of the land called Russia, calmly discoursing in fine detail on a thousand years of his country's history. And there wa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Jewelry belonging to Steve McQueen's first wife, Neile Adams, sold at auction for just over $200,000 at Bonhams' California Jewels sale.Leading the sale was a platinum ring (pictured) set with a a 3.80-carat old European-cut diamond. McQueen, best known for The Great Escape in 1963, bought it for himself, then decided it would suit his wife better, so he gave it to her.It...Read More

Yesterday's reckoning drew a fulsome mail...We suggested the United States economy was not a "real" economy. We suggested that it was, instead, a "fake" economy...And that government data-manglers sketch false scenes of economic vigor.Certain readers took... exception.For example: Reader J.B. believes we trained our cannons unjustly upon the Biden administration:It can’t be true under a...Read More

As a scribbler we are at times spoiled for choice. Today is one such time.Yesterday the Supreme Court of the United States commenced proceedings into Colorado's ruling barring Mr. Trump from the ballot...Yesterday the United States Department of Justice issued an official report bringing into vast question the sitting president’s cognitive competence...Yesterday the same president met th...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The growth in Swiss watch exports slowed in January after ending 2023 on a high.Foreign sales increased by 5.5 per cent in December, following on from the "highest-ever monthly level" of exports in November, at almost CHF2.5bn ($2.95bn).January's sales were CHF1.9bn ($2.16bn), a year-on-year increase of 3.1 per cent."While the growth in Swiss watch exports continued to slow, i...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara's on-off deal for HB Antwerp to sell its specials from the Karowe mine, Botswana, is back on again.The Canadian miner yesterday (18 February) announced details of a 10-year deal that is very similar to the one it abruptly ended last September.Lucara was less than a year into a 10-year agreement when it pulled the plug, accusing HB of "a material breach of financial comm...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Namibia's rough diamond production increased by 9 per cent during 2023 to 2.33m carats.Marine diamonds, which account for the majority of its output, were up 8 per cent to 1.86m carats, according to Debmarine Namibia figures.Land-based production, overseen by Namdeb, increased 14 per cent to 468,000 carats.Despite the overall annual increase, fourth quarter output for land and...Read More

(IDEX Online) - When only the most luxurious door lock pins will do, Mercedes has the answer.It has embedded a 0.25 carat diamond into all four in the "Stronger than Diamonds" limited edition of its $143,000-plus G550 model, which launched on Valentine's Day. It did not provide details of cut, color or clarity. But due an unfortunate error its press release said there was a "25-carat dia...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra sold $47.8m of diamonds at its February tender, down 30 per cent on December 2023 ($67.9m).Like-for-like prices increased by 4 per cent the company said, but average price per carat fell 15 per cent, from $131 to $112.The UK-based miner said it achieved higher prices across all size categories except 5-cts to 10.8-cts, where prices were largely flat compared to the previous t...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gitanjali Gems, the jewelry brand founded by Mehul Choksi that once had 4,000 points of sale across India, is to be liquidated.The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the move, which follows an insolvency order in October 2018, when the business had admitted liabilities of over Rs 12,558 crore ($1.51bn)Choksi was managing director of Gitanjali until the Punjab Nationa...Read More

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. Unfortunately, we've been fooled over and over so many times that it has become an exercise in futility. We've scratched our head so many times when it comes to U.S. energy policies that at this point we've embraced the absurdity. One of the more blatant head-scratchers has been the use or absence of sanctions. Back in 2017, the Trump adm...Read More

We stand before the gates of Elysium. Paradise is in view.Here are some recent headlines:"U.S. Labor Market Sizzles With Blowout Job Growth, Solid Wage Gains"…"Another Shockingly Good Jobs Report Shows America’s Economy Is Booming"…"The U.S. Didn't Just Avoid a Recession It's Adding Hundreds of Thousands of New Jobs"…"The U.S. Economy Isn’t 'Goldilocks,' It’s...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The US jeweler Harry Winston is expanding its operations in China with the opening of an eighth store.It's located in the Wulin commercial district of Hangzhou, the country's 11th biggest city, which has a 9m population.In 2012 Harry Winston opened its first Chinese outlet, in Beijing."The opening of Harry Winston's new salon, marks its eighth location in mainland Ch...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gen Z and millennials don't realize their "sustainable" lab growns are made by burning coal in China and India, according to a Fortune investigation.The global business magazine says many manufacturers are based in India, where 75 per cent of electricity comes from burning coal, but still use words like "sustainable" and "environmentally-friendly" to promote goods on their web...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Geologists have made a breakthrough discovery that is saving time and money for diamond prospectors.They've established a link between the chemical composition of olivine, a mineral that makes up around half of kimberlite rock, and the likelihood that the kimberlite will be diamond-bearing.Andrea Giuliani, senior scientist at ETH Zurich's Institute of Geochemistry and Pet...Read More

When will the Fed cut rates? Before giving you the answer, let's back up.Before last week's Federal Reserve meeting, I offered readers the following forecast of what would happen at that meeting:On Wednesday, the Fed will leave its target rate for fed funds unchanged. That decision will keep the federal funds target at 5.50% as set at the July 26, 2023 meeting. Over the course of fifteen FOMC meet...Read More

(IDEX Online) - France has outlawed the term "lab grown" and says such diamonds can only be described as "synthetic".The country's Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) reaffirmed a decision originally made in January 2002 concerning man-made diamonds gemstones and pearls following a challenge by a French lab grown company.Lab grown diamonds can o...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers has strengthened its ties with Angola in a move aimed at increasing the country's diamond production.It has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Angola's National Mineral Resource Agency, and its state-owned mining and trading companies - Endiama and Sodiam - that is also designed to support the alluvial mining sector and enhance social development.De...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's exports of polished diamonds increased month-on-month by over a third (34 per cent) in January as manufacturers re-stocked after a two-month ban on rough purchases.Overall gross exports were $1.16bn, up from $862m in December, according to new figures from the GJEPC (Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council).There are clear signs of recovery, although January exports...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers today (13 February) announced the launch of its latest lab grown diamond detector, capable of screening 2,500 of the smallest melee in an hour.The AMS Micro (Automated Melee Screening) uses robotic technology to work with stones as small as 0.001-cts, a significant improvement on the 0.0032-cts capacity of its predecessor, the AMS.The new instrument automatically separates...Read More