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

An invasive species a globally invasive species is loose.It is a fierce predator, an apex predator of vast appetites. Its limitless ambitions span planet Earth, pole to pole.This fi-fo-fum presently besieges a tiny burgh high in the Alps of Switzerland.Private jet aircraft lower him in... and haul him out.Rolex watches encircle his wrists, Armani clothing adorns his back. He rolls around in ex...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Petra's Q2 revenue fell by almost 15 per cent, faced with what the company described as "continued lower diamond pricing environment."Rough sales were down from $105.7m to $90.2m. Half-year sales were down just over 9% from $207.1m in 2023 to $187.8m, the UK-based miner said in its H1 FY 2024 Operating Update published yesterday (16 January). There was no revenue from the sale...Read More

(IDEX Online) - De Beers has reportedly slashed rough diamond prices across the board by at least 10 per cent.Some larger goods have been discounted by as much as 25 per cent as the first Sight of the year opened in Gaborone, Botswana, yesterday (15 January), according to insiders. De Beers does not comment on prices.The UK-based miner is keen to push sales after its last two Sights of 2023 brough...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India will lead demand for natural diamonds in 2024, says David Kellie, CEO of Natural Diamond Council (NDC), as US buyers increasingly switch to lab growns."The Indian market remains the strongest growth market in the world because of its strong financial position and changing demographics," he told The Economic Times, in India."Indian women are now financially stronger, and they...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Rio Tinto today (16 January) announced a 50 per cent drop in its Q4 diamond production at Diavik, Canada's largest diamond mine.It said the closure of two kimberlite pipes - one underground, the other open pit - towards the end of the year had impacted output.Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest metals and mining corporation, reported production at Diavik, its only diamo...Read More

It's an election year. Interest rates are high relative to current inflation rates and are the highest they've been since 2006.Do those two conditions have anything to do with each other? The Federal Reserve would say no but history would say yes.On the one hand, the Federal Reserve has always maintained they are above politics. According to Fed propaganda, members of the board of governors check...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Hong Kong-based Chow Tai Fook (CTF) is finally enjoying the effects of the long-awaited bounce in tourism after China's Covid restrictions were lifted last August.It has posted a 46.1 per cent increase in its Q3 retail sales value, helped by a Christmas surge and by Chinese New Year celebrations in late December. That's a notable improvement on its a 5.8 per cent increase...Read More

You've seen the news, right? Before the weekend, U.S. and British forces (but mostly U.S.) just fired shots at targets in Yemen, in reply to Houthi attacks on Western shipping in the Red Sea.Cruise missiles, they say. And air strikes. Hmm. We'll see.First thing to understand: Whatever you read, in whatever source, We Know Nothing!That is, whatever the Pentagon press releases might have said the da...Read More

(IDEX Online) - A British auctioneer has admitted that his story of a 34-carat diamond, worth $2.5m, being found among worthless bric-a-brac at a garage sale was a complete fabrication.Mark Lane, of Featonby's Auction House, told a court he made it all up to generate media interest, in the hope it would save his 100-year-old family business.At the time, Lane told reporters an unnamed woman in...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Canadian miner Diamcor says 2024 is a "year of opportunity" after two loss-making years at its Krone-Endora at Venetia project, in South Africa.It suffered net losses of $762,000 in 2023 as it battled power supply issues and $2.4m in 2022, but said in a statement that it had navigated its way through the complex global and industry issues of recent years.Diamcor acquired Krone-Endo...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Lucara has announced its first notable recovery of 2024, a 166-ct Type IIa gem.It is the 328th +100-ct diamond since the Karowe mine, in Botswana, began commercial production in 2012.The stone was recovered in the Coarse XRT unit from direct milling of ore sourced from the M/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe.Karowe has also yielded four +1,000-ct diamonds in that time, most recently a 1...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The owners of Ekati, Canada's first diamond mine, say they plan to extend its life by developing its underground operations. Australia-based Burgundy aims to continue operations "towards 2040", it said in a letter to shareholders dated 9 January. The initial mine life was forecast as 2015 when it opened in 1998.It plans to expand underground mining at one of the mine'...Read More

One of the most extraordinary economic marvels of the past decade is the astounding 50% leap in corporate profits, from $2.4 trillion (pre-tax) pre-pandemic lockdown to $3.6 trillion (pre-tax) in the years since the lockdown ended.Strangely, few seem to ask the source of this astounding 50% leap. Wall Street has certainly cheered this vast increase, but few analysts ponder the source, or ask if th...Read More

The train wasn't scheduled for another 20 minutes, so I had a chance to contemplate the official sign on the door of the huge elevator leading to the platform.It said that only four people are allowed in because we must all practice social distancing. There was a helpful map of the interior of the elevator with stick figures telling people exactly where to stand.Yes, these stickers are still every...Read More

(IDEX Online) - The CEOs of De Beers and Signet Jewelers met this week in Botswana to discuss future collaboration opportunities.Al Cook and Gina Drosos met their teams at Jwaneng, the world's most valuable diamond mine, and at Signet's dedicated diamond polishing factory, which employs over 200 people.They are working together to identify opportunities to promote the positive economic i...Read More

We hazard the future hinges upon a monumental race.It is a contest between two mighty men political man and technological man.At stake is the destiny of everyman, presently in the siege of political man.Under political man the nation has taken aboard $34 trillion of debt.Under political man the nation's debt-to-GDP ratio well excels 120%.Heavily because of it... under political man... the nati...Read More

(IDEX Online) - India's Titan Company saw revenue from its jewelry stores rise by 23 per cent during Q3, driven by increasing consumer confidence and moderate price rises. Earnings from CaratLane, the e-tailer now owned almost entirely by Titan, were up by 31 per cent year-on-year, according to a quarterly update which provided percentage increases but not actual revenues.Titan, which wa...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Gem Diamonds has recovered a high quality 295 carat Type II white diamond from its Letseng mine in Lesotho.It's the miner's first +100-ct diamond of 2024. Last year Gem recovered five, including two in October, weighing 117.47 carats and 110 carats. But that's down on its long-term average of eight a year. In 2022 it recovered four.Letseng, known as the highest...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Sarine and GCAL are opening a new grading lab in Surat, India, after the companies merged last year.Sarine, the Israel-based diamond tech business known for its Galaxy mapping systems, acquired a 70 per cent stake in US-based GCAL (Gem Certification & Assurance Lab).GCAL currently operates just one lab, at its New York base. Sarine said the merger would allow GCAL to expand its...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GIA says it aims to combat "cloned diamond" fraud by offering same-day verification of its inscriptions.The move comes as an increasing number of lab growns are being fraudulently submitted for re-grading. They are cut to match the specifications of natural diamonds that have already been graded and inscribed with either with a GIA number (genuine or fake).GIA says that from next w...Read More