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

Zinc is the best performing base metal so far this year and measured from its multi-year low struck mid-January the zinc prize is up 54%.Zinc's prospects brightened considerably after the shutdown of two major mines last year - Australia's Century and the Lisheen mine in Ireland. The two mines had a combined output of more than 630,000.Top zinc producer Glencore has been out in front when it comes...Read More

Bolivia has nationalized three Glencore operations in nine years. Bloomberg reports Glencore has announced: "after almost nine years of negotiations without receiving any compensation for the nationalization of three of its operations, Glencore had no other option but to initiate arbitration proceedings to enforce its rights under international law."From a total of four operations in Bolivia, Glen...Read More

An aerial view of the Mount Polley mine tailings pond shows the area where the dam wall gave way early on the morning of August 4. (Image from archives)Two years after a dam containing a small lake of water and mine slurry at the Mount Polley copper mine near Likely, B.C. gave way, the tarnished Golden Triangle environmental and economic fallout continues.The trees in the flood's path weren't the...Read More

World's largest mining company BHP Billiton (ASX, NYSE:BHP) (LON:BLT) poured some very cold water on the resources sector Tuesday by posting its worst-ever annual loss, just when the industry was gaining some confidence back as commodity prices have recovered from multi-year lows.The Melbourne, Australia-based firm logged a net loss of $6.4 billion for the year to June, compared with a 2015 net pr...Read More

We had some trouble with the site and stories will be up later today. In the meantime come visit our new links feature – Notable News – or view stories you may not have seen yesterday. The problems were internal and everything is fixed now. Thanks for your support!You don’t have to play by the rules of the corrupt politicians, manipulative media, and brainwashed peers.When you su...Read More

We had some trouble with the site and stories will be up later today. In the meantime come visit our new links feature – Notable News – or view stories you may not have seen yesterday. The problems were internal and everything is fixed now. Thanks for your support!You don’t have to play by the rules of the corrupt politicians, manipulative media, and brainwashed peers.When you su...Read More

Metso has won a significant deal to support the conversion of the largest open-pit copper mine in the world to a large-scale underground mining operation. The Chuquicamata mine, located 1,650 kilometres north of Santiago, Chile, is owned and operated by Chile's National Copper Corporation, Codelco. Metso's scope in the contract includes the engineering, supply of equipment and materials, and site...Read More

Chile's Codelco, the world's top copper miner, may soon change its focus from cost reductions to output cuts, as the state-owned miner faces what its chief executive called the "worst crisis ever" since created in 1976.Announcing fresh cost-cutting measures to save $242 million this year, CEO Nelson Pizarro said last week (in Spanish) that slumping copper prices, high debt, rising costs and lower...Read More

Hillary Promises a New Government Agency to Open Up Our Borders ... Hillary's open borders policy will reach fruition if she becomes president. In fact, she said ... she is going to open up a new government agency to help illegal aliens and get them on a path to citizenship. She has already said that in her first 100 days, she will go much further than Barack Obama. - Independent SentinelMonths ag...Read More

Gold Losing Appeal for Investors Retreating From Rally ... 'People don't believe in the gold rally,' Holmes says. Investors are growing more skeptical of gold's lasting luster. Hedge funds and other speculators cut their wagers on a bullion rally for the fourth time in five weeks. As traders tire, the metal's 30-day historical volatility has dropped to the lowest since November. Open interest is a...Read More

Hillary Promises a New Government Agency to Open Up Our Borders ... Hillary's open borders policy will reach fruition if she becomes president. In fact, she said ... she is going to open up a new government agency to help illegal aliens and get them on a path to citizenship. She has already said that in her first 100 days, she will go much further than Barack Obama. - Independent SentinelMonths ag...Read More

Gold Losing Appeal for Investors Retreating From Rally ... 'People don't believe in the gold rally,' Holmes says. Investors are growing more skeptical of gold's lasting luster. Hedge funds and other speculators cut their wagers on a bullion rally for the fourth time in five weeks. As traders tire, the metal's 30-day historical volatility has dropped to the lowest since November. Open interest is a...Read More

The world's number five diversified mining company, Anglo American announced a "radical portfolio restructuring" at the end of last year. The company with roots going back more than a hundred years to South Africa's gold and diamond fields said it would cut around 85,000 employees, almost two-thirds of its workforce.London-listed Anglo also said it's reducing the number of mines it operates from 5...Read More

New York Magazine Makes "The Case Against the Media" Editor Genevieve Smith tells Folio: why now’s the time to dig deep into public distrust ... On July 25, New York magazine featured a cover story that immediately sparked interest among those in media, called "The Case Against the Media. By the Media." – FolioAt the end of July, New York magazine tried to investigate reasons American...Read More

New York Magazine Makes "The Case Against the Media" Editor Genevieve Smith tells Folio: why now’s the time to dig deep into public distrust ... On July 25, New York magazine featured a cover story that immediately sparked interest among those in media, called "The Case Against the Media. By the Media." – FolioAt the end of July, New York magazine tried to investigate reasons American...Read More

World’s Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria ... A small gold bead shows that Copper Age people in the Balkans were processing gold 6,500 years ago... -SmithsonianThis gold bead further confirms the maturity of private monetary history in our view.Reference.com tells us, HERE: "The existence of gold has been known for over 5,500 years; therefore, the exact locatio...Read More

World’s Oldest Gold Object May Have Just Been Unearthed in Bulgaria ... A small gold bead shows that Copper Age people in the Balkans were processing gold 6,500 years ago... -SmithsonianThis gold bead further confirms the maturity of private monetary history in our view.Reference.com tells us, HERE: "The existence of gold has been known for over 5,500 years; therefore, the exact locatio...Read More

Canadian junior Strongbow Exploration Inc (CVE:SBW) last month closed the acquisition of the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall and local media reports operations could restart within two years.South Crofty, approximately 390km drive west of London on the Celtic Sea Coast, was the last tin mine in Europe when it closed in 1998. Several companies attempted to revive the mines between 2001 and 20...Read More

Every junior commodity market has its share of pretenders to go along with the contenders as prices and demand move up.In striking contrast to internationally traded bellwether metals such as copper and gold, the market for lithium is murky. Analysts have noted recent variances in spot prices in China ranging to $20,000 a tonne. There's barely a handful of producers and buyers and a popular produc...Read More

A Nobel Alternative to the Current Euro System ... A new book by Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz suggests that the best way forward for the euro area is a “flexible euro,” a system of different currencies under the same name fluctuating within certain limits. It’s a new, ingenious riff on an idea that keeps popping up in discussions of the currency bloc’s...Read More