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

MI6 Chief Says Fake News And Online Propaganda Are A Threat To Democracy ... The chief of MI6 has said he is deeply concerned by the threat posed by rival countries attempting to undermine democracy through propaganda and cyberattacks. –BuzzfeedThe next step in attacking the alternative media is to criminalize it.Right now the alternative media is under attack in Europe for "hate speech" and...Read More

The copper price hit an 18-month high on an intraday basis last week as global manufacturing activity continues to pick up and hopes about US president-elect Trump's $500 billion infrastructure plans lift sentiment.While it's pulled back from those levels since, official customs data from China, responsible for some 45% of the seaborne trade in the red metal, released on Thursday is seeing the met...Read More

Nevsun Resources (TSE:NSU NYSEMKT:NSU) Timok copper project continues to boost the stock of the Vancouver-based company with a 5% jump on Wednesday following the latest set of drilling results from the Serbian property.By the close in New York, Nevsun shares changed hands at $3.30, up 4.8% on the day, and in after hours trade investors continued to chase the counter higher affording it a market ca...Read More

Plans by Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) to revive its Pascua Lama project straddling the border between Argentina and Chile received a boost on Wednesday after Chilean authorities rejected an attempt by local communities to block changes to environmental monitoring at the site.The ministerial resolution can be appealed within 30 days and Reuters reports the Huasco Valley community which brought the...Read More

Capital allocation will be the top priority for Canada's large mining companies going into 2017, as they'll have to focus on directing money to the right projects and advancing them with the necessary funding in place, a new report released by PwC Wednesday shows.The mine of the future will embrace innovation and non-traditional ideas to overcome challenges and achieve success, the document says,...Read More

Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastian Jacques said Wednesday an ongoing border dispute with China over copper exports from Mongolia, which directly affects its massive Oyu Tolgoi mine, will be resolved quickly.Referring to his previous dealings with the Mongolian government Jacques told The Telegraph he had become used to "such bumps in the road"."Each time we would work with the authorities...Read More

Canada's Barrick Gold (TSX, NYSE:ABX) has decided to strengthen its position in Latin America, a market where it has experienced a series of challenges in the past three years, by hiring a new director with decades of mining experience in the region.The world's largest producer of the precious metal by output said the appointment of Pablo Marcet, who worked for 15 years for BHP Billiton and was pr...Read More

Dec 7 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening between 31 and 35 points higher, or up as much as 0.52 percent on Wednesday, according to financial bookmakers.* The UK blue chip index closed up 0.5 pct at close at 6,779.84, supported by a rally in bank stocks. RIO TINTO: The copper market will go into deficit by 2020, just when Rio Tinto 's RIO.L RIO.AX extension to the Oyu Tolgo...Read More

A Dark Age for European Democracy? ... How the Political Center Will Fare in 2017 ... On November 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama published an article in the German magazine WirtschaftsWoche, outlining their countries' shared commitments to the values of individual freedom, democracy, and the rule of law; collective defense through the NATO alliance; and interna...Read More

A Dark Age for European Democracy? ... How the Political Center Will Fare in 2017 ... On November 17, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.S. President Barack Obama published an article in the German magazine WirtschaftsWoche, outlining their countries' shared commitments to the values of individual freedom, democracy, and the rule of law; collective defense through the NATO alliance; and interna...Read More

Ahead of the US presidential election great hopes were pinned on the performance of the gold price should Donald Trump prevail. A few analysts saw a Trump victory sending gold to $1,500 or well beyond.After a brief surge to $1338 an ounce on election night, gold's nearly $180 an ounce collapse has unnerved the entire sector - even those companies enjoying the bounce in base metals that started wa...Read More

Chile contains half of the world's most "economically extractable" reserves of lithium. (Image courtesy of University of Chile)Chinese and Korean investors are said to be in advanced talks with the Chilean government to open up a $2 billion mega-lithium batteries plant in the country's north, known for its vast salt flats under which experts say there is enough of the commodity to supply the worl...Read More

On Tuesday, December 6, 2016, the nation will pay tribute to the American miner, both past and present, on National Miners Day. This day was proclaimed in 1907 by the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) and Congress in 2009 to commemorate a 1907 explosion at the No. 6 and No. 8 mines in Monongah, West Virginia, killing 362 miners. This incident still stands over a century later as the wor...Read More

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - European shares edged lower in early trading on Tuesday, with commodities-related stocks coming under pressure following a drop in prices of crude oil and industrial metals.The pan-European STOXX Europe index .STOXX was down 0.2 percent. Italy's FTSE MIB .FTMIB was trading flat after finishing down 0.2 percent on Monday following political jitters in Italy.The STOXX Europ...Read More

(Adds compay items)Dec 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening between 4 and 14 points lower on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers, with futures FFIc1 down 0.1 percent ahead of the cash market open.* The UK blue chip index closed up 0.2 percent on Monday at 6,746.83 points, with basic resources stocks leading the market higher as prices of industrial metals such as cop...Read More

Dec 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening between 4 and 14 points lower on Tuesday, according to financial bookmakers.* The UK blue chip index closed up 0.2 percent on Monday at 6,746.83 points, with basic resources stocks leading the market higher as prices of industrial metals such as copper rose. BARCLAYS: British bank Barclays Plc BARC.L has joined the list of top bank...Read More

House Pushes Ahead with $611 Billion Defense Policy Bill ... The Republican-led House is pushing ahead with a $611 billion defense policy bill that prohibits closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, forbids the Pentagon from trimming the number of military bases and awards U.S. troops their largest pay raise in six years. -Business InsiderThe Pentagon is about to reap a generous windfall of re...Read More

House Pushes Ahead with $611 Billion Defense Policy Bill ... The Republican-led House is pushing ahead with a $611 billion defense policy bill that prohibits closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, forbids the Pentagon from trimming the number of military bases and awards U.S. troops their largest pay raise in six years. -Business InsiderThe Pentagon is about to reap a generous windfall of re...Read More

While precious metals (with the exception of palladium) have suffered a deep sell-off since the surprise outcome of the US presidential elections, the rally in industrial metals appear intact.In a new report BMI Research, a unit of Fitch, says the gains in metal prices this year is set to continue in 2017 thanks to infrastructure spending in China and to some extent in the US and the UK, but at a...Read More

The EU Is Warning American Tech Giants to Crack Down on Hate Speech Now ... "They will have to act quickly and make a strong effort in the coming months." U.S. tech giants including Facebook, Twitter, Google's YouTube and Microsoft will have to act faster to tackle online hate speech or face laws forcing them to do so, the European Commission said on Sunday. -ReutersWestern governments are cen...Read More